I LIKE SEEING NEW TWISTS ON OLD FAVORITES

David Eyre's Pancake

 

This recipe comes from The Essential New York Times Cookbook, and appeared in the Times in 1966. Forty years later, readers are still making the pancake with no less bliss. What keeps cooks faithful to one recipe is often some confluence of ease and surprise. Eyre’s pancake possesses both. A batter of flour, milk, eggs, and nutmeg is blended together, then poured into a hot skillet filled with butter and baked. Anyone confused? I didn’t think so. The surprise comes at the end, when you open the oven door to find a poufy, toasted, utterly delectable-looking pancake. It soon collapses as you shower it with confectioners’ sugar and lemon juice, slice it up and devour it. It’s sweet and tart, not quite a pancake and not quite a crepe. But lovable all the same. Cooking Notes: Don’t overmix the batter, or the pancake will be tough – a few lumps are fine. This is the moment to call your well-seasoned iron skillet into service.

Serves 2 to 4

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup whole milk

2 eggs, lightly beaten

Pinch of nutmeg

4 tablespoons (one half stick) of unsalted butter

2 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar

Juice of half a lemon

1. Heat oven to 425 degrees. Combine the flour, milk, eggs, and nutmeg in a bowl. Beat lightly. Leave the batter a little lumpy.
2. Melt the butter in a 12-inch skillet with a heatproof handle. When it is very hot, pour in the batter. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until the pancake is golden brown.
3. Sprinkle with the sugar and return briefly to the oven. Sprinkle with lemon juice, and serve with jelly, jam, or marmalade. .

Posted by Chef Bill Brooks, Corporate Chef, U.S. Foodservice, Inc

Opinions expressed are my own and do not necessarily

reflect those of U.S. Foodservice, Inc