Raspberry Dutch Babies

Have you ever forgotten about a food and then when you are reunited you wonder how you could possibly have let such a perfect food escape your mind for so long?  

Dutch babies are just plain awesome lunch food...or breakfast food for those who like sweets in the morning.  They not only taste fantastic, but they literally come together with just a few minutes of prep. All of the actual dutch baby ingredients go into a blender and are then poured into the pan. You can top with fruit before baking or after baking...the rules are pretty fast and loose. 

So I'd forgotten about the wonder and joy of these super duper easy, but oh so schmance looking and tasting treats since last time I posted about them a couple of years ago.  Yeah, I can't believe it's been a couple of years either.  I pulled this month's Martha Stewart Living from my mailbox and flipped almost immediately to a beautiful picture of individual sized dutch babies with fresh blueberries.  I actually went into the kitchen and made them immediately using a hybrid of Martha's recipe with the recipe I used last time which included egg whites.  The ingredients for dutch babies are few and the process is minimal so recipes don't vary all that much, but I had a couple of egg whites to use up. I also really like the lighter, less eggy flavor of using egg whites.  Oranges are plentiful in this house so opted to zest those but these could really be made with any combination of fresh berries and zest.

I am finding that I love cast iron more and more recently.  While I have both All-Clad and Le Creuset skillets, I very often just leave my plain 'ole cast iron skillet from Target on the stove top as a default all purpose pan.  It's well seasoned and just feels so homey to be cooking in it.  

I bought these little individual sized ones awhile back at World Market ( $5.99 each and with a coupon I bought 5 for $20--gotta love that)  They are definitely not a one food wonder but are perfect for so many things....I use them for individual breakfast skillets, baking cornbread for serving at the table, baking individual sized cookies and about a zillion other things.  They are perfectly sized for individual dutch babies.  

I would hope it goes without saying but when preheating the skillets or serving in them, remember that these little suckas get hot, hot, hot.  

So perfectly puffy in the oven.  Have to say I love a recipe where a deflated food is considered successful.

Aren't they adorable little guys? Literally minutes to throw together here...can't beat that.

Raspberry Dutch Babies

adapted from Martha Stewart Living, June 2012

4 tsps butter, cut into one tsp slices

1 cup flour

3 tablespoons sugar

1/2 tsp finely grated orange zest

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1 cup milk

2 large eggs

2 large egg whites
1 tsp vanilla extract

9 oz fresh raspberries, gently washed

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Place 4 individual sized cast iron pans in oven to preheat. (or one 10 inch cast iron skillet)
2. Place the flour, sugar, salt, milk, vanilla, eggs and zest into blender and process for 30 seconds. Let rest for 1 hour at room temp or overnight in refrigerator. (If refrigerating, allow batter to come to room temp prior to baking)
3. Carefully remove hot pans from oven and place 1 tsp of  butter into each.  Swirl to melt.
4. Carefully pour the batter into the preheated skillet. Sprinkle with half of the fresh raspberries
5. Bake on the middle rack of the oven for 15-20 minutes or until the edges are puffed and brown.
6. Sprinkle with remaining fresh raspberries and dust with powdered sugar before serving.