“Today, I credit Sooke Harbour House as the restaurant that most affected the cooking I did and still kind of do: loose menu, market- driven, an emphasis on the positive mental health of staff,” says chef David McMillan, co-author of Joe Beef-Surviving the Apocalypse. “Having been brought up in French kitchens, I had never seen a Dutch baby, but they were made daily at Sooke Harbour House: breakfast babies, herb and cheese babies, crab babies, clam babies, mushroom babies (to accompany roasted meats in lieu of a starch), dessert babies with foraged berries. Satisfying to cook and even better to eat.”
Dutch Babies
Ingredients
- ⅔ cup (160 ml) whole milk
- ⅔ cup (90 g) all- purpose flour or 1/2 cup/100 g gluten- free flour mix
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- Pinch of salt
- Pinch of ground nutmeg
- Pinch of ground cinnamon
- 3 large eggs
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 450°F (230°C), including the cast- iron skillet, placed on the middle rack.
- In a blender, combine the milk, flour, sugar, salt, nutmeg, cinnamon, and eggs, and blend until uniform, about 30 seconds.
- When the oven reaches temperature, carefully remove the hot pan from the oven and coat it with 1 tablespoon of the butter, working promptly to avoid burning the butter and cooling the oven. Pour in the batter and return the pan immediately to the oven.
- Bake undisturbed for 15 minutes, resisting the urge to poke, stroke, or inspect.
- Remove from the oven, place on a trivet, and put the remaining 2 tablespoons butter to melt on top.
Notes
Note An 8- inch or 10- inch (20- cm or 25- cm) cast- iron pan is crucial to your success here: the heat it retains, its nonstick attributes, and the straight and tall walls. Don’t attempt to make babies with anything less.