Recipe: German Pancake with Glazed Apple Topping

Today is really fallish, fitting for October 1st.  I suppose by this point I'm ready for it.  Tired of being sweaty and I would love to not have the A/C in the windows anymore.

Anyways, I haven't posted a recipe in awhile and since I have mentioned a few times that we've been making German pancakes I thought I would share.

Now, I am not a huge pancake fan.  I mean, they're okay but I prefer waffles and also I'm annoyed by the process.  Pouring, watching, flipping (which is hard), more watching, more pouring and then batches.  It requires too much attention.  I'd rather stick something in the oven and walk away.

I'd seen enough mention of puffed pancake, ocean pancake, baked pancake, German pancake, etc., they go by a lot of different names, so I decided to try it out.  I found the recipe we have been using here.  But you can Google and get all kinds of variations.  I like that this recipe has no sugar in it and that it has more of an egg flavor than flour.  Makes me feel less terrible about eating it for dinner.

The Stuff
- 6 eggs
- 1 cup of milk
- 1 cup of flour
- dash of salt
- 1 Tbs. cinnamon (the original recipe calls for 2 Tbs. but holy wow that's a lot - so I cut it to 1 or less depending on how much you like cinnamon)
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- 4 Tbs. butter
 
Get Bakin'
- In a 9x13 baking dish place the 4 Tbs. of butter
- Put the dish (with the butter in it) in a cold oven and preheat to 425 F
- While the oven is warming and the butter is melting, blend together all remaining ingredients.  I use an immersion blender.  It is a very liquid-y batter. 
- When the butter is melted in your dish (don't let it burn) take the dish out of the oven and pour the batter over the melted butter
- Return the dish to the oven and bake for 20 minutes

The pancake will be super puffy when you pull it out of the oven but it will relax in the center as it cools (see photo below).  I usually dab the excess butter floating on top with a paper towel.  You DO NOT need to top this pancake with more butter like you do with traditional pancakes.  Dust with powdered sugar or douse in syrup.   Serve with a side of fruit or a smoothie and bacon or sausage.  Yum!

We have breakfast for dinner every Tuesday and this has made an appearance on the menu several times in the last few months especially when we had guests over.  It's vegetarian, sugar free, and tasty - accommodating many preferences.  Plus people are always intrigued by the puffiness.  Also, it reheats quite well the next morning for breakfast on the go.

This week I decided to make a warm apple topping for the pancake using some of the apples we got over the weekend.  A Fall Baking magazine I got back in August had a recipe so I gave it a try.  The recipe for the pancake was different but I stuck with our version and just made the apple topping.

Glazed Apple Topping

The Stuff
- 2 cups peeled, cored, and sliced apples
- 4 Tbs. butter
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 2 Tbs. apple cider (or rum...but who has rum??)

Get Cookin'
- In a skillet, melt the butter
- Add the apples, stirring occasionally until the apples are soft
- Add the sugar and stir until dissolved
- Add the cider (or rum) and cook until the liquid is smooth
- Spoon the warm apples and sauce over your pancake and top with extra syrup.  

Enjoy!