A few days ago, I received two cookbooks in the mail. One of them is called The New Cast Iron Skillet Cookbook by Ellen Brown and the other is called The Lodge Cast Iron Cookbook. Both of these books contain some serious recipes. I am so excited to share some of them with you because I think you’re going to love them. Of course, I’ll put my own twist on things like I always do.
The Recipe
The recipe I’m going to share today I prepared yesterday. It’s called a breakfast, but really, I think it could act as either a breakfast or a dessert. Since I made this in the afternoon, breakfast had long passed. Laura and I decided that since we had two of them, they would last two nights after dinner, if we split each one. I’ll tell you, they were delicious.
I believe the accurate name for this recipe is German Apple Pancakes. I want to warn you, don’t misinterpret the word pancake in this title as something that’s thin and bready. This recipe produces something more along the lines of an upside down cake. The flavor is enormous and the best part is, you can use as many apples as you’d like. Also, you’ll need two small 8″ cast iron skillets to prepare this recipe, so it’s best to pull them out of the cabinet, or from wherever you store them.
Ingredients
Serves: 2
4 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter
1/2 Cup Whole Milk
4 Large Apples (I used Cortland), Cored, Peeled and Sliced
4 Tablespoons Granulated White Sugar
1 Teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
2 Large Eggs
1/2 Cup All-Purpose Flour
Regular Table Salt
Granulated Brown Sugar
Powdered Sugar
Step-by-Step Instructions
I find it odd that folks recommend Granny Smith and Golden Delicious apples for recipe like this, when Cortland is more than perfect. The Golden Delicious is rather tasty and sweet, but in my area, Cortland is the largest available, which makes for simpler slicing and preparation. Use whatever type of apple you prefer, but just remember, be plentiful and go with the sweet varieties. While preparing this recipe, the apples will cook down and more often than not, you’ll be wishing you added more than you did.
Pre-Heat Oven
First things first. You’ll need to pre-heat your oven to 425 degrees.
Melt Butter
Add 2 tablespoons of unsalted butter to each 8″ skillet and let melt over low heat.
Add Sugar, Cinnamon & Apples to Bowl
In a large bowl, add the 4 tablespoons of granulated white sugar, the 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon and the 4 cored, peeled and sliced apples.
Now, mix the ingredients in the bowl until the apple slices are completely and evenly coated with the sugar and the cinnamon.
Combine Butter & Milk
In a large measuring cup (I used a 4 cup one), add 1/2 cup of whole milk.
(I have no idea how that got to be over a half cup. It was only that amount before I moved it to snap a photo of it, I swear.)
After that and once the butter is completely melted in the skillets, add half of the melted butter to the milk, leaving the other half in the skillets.
Cook Down Apple
Now that the apple slices are coated and the skillets have the necessary butter and heat to them, go ahead and divide the apple mixture evenly between the skillets. Be sure to clean the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula to get all the leftover sugar and cinnamon. Add that to the skillets as well.
Over medium heat, cook the apples down until they begin to soften and the sugar mixture starts to bubble. They should look something like this when they are finished.
When done, remove the skillets from heat.
Add Eggs, Flour & Salt to Milk
In the large measuring cup where the milk and butter are combined, add in the two large eggs and whisk together. Then, add in the 1/2 cup of all-purpose flour and a pinch of regular table salt and whisk as well.
Add Batter to Skillets
Now, divide the batter evenly between the two skillets, mostly covering the apples. Don’t go nuts here, the apples merely need to be partially submerged.
Place Skillets in Oven
When the oven is warm and on the middle rack, place the two cast iron skillets and let bake for about 10 minutes. The goal here is to allow the ingredients to cook until the tops puff up and turns partially golden brown. This is what mine looked like when I pulled them out of the oven. They puffed up a lot and then settled down when they hit the cool air.
The Final Product
You’ve got a few choices here. You can grab a few forks and dive into these tasty delights right in the cast iron skillets or you can flip them upside down so they come out of the skillet onto a plate.
Either way, feel free to sprinkle some granulated brown sugar over each pancake and then sift some powdered sugar the same way. Those ingredients will only add to the taste. Enjoy!
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