German Apple Pancake

This recipe is courtesy of Karl Ratzsch’s Chef (or one-time Chef, I suppose), Michael Dreazy, clipped from the newspaper and sent to me by my grandma.

Karl Ratzsch’s is a Milwaukee-famous German-American restaurant I’ve actually never been to – even though I spent the first 29 years of my life living in the Milwaukee, Wis. area. According to the Karl Ratzsch’s website, the restaurant does not serve breakfast. They do, however, serve this dish as an after dinner dish. Hmm. Perhaps I inappropriately ate it this morning as breakfast?

ingredients.

1 c. milk
2 T. melted butter
4 T. flour
4 eggs, beaten
1 apple, sliced
pinch of salt
2 T. melted butter
2 T. cinnamon sugar

directions.

Preheat oven to 440 degrees.
Saute apple in fry pan. Mix all of the above-listed ingredients except eggs. Add eggs to batter and stir until smooth. Pour batter in fry pan over apples. When brown, turn pancake over.
Drizzle melted butter over pancake and cover in cinnamon sugar. Bake for approximately 7 minutes.

I’m not sure if these directions were vague on purpose or because of laziness, but they really ought to be more detailed. For example – what the hell sized pan are you supposed to use?

I used a 10 1/2 inch skillet and I don’t believe it was big enough. There was no way for me to flip the pancake without getting pancake batter everywhere. So instead, I threw the pancake in the oven until it firmed up completely. Then I brought it back out and flipped it over and threw it back in the oven. I wish I would have fried it a bit on the stove top, however. Once I flipped the pancake, the bottom never got browned. It did puff up in the oven much like a Baked Dutch Baby does.

Also – how the hell long are you supposed to saute the apple? Until it gets brown? Will it ever get brown? My apple did not get brown and I really have no idea how long I actually sautéed it. I only used half an apple because that’s all that fit on the bottom of my frying pan. I did notice that the pancake seemed a bit sparse on the apple slices. So I wouldn’t recommend doing this.

Recipe rating: 