baked pancakes with strawberry syrup

There comes a time in winter, usually after the fifteenth snowfall and the hundredth day of forcing out my warm, down-feathered, comforter-covered feet onto the ice cold floor, I begin to crave weather that is above fifty degrees. It is pretty easy to conjure up a cheerful exclamation as I press my nose against a cold window pane, my breath frosting over the glass proclaiming it officially winter as I watch the first snowflakes fall to the ground — but snowfall, after snowfall, after snowfall my enthusiasm wanes until I wake up like I did today and grumble that we have five more inches of snow to trod through.

Actually we have two days hibernating inside before any trodding, giving us a Monday full of dirty, wet slush through which we must commute — let’s not think about it. Instead, let’s focus on these pancakes. These are perhaps the easiest pancakes you will ever make being made from simple ingredients even the snow-bound have in their pantry. They take less than 3.5 minutes to assemble, 30 minutes to bake and maybe 4 minutes to eat, if you can make it last that long and have the most adorable, floppy edges, perfect for sopping up strawberry syrup.

Baked Pancakes
Taken from an Oster Blender Booklet

Note: I’ve been told these are called “German Pancakes” which means, I love German, well, anything. But especially their pancakes.

Servings: 2 9-inch pancakes.

4 eggs
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup flour, sifted
2/3 cup milk
2 tablespoons butter, softened

Heat oven to 400°F. Butter two 9-inch cake pans. In blender add eggs and process on low speed  for 1 – 2 minutes, or until pale yellow in color. Add remaining ingredients and process on medium speed until smooth. Pour into buttered pans and bake 20 minutes; then reduce heat to 350°F and bake 10 minutes. Serve with powdered sugar and strawberry syrup

Simple Strawberry Syrup

Since it’s the dead of winter and the strawberries around here are grainy, watery and bland I used frozen, but I did add directions for fresh berries as well. Also I think this recipe would be good with just about any fruit — blueberries, blackberries, peaches, etc. You might need a tablespoon or two more sugar, but I see no reason as to why it wouldn’t taste just as good. And of course frozen fruit will need a bit more sugar than fresh, ripe fruit.

1 cup frozen strawberries
1/4 – 1/2 cup sugar, depending on your sweet-tooth
1 cup water
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon almond extract, if you’re feeling especially cooped-up*

In a small saucepan add frozen strawberries, water and sugar. Boil together over medium heat until thick, about 5 – 10 minutes. Add extracts and stir. You can either spoon the macerated berries over your pancakes or blend the berries and their juice until smooth and pour over your pancakes. And if you are anti-seed just pass the syrup through a fine mesh strainer before pouring on your pancakes.

Alternately: If using fresh berries, you will probably have to dial back the sugar a bit, around 1/8 cup – 1/4 cup, and the cooking will be slightly shorter since the berries do not have to thaw. You want them to cook down until soft and macerated. Don’t be afraid to break them up with a wooden spoon — it’s all going in the blender anyway.

*You could also vamp things up with lemon or lime zest, lemon juice, a dash or cinnamon, a vanilla bean, a glug of Cointreau, and I’m just getting started.