Breakfast

This Fluffiest, Puffiest Pancake Is a Brunch Champion

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June 21, 2018
6 Comments

As Food52 gets older (and wiser), and our archive of recipes grows, we’re making the effort to revisit some gold recipes. Today, we're reminding you of the world's fluffiest, puffiest pancake with our brand new video.

Flour, milk, eggs—pancakes are an endlessly versatile, super-speedy dish to make (and eat). But sometimes, the same-old shape feels a bit, er, flat. Instead of silver dollars or towering stacks, I crave something just a little bit fluffier and puffier.

Enter David Eyre’s Pancake, an impossibly light, airy cake that swaps a griddle for your cast iron skillet. A recipe from The Essential New York Times Cookbook, it first appeared in print in 1966, and then on our site in 2010 when Amanda Hesser described how it combines both ease and surprise:

A batter of flour, milk, eggs, and nutmeg is blended together, then poured into a hot skillet filled with butter and baked. Anyone confused? I didn’t think so. The surprise comes at the end, when you open the oven door to find a poufy, toasted, utterly delectable-looking pancake. It soon collapses as you shower it with confectioners’ sugar and lemon juice, slice it up and devour it. It’s sweet and tart, not quite a pancake and not quite a crepe. But lovable all the same.

Once it’s out of the oven, top your crepe-pancake hybrid with a dollop of whipped cream or tart jam. Or, if you’re like me, just tear it out of the pan. It’ll be just as sweet.

David Eyre's Pancake

David Eyre's Pancake

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What's your favorite way to eat pancakes? Have you made David Eyre's version?

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Katie is a food writer and editor who loves cheesy puns and cheesy cheese.

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6 Comments

Sara
Sara June 14, 2019
My (dutch) family always called this Dutch Babies. Used to creep me out as a kid.
 
Rick G.
Rick G. June 14, 2019
just made one this morning, calling it a Dutch Baby. it's a staple in my B&B and it's always beloved. my recipe is near identical, having a little less butter and 16% more flour. i mix mine in the blender getting it frothier. 1 ¼ c milk, 1 ¼ c flour, 5 eggs. i wait until the oven is at 380F before i put the skillet in the oven, with the cube (8T) of butter in it. putting it in earlier will scorch the butter. once it reaches 425 then pour the batter in the middle of the pan. as far as cooking time, i just eyeball it. lemon juice and powdered sugar is ideal but it's hard to have powdered sugar here (i live in a rainforest), so mainly i serve it with maple syrup, jams, nutella type spreads, or today i included some of my passion fruit 'shrub' i made last weekend. a shrub is a fruit syrup made with vinegar, but passion fruit, maracuya, has so much pectin, it's set up like a jam, so now i have jars of tart jam/shrub, take your pick.
 
jpriddy
jpriddy June 14, 2019
Dutch baby—found the recipe in Sunset magazine about 40 years ago, sans nutmeg.
 
jpriddy
jpriddy June 14, 2019
I almost always serve it with lemon, bananas, and powdered sugar.
 
Mitwocents
Mitwocents June 14, 2019
Ok, a little off topic: Where can I buy the measuring cup being used in this video?!?! Been looking for it everywhere!?! Any help appreciated.
 
Sally M.
Sally M. June 14, 2019
Craig Claiborne gave me this recipe in the 1980’s. It’s been my go-to breakfast recipe ever since. I sometimes put fruit on it instead of marmalade as a healthier alternative. A dollop of whipped cream with sprinkled cocoa and shredded cocoanut is another alternative. It’s a great base for basically anything you want.