The Dutch Baby of Yorkshire Puddings

 
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 The café originally made smaller versions, as a sweet treat, usually filled with fruit and cream, which one of the owner’s daughters called babies.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.

 

Dutch Baby	Grandma’s Yorkshire Pudding
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
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.	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).
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 18^th 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