Apricot Bluberry Dutch Baby

Dutch baby or puff pancake. Is there a difference? If I was a full-time blogger, or if I made any money off this blog from advertising (have you noticed that my blog is ad-free? those cutesy baking blogs with all the annoying advertising are a bit of a pet-peeve of mine) to offset my time, it might be worth investing in research between what makes a dutch baby a dutch baby and what makes a puff pancake a puff pancake. I use the terms completely interchangeably, and I bet a lot of others do too. It could very well be that they are completely interchangeable, but it might be a while - if ever - before I have the answer because I would much rather spend my time baking and eating these guys than finding out what to call them. And for today, this "baby" is going to be dutch, because not long ago I wrote a post about a puff pancake and I don't want to bore you with a lack of creativity.

I tried a different recipe this time, which had more eggs and greater ratio of flour and milk. The batter also included sugar. I changed too many variables to make for any sort of useful comparison of the batters. The main difference was that this time I folded fresh fruit directly into the batter before baking, whereas previously I cooked the batter and then served it with cooked fruit on top. As you might expect, the version cooked with the fruit was not as crispy and was more custardy. You might also attribute that to larger amounts of eggs and milk. 

I think the only way to get to the bottom of such a comparison as this is to make it over and over. And over. And then to eat it over and over. And over.

I used apricots which were local from Washington and felt perfectly ripe - I'd left them in a brown paper bag with a banana for two days and then in the fridge for a day. When I sliced them up - ooo so sour! And really not very juicy. But baked in a buttery sweetened batter in a hot oven made these sparkling citrine jewels gleam and burst with fruity, aromatic tenderness.

Dutch Baby with Apricots and Blueberries

serves 2 farm animals or 8 supermodels

3 eggs

2/3 cup milk (I used skim)

2/3 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup sugar (I used Spenda for baking - try it! besides sweetening iced tea, I consider this its perfect application)

2 1/2 tablespoons butter

2 apricots, pitted; one diced and one sliced

1/4 cup blueberries

powdered sugar

Place 10" cast iron skillet in oven, and preheat oven to 425.

Whisk together eggs, milk, flour, and sugar. Stir in diced apricot and a handful of blueberries.

Melt butter in hot skillet. Pour batter on top of butter, and working quickly so batter doesn't cook too much, layer sliced apricot in an attractive design atop batter. Return to center of the oven. Bake 20-25 minutes, until puffed and golden.

Cut into quarters and serve topped with a few more fresh blueberries and sifted powdered sugar.