Recipe Test: Mixed-Berry Dutch Baby

In my post from yesterday I told you I tried this recipe for a Mixed-Berry Dutch Baby.  Well, a few of you had questions for me about this, and so it gave me an excuse to try it again today.  And make no mistake, this was so delicious and so easy that I would have made it again anyway.  But since you asked, I decided to make a tutorial this morning.  Here's how it's done.

Before you do anything else, turn your oven on to 425°F.  It will take a while to heat up, and you'll want a nice hot oven when you're ready to bake your Dutch Baby.

One of you asked me what kind of skillet I was using.  The recipe says to use cast iron.  You can use a regular Lodge-type cast iron skillet.  I happen to have a LeCreuset enameled cast iron "braiser" that doubles as a cast iron skillet.  That's what I used.  Either will work just fine.  The cast iron is a good idea because you'll be heating it up before you add the batter.  You want your oven and your skillet nice and hot.

The other equipment you'll need is a large mixing bowl and a wire whisk.

Break three eggs into the bowl.

Then add half a teaspoon of lemon zest (more or less).

Also, 1/3 cup of granulated sugar,

and a pinch of salt.

Whisk those until they are well combined.

Then, add 2/3 cup all-purpose flour,

and 2/3 cup of whole milk.  (Whoops, I got a little more, but no harm done.  Also, I didn't have whole milk, and so I used one-half  2% milk and one-half whipping cream.)

Dump both of those in with the rest of the ingredients.

Whisk until it's smooth.

The recipe calls for fresh berries--one cup of raspberries and one cup of blackberries.  While I can get fresh berries in my grocery store this time of year, I do not buy produce out of season.  There are a lot of reasons for that.  For one thing, flying vegetables and fruit to Oregon from half a world away is not sustainable agriculture.  My biggest reason, however, is that I happen to like waiting for locally grown fruits and vegetables.  There's something very gratifying to me about waiting for the first fresh asparagus of the season...or the first fresh Oregon strawberries.  

All of that to say that I used frozen berries in my Dutch Baby, and it worked out just fine.  Yesterday, I used blackberries.  I didn't have any raspberries on hand, and so I used two cups of blackberries.  Today I tried it with frozen blueberries.

The recipe calls for two cups of fruit.  It worked out well with the frozen blackberries.  Blueberries, being a smaller berry, seemed a little overwhelming in that quantity.  I recommend using only half the amount if you are using a smaller berry.

Before you add the fruit, however, you'll want to start your skillet heating and melt 4 tablespoons of unsalted butter.

When your butter is almost ready, you can add the fruit to your batter and mix it up.  The frozen fruit wants to stick together, so gently break it up and separate the berries.  I waited until the last minute to add it to the batter because I didn't want to turn my batter purple.  I didn't drain or thaw the berries, but added them completely frozen.

When your butter is completely melted, add the whole mix into the skillet

and gently spread the berries out.

Then pop it into your preheated oven for about 20 minutes.

While it's baking, you can commence to catch the little mouse your cat brought in.

Once the mouse is safely liberated to the great outdoors where it belongs, you can wash your hands and get ready with your confectioner's sugar.  

I like to use this little spring-loaded tea infuser for dusting confectioner's sugar on things.  It works great for that purpose, and it makes a mean cup of tea too!

Just reach into the bag with your infuser "claw", and let it rest in a custard cup until you're ready for it.

After your Dutch Baby has baked for about ten minutes, it will be starting to rise around the edges.

When it's ready, it will be nicely browned and puffed in the center.  (See all those blueberries?  It was fine, but I think it could do with fewer berries.  Larger berries work better.)

Then use your tea-infuser-confectioner's-sugar-duster to tap sugar over the surface.

Cut it into wedges and serve it up.  If you like, you can drizzle a little bit of pancake syrup over it.  Yum.  

Here's the link to Grace Parisi's recipe in Food & Wine.  This is supposed to serve six people, but Mike and I handily put away the whole thing between the two of us.  If you're serving more than two, you'll want some fresh fruit or something on the side.  And if you're cooking for yourself, I believe you could keep the leftovers for at least one day or maybe two.  You decide.  I haven't tried that yet.

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