Vanilla Bean Dutch Baby Recipe and a Giveaway

Oh Boy!  Or should I say, Oh Baby!?  I can’t believe it’s my first time making a Dutch Baby.  And I can certainly assure you that I’ll be making it again and again.  A Dutch Baby pancake, sometimes called a German pancake, is a sweet popover that is normally served for breakfast.  It’s made with a light batter using just a few simple ingredients, such as milk, eggs, flour, vanilla, sugar and baked in a pre-heated cast iron pan.  As you can see from my pictures, the edges of the Dutch Baby popped up quite a bit and were super light and crispy.  The center is tender, slightly flaky and moist.  



I love vanilla bean, it’s probably one of the spices that I use most often in baking and desserts.  Even when I’m making chocolate or lemon cakes, a little dash of vanilla adds depth to the flavor and enhances the whole flavor profile of the dessert.  This Vanilla Bean Dutch Baby Recipe is adopted from the recipe book Pure Vanilla by Shauna Sever.  In addition to the 80 recipes accompanied by dozens of mouthwatering full-color photos, Pure Vanilla also explores the history of vanilla from orchid to extract and provides the fascinating origins and helpful tasting notes for all of today’s varieties.  Before I read through Shauna’s book, I didn’t know the seeds from the vanilla beans don’t impart lots of flavor, but it’s the pod that carries most of the flavor and fragrance.  It’s always awesome to learn something new while drooling over some delectable recipes at the same time.  Don’t you agree?



Shauna’s recipe suggested to serve this Dutch Baby with Crème Anglaise, which I know it’s going to be awesome.  Since I already have some Homemade Vanilla Bean Whipped Cream in the fridge from the day before, I used that instead and added a ton of fresh berries as well.  Oh baby, it’s heavenly!  Another change that I’ve made to the recipe was the amount of salt used.  Since my family is on a low-sodium diet, I cut down on the salt in the recipe by quite a bit.  I’ll clarify the amount in the recipe below. 



This wonderful breakfast recipe is perfect when you have companies over.  It’s so gorgeous and with such a “Wow factor” that your guests are going to be really impressed when you bring this baby to the table! 



Of course, my kids were excited to see this for breakfast.  It’s so good that you can even have this as dessert.  No one is going to complain, for sure! 



Are you interested to win a copy of Pure Vanilla and learn everything about Vanilla?  I’m giving away a copy of the book Pure Vanilla, courtesy of Quirk Books and Shauna.  Here are the details:

One lucky uTry.it reader (with an U.S. or Canada mailing address) will win a copy of “Pure Vanilla”.

This giveaway is now closed.  Winner has been announced and contacted.  

To enter, simply leave a comment and tell me what’s your favorite recipe using vanilla.  Deadline to enter is February 2nd, 2013 by mid-night PST.  Winner will be selected through Random.org and announce shortly after the giveaway is closed.

For extra entries, do any or all of the following (leave a separate comment for each extra entry):

1)  Add me to your Google+ circle here
2) "Like" uTry.it's Facebook Page, click here.
3) Share this giveaway on Facebook (with a link back to this post please)
4) Pin a picture from this post onto Pinterest.

That’s all and Good Luck everyone!



 
Disclaimer: I received a copy of “Pure Vanilla” free of charge for the purpose of this review. I was not compensated in any other way.  All opinions are 100% my own and always will be.
 




Vanilla Bean Dutch Baby: (Printable Recipe)
Makes: 1 (10-inch) pancake

2/3 cup low-fat milk
2 large eggs, plus 1 large egg white, at room temperature
2 tablespoons granulated sugar (I used vanilla sugar)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, divided
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
11/4 teaspoons salt (I only used 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt)

Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat oven to 425 degree F.  Place a 10-inch ovenproof skillet in oven to heat.

In a blender, combine milk, eggs and egg whites, sugar, 1 tablespoon of the butter, vanilla extract, and vanilla bean paste.  Blend until smooth, about 1 minute.  Add flour, baking powder, and salt and blend for 30 seconds more.

Remove skillet from oven.  Pour the remaining butter into the hot pan and swirl to coat evenly.  Pour in batter.  Bake until Dutch baby is puffed and golden, 30 to 35 minutes.  Cut into quarters and serve immediately.

Vanilla Bean Popovers: A popover is really just a miniature Dutch baby.  For smaller but equally delicious treats, pour the batter into a popover pan and bake as directed above.