Dutch Baby, For One
Because sometimes you need to be selfish starting with breakfast.
I made this on a whim the other day, as I wasn’t in the mood for an omelette but pancakes for one seemed too much of a hassle.
Enter: this beauty. it comes together in 3 minutes and bakes all of 5-10 in the air fryer or oven.
As I couldn’t decide on sweet or savoury, I had to do two versions. It shows you how endlessly customisable this recipe is for anything you may have in your fridge/feel like eating on that particular day.
For the savoury pancake, the cheese melts gloriously and the egg on top just finishes it off. It can be done on a work day. Let that be your little treat to yourself when preparing for a long day ahead. After all it has protein and good fats, all guaranteed to keep you going for as long as needed.
You can swap the mozzarella and turkey ham for any cheese/charcuterie combo you fancy, you can even leave it plain and add just the egg. I served it here with fruit because why not, but veggie sticks would also work really well.
Finally, a drizzle of maple syrup never hurt nobody but I chose to do this one with freshly chopped chives, because I had them :)
When i dreamt up a recipe for a sweet version of it and, while initially I had made one with a touch of vanilla, lightly sweetened, sprinkled with sugar and lemon juice, I then got ambitious and asked myself, WHY NOT CHOCOLATE.
You see, the idea was to replace some of the flour with cocoa powder. What could go wrong? Nothing, it turns out. This little pancake number is rich with chocolate, decorated with fresh fruit and taken over the top by melted white chocolate. Is it breakfast, is it dessert, is it a glorious afternoon snack? Who cares, you need to make it.
This recipe makes 1 10 cm pancake, beautifully tall and rumply. Should you wish to, you can easily multiply it to fit your serving needs but I find there’s nothing more decadent than making yourself a gorgeous little treat like this that you won’t need to share with anyone.
A note on your pan and butter: you need your pan to be really hot straight from the oven. You DO need to butter it well so that it raises beautifully and doesn’t stick. Those are non negotiable. I used here this tiny 12 cm pan from Staub I really love(affiliate) but really, even a ramekin will do.
Single Serve Dutch Baby
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp butter, for melting
- 2 eggs
- 40g/3tbsp flour
- 50ml whole milk
- pinch of salt
- pinch of freshly ground pepper
- 1 tbsp shredded mozzarella
- 1 tbsp finely chopped turkey ham
- 1 fried or poached egg, to serve
- chopped chives, to serve
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 10ml extra milk
- 1.5 tbsp cocoa powder
- fresh fruit
- 50g white chocolate, melted
Instructions
- Start by preheating your oven or air fryer at 200 degrees C, fan. Place the pan you will use inside and let it heat very well.
- In a bowl mix together flour, salt. Use a whisk to break up any lumps.
- Add the milk and eggs and whisk well until combined.
- For the savoury version: add a little more salt, pepper, cheese and turkey ham. Combine well.
- For the chocolate version: add cocoa powder, extra milk and sugar. Mix very well.
- Bring the hot pan out of the oven (carefully!) and add the 2 tbsp butter, swirling it around so that it coats the pan well. Immediately add the batter and place the pan back in the oven.
- Bake/airfry for 7-10 minutes, watching it closely. The Dutch baby will puff up dramatically and create the most beautiful rumples.
- When ready to serve:
- Chocolate version: get your fruit and melted chocolate ready. Take the pancake out of the oven and drizzle with chocolate, scatter the fruit on top
- Savoury version: In the meantime, fry/poach the other egg to your liking.
- Carefully (again!) remove the dutch baby from the oven or air fryer. Top with the fried egg and sprinkle with chives and flaky salt.
Notes
You can get as creative as you’d like with your toppings:
Savoury: chorizo, salami, green onions, feta, olives
Sweet: vanilla sauce, chocolate shavings, powdered sugar, all sorts of fruit and, why not, a scoop of ice cream would work very well here.