For a few summers when in my teens, I was fortunate to be taken along to the Okanagan for a few weeks to babysit.  Besides spending hours on the beach and boating, I soon took over the morning breakfast ritual.  Out behind their cabin was a wood oven with a ¾” sheet of steel for a cooking surface.  I would go out early, and get the fire going, until the steel was just the right temperature.  Previous summers lighting the woodstove on Thetis gave me the necessary skill set at the ripe old age of 14.

The first day I made French toast.  I’d been told that the children weren’t fond of it, but went ahead anyhow.  I love French toast, especially when sprinkled with sugar and drizzled with lemon.  I won the kids over the first go; they’d just never had it with a custardy center.  By the end of our second week there, the neighbours had started “dropping” by at breakfast, often with a loaf of bread or some eggs.  One morning I made breakfast for 20.  This was most probably my first catering gig.

Even though this is not a recipe for French toast, it is a recipe for an easy breakfast dish that tastes great with sugar and lemon!

The Dutch Baby is basically a huge popover.  You can use a small cast iron pan, enameled bake ware, or a plain cake pan, anything from 8-9” in diameter.   All you need is equal volumes of eggs, milk and flour, with a bit of butter.  When it comes out of the oven, its sides will have risen up well over the edge of the pan.  Simply invert it onto a plate and serve with a sprinkle of sugar and a drizzle of lemon ~ fresh fruit, a dollop of preserves or a bit of syrup work well, too.  Plan on sharing one between two, or one each for hungrier folks.

Click here for printable version.

Makes one ~ simply double or triple as needed

Ingredients (have everything at room temperature – take out of fridge 30 minutes to 2 hours before starting)

2 large eggs (about ½ c in volume)

½ c milk

½ c flour

cooking spray

1T butter

lemon wedges

sugar

Directions

Preheat the oven to 425°

In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs well.

Add in the flour and the milk.

Alternatively you can put everything in the blender and blend until smooth.

Lightly grease the baking dish.

Put the baking dish into the oven for 5 minutes.

Add in the butter to the dish, and leave in the oven for another 1 -2 minutes, until bubbling and melted, don’t let it burn.

Remove the dish from the oven and pour in the batter. Quickly return to the hot oven.

Bake for 20 minutes, without opening the oven.

Remove from oven and invert on to a dinner plate.

Sprinkle with sugar ~ about 2 teaspoons, and drizzle with lemon.

Enjoy!

I recommend sharing one after a long wet winter walk, with big mugs of tea.