Authentic German Pancakes Recipes

GERMAN PANCAKE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, salt, sugar, milk, vanilla, and butter. Whisk in the flour to make a smooth batter. Set aside.
• Heat a well-seasoned 10-inch cast-iron skillet in the oven for 10 minutes. Remove and brush the inside with the shortening. Pour in the batter and bake for 15 minutes.
• Lower the oven to 350 degrees F. and continue baking until puffed and golden brown, about 13 to 15 minutes more. Run a knife around the edge of the skillet. Sift the confectioners' sugar over the pancake. Serve immediately in the skillet with maple syrup, marinated berries, or glazed apples and pears.
• In a small saucepan, combine the sugar, vanilla bean and seeds, citrus zests, and water. Bring to a boil and then reduce the heat to low. Simmer very gently until syrupy, about 25 minutes. Remove from the heat and add the citrus juices. Combine the berries in a bowl. Strain the warm syrup over the berries and marinate at room temperature for 30 minutes. Serve.
• Peel, core, and cut both the apples and pears into 3/4-inch wedges. In a medium bowl, toss the fruit with the lemon juice.
• Melt the butter in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add the sugar, orange zest, and cinnamon sticks and stir until sugar is dissolved. Add the fruit, increase the heat to medium-high, and cook, shaking the pan frequently, until glazed, about 10 minutes. Raise the heat to high, add the orange juice, and cook until the fruit is easily pierced with a paring knife, about 1 minute more. If desired, add the Calvados. If cooking on a gas burner, carefully tip the pan toward the flame to flambe the alcohol; if cooking over an electric element, hold a long match near the mixture. Swirl the pan over the heat until the flame subsides. Serve warm.

GERMAN PANCAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400°. Place first 4 ingredients in a blender; process just until smooth., Pour melted butter into a 13x9-in. baking dish; tilt dish to coat. Add batter; bake, uncovered, until puffed and golden brown, about 20 minutes., Meanwhile, place butter, sugar, buttermilk, corn syrup and baking soda in a small saucepan; bring to a boil. Cook, uncovered, 7 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in vanilla., Remove pancake from oven. Dust with confectioners' sugar; serve immediately with syrup and, if desired, fresh blueberries.

AUTHENTIC GERMAN PANCAKES

Steps:

• Set aside a 12-inch non-stick skillet or electric griddle.
• In a medium bowl, crack 4 eggs and combine well with a fork. Add the sugar and stir again.
• Add the flour and stir just lightly until streaks of flour still visible. Slowly add the milk and buttermilk, stirring to help prevent clumps. If clumps won't go away, don't worry, this is fine.
• Heat the pan or griddle to medium heat (or 350F degrees for electric). Make sure it's plenty hot before pouring the batter.
• Melt enough butter to prevent sticking and to add flavor. Slowly pour batter onto pan until it reaches the size you want.
• The egg-y batter will cook up and bubble quickly along the edges, continue cooking until just the middle is shiny, then carefully flip the pancake over. I use two spatulas to do this if the pancake is large. Alternately, you could just cook the pancake on the first side and when the middle of the pancake is no longer shiny, it's done and you can flip it onto your plate. I like both sides browned a bit so I flip them. If you flip, just cook an additional 30 seconds until the second side starts to brown lightly.
• Serve either flat, rolled, or folded into fours. If you're wanting to serve rolled German pancakes (as crepes), keep the batter quite thin in the pan, tilting the pan to spread batter out from center.
• These pancakes are tasty with just real syrup poured over them, or with fruit of choice and powdered sugar.

GERMAN POTATO PANCAKES

Steps:

• In a large bowl, beat together eggs, flour, baking powder, salt, and pepper. Mix in potatoes and onion.
• Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. In batches, drop heaping tablespoonfuls of the potato mixture into the skillet. Press to flatten. Cook about 3 minutes on each side, until browned and crisp. Drain on paper towels.