Apple Puff Pancake

(serves 6)

Every Christmas morning we make a dish called Finnish Oven Cake for breakfast. Basically it is a giant popover that when sliced up and served is the perfect conveyance for syrup and jam. We always hope that it will arrive at the table puffed up and golden – a spectacular display of our early morning culinary skills. But every once in a while, the Finnish Oven Cake is a dud – it doesn’t rise up at all. Instead it comes out of the oven looking slumped and solid. If only I had had this recipe years ago, I could have salvaged those disastrous mornings by covering up the unhappy “pop-under” with mapley apples, since that is what the Apple Puff Pancake is all about. You whir up the batter in the blender – so easy – no need to separate eggs or whip the whites – pour it in a hot, oven-proof pan with melted butter – and stick it in to bake. When it comes out, there is no tiptoeing around. You can have a dance party right there in your kitchen, since you want that pancake to collapse. Amazingly, only the center sinks down while a 1” lip remains around the edge. It looks like a golden-brown swimming pool that you get to fill with buttery, sweet sauteed apples or other fruit. Christmas morning will never be the same.

Ingredients:

Pancake

  • 3 Tbs butter

  • 4 eggs

  • 1 cup milk (I used almond milk with good results)

  • 1 cup flour

  • 1 Tbs sugar

  • 1/8 tsp ground nutmeg

Topping

  • 3 Tbs butter

  • 4 large apples* – sliced

  • 3 Tbs maple syrup (or more if your fruit is tart)

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Place the butter in a 10” ovenproof skillet, and stick it in the oven till the butter melts – about 3 minutes. Don’t let it burn. Remove from the oven, and tilt the pan so the butter coats the bottom and the sides.

  2. Place the eggs, flour, sugar and nutmeg in a blender, cover and process until it is smooth and all the lumps are gone. Pour the batter into the hot skillet. Bake in the oven until puffed and brown, 17-20 minutes.

  3. While the pancake is baking, heat the remaining butter in a 12” or larger skillet over medium heat. You need a large skillet so there is enough room for all the fruit to cook evenly. Add the apples and maple syrup, and sauté until the fruit is tender, about 12-15 minutes.

  4. Remove the pancake from the oven, jump up and down until it slumps in the center. Then fill the basin up with the warm fruit.

  5. Serve immediately – although it is pretty darn good cold the next day.

*The recipe that our daughter sent me called for 3 medium apples and 3 medium pears. I didn’t have any pears handy so I used 3 large Twenty Oz. apples and 2 cups of frozen raspberries that I tossed into the apples for the last minute or two so they would thaw but not overcook. It was a great combo though I suspect that whatever fruit you have available will work just fine.