The Dutch Baby (Seattle Oven Pancake)
A blender batter of eggs, milk and flour poured into a skillet of sizzling butter and baked at 425°F until it puffs up high around the edges, served the original way with lemon and powdered sugar.
The Dutch baby is a Seattle invention with a German accent. In The Seattle Times, Larry Brown wrote that Dutch babies were created at Manca's cafe in downtown Seattle in 1905 by Victor Manca; the original was a small oven pancake about 6 inches across, served with lemon wedges and powdered sugar, and Sunset magazine printed a version in 1977 that he called "very close" to the family's secret recipe (October 27, 1993:). Jean Godden's 1998 column says the first Manca's opened "before the turn of the century" at First and Cherry and later moved to Second and Columbia; the downtown cafe closed about 30 years before four family members opened a Manca's in Madison Park in 1991, and that one closed in March 1998 when Starbucks bought the space.
Wikipedia, citing a 1960 Sunset article, says Dutch babies were introduced in the first half of the 1900s at Manca's, that the cafe claimed the trademark in 1942, and that, it is said, one of Victor Manca's daughters coined the name, with "Dutch" perhaps her version of "deutsch", German. The idea may come from the German Pfannkuchen, but the dish as we know it is American. Its name is not Dutch, and it is nothing like a Dutch pannenkoek (our Dutch Pannenkoeken with Bacon recipe).
Why it works the kitchen science
A hot pan and hot butter
The batter hits a 425°F skillet and starts setting at once around the edges, while steam from the eggs and milk lifts the middle into the dramatic puff.
Blended eggs
A full minute in the blender beats air into the eggs and makes a very smooth batter, so the pancake rises evenly with no lumps of flour.
Step by step
- Step 1
Put a 10-inch cast-iron or other ovenproof skillet in the oven and heat the oven to 425°F. When it reaches temperature, add the butter to the hot skillet and return it to the oven about 5 minutes, until melted and foaming but not browned.
- Step 2
While the butter melts, blend the eggs on high about 1 minute, until light and pale yellow.
- Step 3
With the motor running, pour in the milk, then add the flour, and blend 30 seconds more.
- Step 4
Pull out the skillet, swirl the butter to coat the sides, and pour the batter straight into the middle of the hot butter.
- Step 5
Bake 20 to 25 minutes, until puffed high around the edges and well browned. Keep the oven door closed for at least the first 15 minutes.
- Step 6
Bring it to the table right away (it starts to fall within a minute), squeeze lemon over it and shake on the powdered sugar. Cut into wedges.
The Dutch Baby (Seattle Oven Pancake)
Serves 2 · one 10-inch pancake · 40 min total
Pan
- 1/4 cup (4 tbsp) butter
Batter
- 3 large eggs, at room temperature
- 3/4 cup whole milk, at room temperature
- 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
To serve
- 2 tbsp powdered sugar
- 1 lemon, cut into wedges
Method
- Put a 10-inch cast-iron or other ovenproof skillet in the oven and heat the oven to 425°F. When it reaches temperature, add the butter to the hot skillet and return it to the oven about 5 minutes, until melted and foaming but not browned.
- While the butter melts, blend the eggs on high about 1 minute, until light and pale yellow.
- With the motor running, pour in the milk, then add the flour, and blend 30 seconds more.
- Pull out the skillet, swirl the butter to coat the sides, and pour the batter straight into the middle of the hot butter.
- Bake 20 to 25 minutes, until puffed high around the edges and well browned. Keep the oven door closed for at least the first 15 minutes.
- Bring it to the table right away (it starts to fall within a minute), squeeze lemon over it and shake on the powdered sugar. Cut into wedges.
Adapted from Larry Brown, "Tailor This Dish To Appetite Level", The Seattle Times (October 27, 1993). We use his chart's row for a 2- to 3-quart pan (1/4 cup butter, 3 eggs, 3/4 cup milk, 3/4 cup flour), his 425°F oven, his blender method and his 15 to 25 minute bake; a 10-inch skillet holds about that much. Lemon and powdered sugar are the original Manca's toppings he describes. The serving count and the 5-minute butter melt are ours. archive.seattletimes.com. Ingredient list follows the source; the method is in our own words.
Tips
- Scale it with Brown's chart: 1 egg, 1/4 cup milk, 1/4 cup flour and 1 tbsp butter in a 3-cup dish for one; 6 eggs, 1 1/2 cups milk, 1 1/2 cups flour and 1/2 cup butter in a 4 1/2- to 5-quart pan for a crowd.
- Room-temperature eggs and milk help it puff higher.
- Beyond lemon: sautéed apples, berries or maple syrup all work.
The rules people argue about
What the sources agree on, what they don't, and what is just a good story.
- The Dutch baby was invented in 1905. Disputed: The Seattle Times (1993) says 1905; The Seattle Times (1998) says the cafe opened before 1900; Wikipedia, citing Sunset (1960), says the first half of the 1900s.
- Victor Manca's daughter named it. Folklore: Wikipedia says "it is said"; no source we opened names her.
- It's a Dutch dish. Documented as not so: Wikipedia says the idea may come from the German Pfannkuchen and the current form began in the US.
- Manca's trademarked the name. Disputed: Wikipedia says the cafe claimed the trademark in 1942; an Everett Herald column quoted in search results says the family has a trademark dated January 11, 1956.
- Never open the oven door. Folklore: common advice for puffed dishes; Brown's article doesn't say it.
- Use a blender. Documented (Brown).
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