Caramel apple Dutch baby pancake

Here’s to lazy weekends! In our house, Sundays are pancake days. It’s glorious — not least because it’s the one day of the week where I get to sleep in.

My husband recently bought a cast iron skillet. It’s a big, heavy beast. I cannot for the life of me lift it. (I’m not a petite person, but this monstrosity nearly shattered my wrists.) He was inspired to make this purchase after watching one of those online cooking shows on YouTube. He told me it was for the barbecue, so I’ve insisted it live outside with the barbecue.

That however, has not stopped me from looking at recipes that he can make using the damn thing, which is how we came to be having these easy caramel apple Dutch baby pancakes. The hardest part for me was having to watch it being made (and not because my husband is a bad cook); the puffing and the rising and the smell. O. M. G! In roughly 30 minutes, we had a delicious sweet breakfast.

Now, if you don’t have a wrist-breaking, tile shattering cast iron skillet, you can still achieve the same result with a baking dish, just use one that is ceramic. The other tip I’ll offer is to blend your batter well for this recipe — you want it to be thin and frothy — so use a blender or food processor if you have it handy.

Serves 4

Ingredients

FOR THE APPLES

• 1 tbsp of unsalted butter
• 2 tbsp of light brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp of vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp of ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp of ground nutmeg
• Pinch of salt
• 1 large red apple, peeled, cored, and cut into eight wedges

FOR THE PANCAKE BATTER

• 2 tbsp unsalted butter
• 3 eggs
• 3/4 cup plain flour
• 1 tbsp of caster sugar
• 3/4 cup full cream milk
• Icing sugar, for finishing (optional)

Method

1. Make the apples. Put butter, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt in a small non-stick frying pan over medium heat. Heat until butter has just melted, then toss in the apples. Cook, turning the fruit over in the sticky juices until it has just begun to soften, about 5 minutes. Set aside until needed.
2. Position a rack in the centre of the oven and preheat to 220C. Put butter into a deep and large (about 25cm) cast iron skillet or baking dish (preferably ceramic), then put it in the oven. Allow butter to melt, bubble and brown, while you make batter.
3. Put eggs, flour, sugar, and milk in a food processor. Blend on high speed for 15 seconds, then pause to scrape down any potential floury bits from the sides. Blend again for another 10 seconds, until thin and frothy.
4. When butter has melted and starts to turn brown, carefully remove the skillet or dish from the oven. Scatter the apples in the middle of it then pour in the batter. Return to the oven. Bake for 20 minutes until golden brown and the edges puffed, but the centre still custardy. Checking it has cooked through at 15 minutes.
5. Serve hot soon after as the pancake will deflate as it cools. Dust with icing sugar before slicing.