Seventy-seven degrees out, sunny, riding my bike with a warm breeze on my face and the next day I’m in Ugg boots, a cozy sweater, hat and gloves trudging through the snow with my pup who is ecstatic with the sudden change in her outdoor playground.
Growing up in California, I wasn’t brought up with the changing of the seasons so I find the transition particularly exciting. I pulled out my winter clothes a couple of weeks ago when we had a dusting of snow only to be scoffed at the next day by a light sunburn on my shoulders after a cycle around town in eighty degree sunshine. Seriously, how do I plan with the thermometer swinging so radically? Warm and cozy comfort food or cool fresh salads, come on Mother Nature, give a girl a bit of a heads up and some continuity would ya?
Don’t get me wrong, I’m loving the gorgeous view out our window of the trees and mountains heavily coated with snow and I am definitely looking forward to hitting the slopes with my husband and finishing the day off with a juicy glass of Zinfandel.
For today, we are well stocked with firewood, food and plenty of work to keep us busy while we wait for the skies to clear, sun to shine and the snow to melt. As they say in Boulder, “if you don’t like the weather, wait ten minutes for it to change”. In the meantime, a beautiful organic apple Dutch baby pancake breakfast beckons.
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 eggs
- ½ cup milk (not nonfat)
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- Pinch of cinnamon
- Pinch of nutmeg
- 2-4 apples, peeled, cored, sliced and tossed with the juice of ½ lemon
- Powdered sugar for dusting
- Heat the oven to 475 degrees.
- Determine the correct pan size for the amount of ingredients/servings you’re making. Calculate the number of servings and multiply the ingredients accordingly.
- Using a blender, combine the egg, milk, flour, vanilla, spices and salt until thoroughly mixed and the batter is smooth.
- Place the butter in the pan place over medium heat. Once pan is hot, swirl the butter in the pan to coat the bottom and sides before pouring in the batter.
- Pour the batter into the hot pan so that the entire bottom of the pan is covered with the mixture, drop a few apple slices into the batter and return the pan to the oven.
- Bake the pancake, turning the pan about halfway through for more even cooking.
- Bake until pancake is puffed and golden on the sides and just slightly browned in the center.
- Allow 12 to 15 minutes for a 4-egg pancake.
- Dust with powdered sugar and serve immediately with warm stewed apples.
Servings and Pan Sizes:
1 average serving (2 eggs) = 6 inch pan
2 to 3 servings (4 to 6 eggs) = 9 to 10 inch pan
3 to 4 servings (6 to 8 eggs) = 10 to 12 inch pan
5 to 6 servings (10 to 12 eggs) = 14 to 16 inch pan
- 2 apples, peeled, cored and sliced
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 3 tablespoons water, plus 1 tablespoon to mix with the cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- Pinch of cinnamon
- Pinch of nutmeg
- 1 tablespoon butter (optional)
- Place the apples, 3 tablespoons of water, spices and sugar in a saucepan and cook over medium heat.
- Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to a simmer for 5 minutes or so.
- In a small cup mix the cornstarch and 1 tablespoon of cold water until there are no lumps.
- Pour the cornstarch mixture into the pan with the apples and stir until combined.
- Simmer for a few more minutes until the mixture thickens, remove from heat.
- Stir in butter if desired.
Enjoy!
There was a restaurant we used to frequent in a town I lived in for a short time and they made something very much like this, but this recipe is an enhanced version!
I used to eat these at a little hole in the wall in Los Angeles when I was a teenager. The apples were overly sweet, I’m sure cooked with corn syrup, so this is my “cleaner” version, but still sweet and delicious.
This is so lovely and as soon as the temperatures lower a bit and I can consider turning on my oven, I’ll be trying this recipe…It was 90 degrees today and will be again tomorrow, Eva! Can you believe it? I think you’d best appreciate that snow! 🙂 I am not getting a fall this year. LOL! Oh well…maybe next month? oxo
It is our nature to want what we don’t have, right? Actually, it is all beautiful – snow, sun, rain, I appreciate it all. We were able to get out for a bike ride today, although we were very bundled up. The whole journey is wonderful! Hope you had a wonderful weekend.