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When it comes to Christmas, some people are all about the peppermint. Other people like to sprinkle cinnamon on absolutely everything, and I try to make practically every single baked good under the sun in a ginger and pomegranate version. So, when I stumbled across a recipe for Gingerbread Dutch Baby baked pancake in one of my favourite cookbooks, The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook, I knew it was the perfect recipe to a) break my Dutch Baby pancake virginity (why had I never made one of these before?!), and b) adapt to suit British ingredients and pile on the fresh pomegranate seeds and molasses.
There is everything to love about this pancake. Why had I never tried making a Dutch Baby before? Whisk the ingredients, melt the butter, pour and bake. Slide it onto the plate, and either share between the two of you, or gobble the whole thing up yourself (my chosen method). Maybe it is because I’m still recovering from how much flipping I had to do when I made these bilini pancakes, but remind me what reason I have to make American style pancakes ever again? You get the beautifully, impossibly dense pancake in the middle, and the crisp lightness of a French crepe meets Yorkshire pudding on the outside.
Really, you can top it off with whatever festive type toppings you fancy, but for me I’ll always reach for the molasses, icing sugar and pomegranate seeds. I wanted to leave you with a note on the pomegranate, actually. If possible, don’t get it from the supermarket; you’ll get smaller pomegranates for the same price, with watery, pale red, watery yellow seeds. Head to your local market or greengrocers (check out these beauties at the greengrocers on Deal High Street) instead for rich, plump, ruby red seeds.
The classic dutch baby pancake is here given a festive twist with gingerbread spices and pomegranate.
Ingredients
Scale
2 Large Eggs
1 tbsp Golden Caster (Granulated) Sugar
1/2 tsp Cinnamon
1/2 tsp Ground Ginger
Large Pinch Ground Cloves
Large Pinch Ground Nutmeg
Pinch Salt
3 tbsp Plain (All Purpose) Flour
5 1/2 tbsp Whole Milk
25g (1 oz) Unsalted Butter
Icing Sugar
1/2 tbsp Pomegranate Molasses
Generous Handful Pomegranate Seeds
Instructions
Pre-heat the oven to 200 degrees (390 fahrenheit).
Whisk the eggs until light, thick and frothy. Beat in the sugar until dissolved. Add the flour, spices and salt, and beat until smooth. Beat in the milk until smooth.
Melt the butter in a 9 inch (preferably non-stick) frying pan with a heat proof handle over a high heat. Swill the pan around so it coats the sides. Pour in the batter, and bake in the oven for 15 minutes.
To serve, sprinkle with a generous dusting of snow like icing sugar, drizzle with the molasses and scatter with the pomegranate seeds, and slide out onto a warm plate. If you fancy it for a Christmas breakfast (while I, for yet another year running attempt to perfect a Christmas morning waffle batter), serve with bottomless Bucks Fizz and enjoy!
I'm a food writer, professional recipe developer and cookbook author living in the English Countryside. I love creating easy, accessable recipes filled with vibrant world flavours that are manageable on busy weeknights. Simple and delicious dinners, from my kitchen to yours!
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One Pan Pescatarian: 100 Delicious Dinners – Veggie, Vegan, Fish
My second cookbook contains 100 delicious dinner recipes, all of which are either vegetarian, vegan or which celebrate fish and seafood - all cooked in either one pot or one pan.*
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