Dutch Baby with Fresh Fruits, Mint & Chocolate

I have been Missing in Action in my blog for the past two weeks. :(  Was very busy at work and also went on a family trip to Italy! It's a good thing I have a "draft post reserve," and I'm calling on it right now by sharing a recipe of Dutch Babies. (Some Italian recipes later, after I experiment some more in the kitchen...)

Ever heard of Dutch Babies? It's a pancake cum popover cum Yorkshire Pudding that is served at breakfast. Actually, it's not even Dutch; it's American! It originated in Seattle, Washington and was first served at Manca's Cafe in the 1900s. See more of the history here.

A Dutch Baby, served in a cast iron grill. This version has fresh strawberries, plums, blueberries, mint, underneath a layer of melted chocolate.

Anyway, regardless of its origin, we love having it from time to time at breakfast. We love the crispy edges of the Dutch baby. Hubby eats the edges first, to enjoy the oven baked crispness, while I save the edges, the best for the last. Whichever way it's eaten, it's a Saturday morning breakfast family favourite.

DUTCH BABY WITH FRESH FRUITS, MINT & CHOCOLATE
Serves 4

Ingredients:

60 grams butter
110 ml milk (for the batter) + 1/8 cup milk (for the chocolate sauce)
120 grams all purpose flour
2 eggs
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
100 grams baking chocolate, or ordinary chocolate
Fresh mint
Confectioners' Sugar

Procedure:

1. Preheat your oven to maximum. Get a cast iron pan with the butter and put the pan inside. Note: It's best to do this with a cast iron pan because it holds the heat evenly and results in a crispier pancake.

2.  Prepare the batter by putting the flour, eggs, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg in a bowl. Mix well with a wire whisk.

3.  When the butter has fully melted, tip the pan to coat the sides of the pan too. It will seem like a LOT of butter but this is needed to cook the bottom and top of the Dutch baby. Use a thick oven mitt to hold the pan as it will be VERY hot by this time!

Pour the batter into the centre of the pan. If you can do this inside the oven, do so...but I've been burned before, so I took the pan out and did it outside of the oven. This also enables me to use a spatula to get all of the batter into the hot pan.

4. Put the pan back into the oven and bake for about 20 minutes until the edges rise up and are brown and crispy. It will look like this:

There will be a lot of butter on top, so mop it up with some kitchen towel to remove it. (This was necessary to also cook the top of the Dutch baby).

5. While the Dutch Baby is cooking in the oven, prepare the topping. Melt the chocolate in a double boiler. If you don't have one, get a pot and fill half of it with water. Put a glass bowl on top of it, making sure the bottom doesn't touch the water. Heat the pot and when it is on a slow boil, put the chocolate and the milk and stir until melted. Add more milk if it seems dry.

My makeshift double boiler: a glass bowl on top of a pot of water.

Keep stirring until all the chocolate is melted.

This is the consistency you want..smooth and velvety.

Slice the fruits. I used strawberries, plums, raspberries and blueberries. You can use other kinds of fruit like kiwi, pineapple, apple...anything as long as it's fresh. I always favor fresh fruits over canned fruit.

6.  When the Dutch Baby is done, top with the chocolate sauce. It doesn't have to be even or pretty. By the way, if you want a short cut and don't want to make your own chocolate sauce, you can also dot the Baby with Nutella.

No need to make it pretty....this will all be covered by fruit anyway!

7. Top with fresh sliced fruits and mint; sprinkle with confectioner's sugar, using a sieve. Serve it in the pan. Enjoy!