Oh So Good Dutch Baby with Lemon Sugar – Lemony Goodness for a Spring Time Breakfast

Some people call this oven baked pancake/popover a Bismark, while others call it a Dutch Baby. Both are baked in a cast iron skilled in a hot oven where they puff up dramatically and make an impressive breakfast dish. The Bismark was one of the most popular recipes in the original Silver Palate Cookbook, one of the best selling cookbooks of all times. Normally it’s served with powdered sugar and fresh lemon wedges, or it can be gussied up with fresh fruit as I did in a previous post several years ago. Click to see my Bismark with fresh raspberries and blueberries. It’s also delicious with sautéed apples and cinnamon.

That particular post with the Bismark topped with fresh seasonal fruit was very popular and I thought you might enjoy reading some of the reader’s comments on how they like to serve this delicious treat:

- “Sometimes we serve it for Sunday morning breakfast, other times as a dessert.”
- “We call is a German baked pancake. It’s my daughter’s favorite and I’ve acquired 4 small cast iron skillets and the next time they visit it will be individual small ones instead of big ones.”
- “Dutch Baby is becoming my easy / fancy weeknight meal – nothing to it, but I’ve also found a savory recipe that uses diced ham and gruyere cheese – delicious!”
- “I’ve been looking for fancy recipes to make while camping. This could easily be adapted to campfire oven cooking.”

This comment was perhaps my favorite: “If every morning started out with one of these, I’d never have a bad time.”

I recently found this recipe in a Gourmet publication Gourmet Comfort and fell head of heels in love with their picture and the lemon sugar. As you can see, it rises up dramatically in the oven, but deflates somewhat after it’s removed. I like to show it off as if comes out of the oven and then I don’t worry about it when it deflates. It tastes so good no one will notice.

Two tips to pass on. Most of the recipes for Dutch Babies and Bismarks call for using somewhere between a half stick of butter to a full stick. If you shutter at that much butter (I do), I assure I’ve made these many times using only 2 tablespoons of butter and you would never know the difference. I also like to grate the nutmeg myself (it’s so much better than the powdered stuff) and it’s super easy if you have a microplane rasp (the same one you use to zest a lemon). Just grab a nutmeg nut and scrape it along the rasp. Voila, freshly grated nutmeg. Now you can throw the powdered stuff way.

If you have house guests for Easter or if it’s just the two of you, pop a Dutch Baby in the oven and “start your day off right.”

Dutch Baby with Lemon Sugar
Gourmet Comfort & Epicurious – serves 4 (or 2 hungry ones)

Printable recipe

Lemon Sugar:
1/3 cup sugar
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest

For Dutch Baby:
3 large eggs, warmed in their shells in very warm water for 5 minutes
2/3 cup whole milk brought to room temperature
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon good quality pure vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoons freshly grated nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon salt
½ stick (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into pieces (if you are watching your calories, 2 tablespoons works perfectly fine)
Garnishes: Lemon sugar, lemon wedges, your favorite jam, whatever you like

Stir the sugar and lemon zest together in a small bowl and set aside. Put a 10” skillet (preferably cast iron), on the middle rack of an oven and pre-heat the oven to 450 degrees F.

Beat the eggs with an electric mixer at high speed until pale and frothy, then beat in the milk, flour, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Continue to beat together one minute more (batter will be thin). Set aside.

Remove the hot skillet from the oven and add the butter pieces and melt, swirling to coat. Add batter and immediately return the skillet to the oven. Bake the Dutch baby until puffed and golden brown, 18 to 25 minutes. Serve immediately. Top the Dutch baby with a sprinkle of the lemon sugar. Serve with fresh lemon wedges

Or with your favorite jam.

I will be sharing this recipe with Foodie Friday at Rattlebridge Farms, Miz Helen’s Country Kitchen Full Plate Thursday, On the Menu Monday at Stone Gable, & Food on Friday at Carole's Chatter.

I hope everyone has a happy Easter and Passover and it doesn’t rain on your parade. I’ll be wearing my Easter bonnet. Will you?