Fluffy German Pancake

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Hello friends! First of all, thank you for your lovely responses and comments on my previous post about what I cooked over Spring Break. It makes me realize that I have a lot of recipes to share with you, and I will do that as quickly as possible! Life is too short not to share yummy recipes. So, first up… German Pancake!

I’ve been making this for my family for a long time now… I think we lived in Malaysia the first time I made it. I definitely had beginner’s luck on that one, and we were all staring in awe and amazement as it came out of the oven all puffed up to heaven. Since then, it’s been hit and miss on the puffing part…. but the good news is, even if it doesn’t puff to the sky, it’s still amazing! Trust me, I know. The photo below shows one of my pancakes that really puffed up:

German pancake is super easy and quick to make, and uses simple pantry and refrigerator staples so you won’t have to run out to the store when somebody has a craving. You will need:

• Eggs: German pancake doesn’t call for any leavening; it gets its rise from eggs and steam from your pre-heated oven.
• Milk: it has a high liquid to flour ratio, creating a thin batter that rises easily in the hot oven.
• Sugar: to make it yummy! This recipe calls for 2-4 tablespoons of sugar… I normally use 3.
• Vanilla: to amp up the sweetness and flavor!
• Flour: to give your pancake structure. I usually rest the batter for about 10-15 min while my oven preheats. This allows the flour to absorb the liquid and make it more stable.
• Butter: some recipes call for 4 tablespoons of butter, but I think that’s overkill. Two is plenty, and you could get away with only one. You don’t add this to your batter; instead, you melt it in your pre-heated pan and then pour the batter on top.

That’s it! Six simple ingredients, plus whatever you want to top it with. You could go simple with just powdered sugar and a lemon wedge, add berries or diced mangoes… or go all out with maple syrup and whipped cream. The sky is the limit here!

Speaking of the sky, there are a few things to keep in mind to get your German pancake to rise well. First, and most important, pre-heat your oven well in advance so that it’s at the proper temperature (425F, 210C) before putting your batter in. This creates steam in the batter quickly to puff it up. Along with this, your pan needs to be hot when you add your batter. You can either heat the pan in the oven while it pre-heats, or heat your pan on the stovetop to melt your butter. Either way works! The second thing is, rest your batter for a few minutes after mixing, to let the flour absorb some of the liquid. This will allow it to develop some structure to hold up the steam as it rises. And the last thing is, use a cast iron pan if you have one. This isn’t essential, but the texture of cast iron allows the batter to “climb” up the sides really well! It also holds in the heat to keep it warm while serving. As you can see, I didn’t use a cast iron pan for this pancake, as I keep that pan in Steamboat. So it didn’t get quite the rise that it normally does. But no matter how high your German pancake rises, it will start collapsing the instant you take it out of the oven. This is normal, so don’t worry when it happens! The sides do tend to stay up a bit better though… giving you more space to hold all those yummy toppings!

In the Lwin household, one German pancake is only enough under two conditions: 1) Tommy’s not eating, or 2) Tommy’s the only one eating. In fact, in my notes next to my recipe, I’ve written: “serves 2-3… or one very hungry person” (that person being Tommy.) I’ve learned (or should have by now) to always make two pancakes if Tommy is eating, just so no one gets left out. Because even if you think you’re not going to have any, let’s be honest… as soon as it comes out of the oven in all its puffed up glory, it’s just impossible to resist.

I hope you love it as much as we do! Cheers, friends!