Dutch Baby
Devotees
of Yorkshire Puddings may be amused to hear of a new kid on the block – the
Dutch Baby. Intrigued by this interloper, I decided to research where it had
come from. And guess what, there’s little about this recipe to do with the
Netherlands and the Dutch. Apparently, it all goes back to a café/restaurant
owned by the Manca family in Seattle, USA who instigated an oven baked pancake
craze in the 1900s. Their original recipe was based on a German pancake and the
name Dutch Baby allegedly came from a mispronunciation of the word
‘Deutsch’. Their establishment was
located in the German-American community of the city. The café originally made
smaller versions, as a sweet treat, usually filled with fruit and cream, which
one of the owner’s daughters called babies. The terminology ‘Dutch Babies’ was
trademarked by the Manca café in the 1940s. And that’s it!
Compare and contrast….?
But I’m left wondering why are there no references to Yorkshire Pudding, which you might say was the cherished ancestor of this relative newcomer? Let’s do a quick comparison and see what you think.
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Dutch Baby |
Grandma’s Yorkshire Pudding |
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Ingredients
3 eggs 160ml
milk 85g
plain flour (sifted) 1 tsp
sugar (if sweet) ¼ tsp
salt 45g
butter |
Ingredients 2
eggs Milk
to mix (½ pint/275ml) 5 tbsps
plain flour (4 ½ oz/125g flour) Salt
Fat
or oil for cooking
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Method Preheat
the oven to 220C Gas 7 and put 25cm (10inch) skillet/ shallow cake tin Mix the
eggs, milk, flour, sugar (if used) and salt until smooth. Let it rest at
least 25 mins Add the
butter to the hot skillet/tin and put back into oven till smoking. Pour in
batter and swirl around till skillet base is completely covered. Bake
for 20 mins till golden brown and puffed up.
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Method Mix the ingredients gradually
to the consistency of cream. Let it stand and stir
occasionally, lifting a tablespoonful of the mixture to get air in. Heat the fat/oil in Yorkshire
pudding tins in a very hot oven. Pour in enough mixture to cover each base. Cook in a hot oven for 10 to
15 minutes (425F, Mark 7, 220C).
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Tips
for success ·
Use ingredients at room temperature. ·
Rest the batter for 25 mins ·
Have the skillet/tin very hot before
pouring in batter ·
Keep the oven door closed when cooking. ·
For extra crispiness, lower the temperature
to 150C and leave for a further 5 minutes in the oven. |
Grandma’s tips for success ·
Get the fat (or oil) sizzling ·
Get the oven really hot ·
Sift the flour ·
Use a wooden spoon to mix ·
Leave the batter to rest for half an hour
before cooking ·
Don’t fill the Yorkshire pudding tins more
than 1/3rd ·
Don’t open the oven door during cooking · Serve straightaway –have your guests sitting at the table! |
From Toad
in the Hole to Sweet Berry Baby
I’ve discovered many variations of the Dutch Baby from savoury to sweet to cook up at home. Here it’s filled with sausages wrapped in bacon (pigs in blankets) and apple sauce, and served with mash, carrots, French beans and ball of stuffing - a fancy ‘Toad in the Hole’ (sausage cooked in a Yorkshire Pudding batter). Since I began looking, I’ve spotted the Dutch Baby recipes with summer and autumn berries, sitting on dollops of crème fraiche and ice cream.
Yorkshire
Puddings have a long history from the dripping puddings of the Middle
Ages, the recipe from 18th century Yorkshire cook, Hannah Glasse to
the present-day traditional Sunday roast. So, a great Yorkshire welcome to the Dutch Baby to
take its place as a member of the Yorkshire Pudding family. Enjoy!
This is a shorter version of an article I wrote for Yorkshire Bylines
