Carol’s German Apple Pancake

My sister-in-law, Carol, served this to me years ago when we were visiting Houston. This is her recipe and very good. Like all things apple, the quality of the apples matter.

German apple pancakes are made with an egg batter and baked in a hot oven. The steam in the batter causes them to rise and fall and bubble.

This is a very simple and very good recipe. You can use a pannekoeken mix or make the batter from scratch.

A German Apple Pancake served with Strawberries and Lemon Syrup

Lemon pancake syrup is remarkably good with berries. This one is not “tinny” at all—it’s just like the perfect lemon pie. Try it on pancakes and French toast.

This is traditionally a breakfast dish but is sweet enough that it can be used as a dessert. Commonly, it is served with maple syrup and whipped cream. For a real treat, use Lawford’s Private Reserve Vanilla Cream Syrup and Caramel Whipped Cream. The vanilla cream syrup is made with cream and so is very caramel like. The caramel whipped cream is easy to make and delightful, made with brown sugar and caramel flavor.

What you’ll need

A 9×9-inch nonstick baking pan
Either a pannekoeken mix or a recipe for a three egg pannekoeken

Ingredients

2 large apples, peeled and diced
4 tablespoons butter cut into chunks
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon, preferably Vietnamese cinnamon
For the batter: mix 3/4 cup mix with 3/4 cup milk and three eggs or use a three egg pannekoeken recipe.

Directions

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

Spread the apple pieces, butter, cinnamon, and sugar in the baking pan. Bake for ten minutes.
Take the pan from the oven and stir to coat the apple pieces evenly. Spread the apple pieces across the bottom of the pan.
Pour the batter over the apple pieces. Do not stir. Place the pan back in the oven and bake for 14 minutes or until done. Serve hot or cold.

This can be served from the pan; however, we preferred to serve it from a cutting board. To do so, use a silicone spatula to loosen the edges of the hot pancake from the pan. Place a cutting board over the pan and holding the pan and cutting board together, invert them. Lift the pan and cutting board about ten inches above the counter and drop it sharply. The pancake will snap out of the pan onto the cutting board. This only works while the pancake is steaming hot. If it starts to cool, the sugars will cling stubbornly to the pan.

To serve a crowd

This recipe yields nine 3×3-inch servings about 3/4 inch deep. Other than peeling and slicing the apples, the prep time is very minimal—especially if you are using a mix. An Apple Master makes very quick work of peeling and slicing apples.

To serve a crowd, use multiple pans. You can put four pans in the oven at once. That gives you 36 servings. You can purchase additional nonstick baking pans at The Prepared Pantry.