Herman says: If you want to upset any aunt at a church bazaar, you should tell her the Dutch call a baked batter that puffs up in the oven a pancake. In our country, pancakes are subject to strictly defined parameters by the community of women who cook. And that’s OK, because pancakes have helped fund many a church and school! Because of this, I also believed that no place or country outside our borders could make pancakes, which are always rolled up and served with cinnamon sugar. But in 2010, I visited the Netherlands for the first time, and I instantly fell in love with the country: the buildings, the people, the art and the way they talked about food to me, almost as if I already lived there. It was winter and the snow lay pure white and very thick. For a Kalahari child who barely knows rain, snow is very difficult to make peace with. The only way I could survive the freezing cold was with food and hot chocolate – not bad armour! At my first breakfast in the country, I read on the menu something called a “Bismarck with fruit”. The waiter explained that this was a German pancake also known as a “Dutch baby”. The Americans called it that as their way of translating “Deutsch” (German). But as the waiter explained, these days the pancakes are very much at home on Dutch tables. I order, and a steaming cast iron skillet with puffed-up treats shows up at my table… and it’s heavenly! I order again the next day, and again in the days that follow. I make peace with the fact that pancakes come in many forms.
Serves: 4
Ingredients
For the fruit
- 4 plums, halved and kernels removed
- 200g raspberries
- 100g brown sugar
- 45ml honey
For the pancake
- 4 eggs
- 250ml of milk
- 140g cake flour
- 80g caster sugar
- 5ml vanilla essence
- 30g butter
- icing sugar for dusting
Method
- Heat oven to 200 °C.
- Place plums and berries in a casserole dish. Sprinkle with sugar and honey and place in the hot oven. Roast for 15 minutes or until fruits become soft. Make pancakes while the fruit is baking.
- Beat eggs, milk, flour, sugar and vanilla together until you get a smooth batter.
- Place 2 cast iron pans with a 15 cm diameter in the oven for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and place on an open flame or hot plate with half of the butter in each pan. Once the butter is melted, divide the batter between the two pans. Place immediately back in the oven and bake for 25–30 minutes or until puffed out and golden brown. Dust with icing sugar and serve with the roasted fruit.
