German Apple Pancake

My husband and I balance each other out quite nicely when it comes to food. He likes sweet, I like savory. I like to cook, he likes to bake. I like dinner and party food, he likes breakfast. Actually, he LOVES breakfast. While I'm one to sprint out the door with not so much a granola bar in my hand (I'm not a breakfast fan, my stomach has a hard time with food in the morning), he'll wake up thirty minutes early every morning to make his waffles, eggs, bacon, or whatever other extravagant breakfast he can dream up. It's kind of cute actually, and I'm pretty sure the kids wake up early just because they know if they do, they're going to get a much better breakfast then if mom is making it!

So being the breakfast lover that he is, my husband really wanted to make a nice Easter breakfast. He found this recipe in my new America's Test Kitchen book, which I already love. If you are familiar with German pancakes, you already know that they are fluffy, and light with a fabulous unique flavor and texture. Add to that sweet chewy apples and it takes the German pancake to a whole new level. It was so delicious that even this non-breakfast eater went back for seconds. I highly recommend serving this with pure maple syrup, it's just better.

German Apple Pancake
America's Test Kitchen

Ingredients

1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
2/3 cup half and half
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 1/4 pounds apples (3-4) quartered, peeled and sliced 1/2 inch thick
1/4 cup packed light or dark brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
confectioner's sugar

Directions

1. Adjust an oven rack to the upper-middle position and heat the oven to 500 degrees. Whisk together the flour, granulated sugar, and salt in a large bowl. In another bowl, whisk together the eggs, half and half and vanilla. Whisk the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until no lumps remain.

2. Melt the butter in 10-inch ovenproof nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the apples, brown sugar and cinnamon and cook until the apples are golden brown, about 10 minutes. Off the heat, stir in the lemon juice.

3. Following the photos, quickly pour the batter around the edge of the skillet, then over the apples. Place the skillet in the oven and immediately reduce the oven temperature to 425 degrees. Bake until the pancake has risen above the edges of the skillet and is brown, about 18 minutes. Loosen the pancake edges from the hot skillet with a spatula and invert the pancake onto a large plate or serving platter (I never got a picture of our inverted pancake, dang it). Dust with confectioners sugar, and cut into wedges before serving.