Hands up who doesn’t know Dutch pancakes! Actually, there is nothing “Dutch” about them at all! They are an American breakfast cake that originated in the first half of the 20th century in a Seattle restaurant. They are also called ‘pannenkoek’ or ‘German’ or ‘Bismark’ pancakes. Unlike their more famous cousins, they are flaky, always baked, and contain no yeast. That’s why the real magic of their preparation is to see how they rise – due to the thermal shock – on the edges of the pan, suddenly swelling and becoming quite spectacular.

They can be made in both sweet and savoury versions, by removing the sugar and making them for brunch.

Ingredients

For the dough:

• 120 g fresh whole milk
• 2 large eggs
• 60 g flour
• 30 g sugar
• 1 pinch of salt

For the baking:

• 10-15 g of butter

For the filling:

• Forrest fruit
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 10 g lemon juice

Preparation methodology

• 2 minutes of preparation

• Cooking: 15 – 20 minutes

• Serves: 4 people (or just 2 sweethearts!)

To prepare the Dutch pancakes, start by heating the oven to 200 degrees, put the baking pan in the oven that you will use during the last few minutes of heating.

In the meantime, pour all the ingredients for the mixture into the glass of the blender, blend them with the blender until smooth and keep them aside.

When the oven has reached temperature, take out the cast iron pan, put in the butter which will melt quickly, passing it well over the edges of the pan: it will sizzle and brown, it’s completely normal!

Insert the liquid mixture, put it in the oven, and cook for about 15 minutes: you will notice that at a certain point the mixture will swell on the edges and rise upwards and will brown slightly on the surface, flaking: leave it in the oven for a couple of minutes to stabilise, then insert a ladle between the door and the mouth of the oven to let the steam escape slowly and prevent it from deflating.

Remove the pan with the oven mitt, sprinkle the pancake with the sugar and lemon juice then garnish with the berries and serve.

If you want to make a savoury version of the pancake, don’t add sugar and fill it with salmon and avocado, cheese, eggs, or whatever you like. It will make a fantastic breakfast or snack.

Alice Parretta

Some encounters change your life, and that with patisserie changed mine.

Born and raised in Florence, after devoting her years of study to very different paths in the fields of psychology and sport, she came across ovens and cookers by chance and discovered her true passion: patisserie!

After an initial self-taught training, she attended basic courses in some Florentine schools and then graduated from the Italian Academy of Chefs in Bologna, in the patisserie sector.

She deeply loves books, cats and carbohydrates.

“Il Dolce Di Alice” is the name of my blog and my social profiles where I advertise my activity as a home patisserie chef and as a first-level trainer that I carry out in Florence.

This recipe was prepared on