FCG: German Apple Pancakes 03/05/2007

Hi and Happy March Everyone! Remember to "beware the Ides" a week from Thursday: you never know what may happen. (Obscure references to Shakespeare: I obviously read TOO MUCH!) Still, that's more than a week away, and the first day of spring is the 21st or something, so that's something to look forward to.Gang business: welcome to Patty Sampson, our newest member. I don't know of anyone else's accomplishments/milestones off the top of my head, but if you have had one, congrats! Today's recipe comes from Gourmet magazine (Jan, 2006). I liked it because it was more crepe-like than pancake like, but it also a little more body than the average crepe to support the apples. I suspect you could use pears in place of the apples (or really any fruit of your choice, though if you used something citrus you might have a liquid/dry ratio problem). Mostly what I liked about this was that it was served with cinnamon/sugar on top instead of syrup (emphatically not my favorite condiment--messy to clean up). As always, enjoy! - Devon

German Apple Pancakes

1/2 cup sugar plus
1/2 tsp cinnamon - stir together and set aside.
This is your topping.

Whisk (this is Gourmet, so you can't just stir: you must "whisk") the following:
2 tsp sugar (I used vanilla sugar - yum!)
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
Into this, whisk (again) in a slow stream:
1 1/2 cups whole milk. (Come on, it's crepes: use the whole stuff.)
Then add:
4 eggs one at a time, whisking well (as opposed to poorly?) after each addition.
Fold into this:
1 1/2 lbs gala apples (or Granny Smith or any firm, tart apple of your choice. 1 1/2 lbs is 3-4 baseball sized apples) that have been peeled, cored, and chopped into 1/8" dice
2 TBSP lemon juice (I found the full 1 1/2 lbs slightly too much--4 apples in my case--so next time I'll probably just use 3 apples so I have a little more body in the crepe to hold it all together.)

Heat 1/2 TBSP butter in a 6" nonstick skillet (use whatever size you want, but if you use the 6", you'll come up with more uniform size/shape than if you drop it like you would regular pancakes) until the foam subsides. Cook ~1/3 cup of the batter, spreading evenly to cover bottom. Cook until golden, turn once, and cook the other side until golden (recipe says about 4 minutes total). Repeat until your batter is used up. Serve with cinnamon and sugar. Should make about 12 pancakes.