Strawberry Cardamom Dutch Boy

Most people lay in bed and rest when they’re sick. I am not most people. I get restless and annoyed (read: bitchy) and it’s probably best for all involved if I don’t have contact with the outside world. On Sunday morning, I was planning on heading to the farmer’s market and then to the Taste of Arlington, but that would have required changing out of my pajamas, which in my condition would have been a Herculean effort. Add to it the rainy weather and it spelled a day of watching Top Chef on Bravo (I can’t stand Spike by the way). And trying my hand at a few new dishes, one of which was a Dutch Boy.

A dutch boy is a unique take on the simple pancake recipe. It involves very few ingredients and requires little prep time or hands on cooking. Even better, it’s one of those recipes that you can tweak without disastrous results. Considering my Dayquil induced state, this recipe was perfect for me to make, especially with the strawberries I got in my CSA box.

I found a great recipe for a dutch boy on the King Arthur Flour website (although they called it a puff pancake) and decided to take a few liberties with it. This included switching out the lemons and blueberries for strawberries and cardamom. I also upped the amount of vanilla in order to enhance the flavor of the strawberries. It was the perfect dish for a rainy sick day spent watching grown people squabble over food.

Strawberry Cardamom Dutch Boy (adapted from King Arthur Flour’s website)

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon sugar

pinch of salt

1/4 teaspoon cardamom

1/2 cup milk

1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

2 eggs

4 large strawberries, hulled and diced

10 to 12 inch oven proof skillet

Confectioners sugar for dusting

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees

First and foremost, it is important to have the right sized skillet. Every dutch boy recipe will reiterate this point as the size will dictate how well the dutch boy rises and holds its form.

Shift the flour, salt, cardamom and sugar together into a mixing bowl. In a large measuring cup, measure out one cup of milk and whisk in the eggs and the vanilla. Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour in the liquids. Using a whisk, blend the ingredients together until all the lumps are out of the batter. Add most of the strawberries, reserving some to top the finished dish.

Place the butter in the skillet and put it in the oven until it has melted. Take the skillet out of the oven, pouring the batter into the pan and immediately put it back into the oven. Allow it to bake for 20-30 minutes or until it’s golden and puffy.

Carefully shimmy (and yes, shimmy is the culinary term for this) the dutch boy out of the pan with a rubber spatula (or other flipping apparatus) and onto a plate. Dust it lightly with powdered sugar and top with the remaining strawberries.

I had this with some maple and black pepper bacon (not pictured…mostly because I ate it very quickly) that turned out to be quite delicious! I will definitely share the recipe in a future post!