Does anyone know the origin of "Dutch Baby"?

Question

It's a breakfast food that I had at a friend's house and it's made with egg and I don't think it has anything to do with Holland. I just thought it was an odd name.

Answer 1

To quote Rachel Ray, YUMM-O! .... love Dutch Babies. I'm not sure, but I think they probably originated in Germany because they're also called "German Pancakes" (pannekoeken) ...used to have some history on that, but can't seem to locate it so don't remember if it was Dutch first or German first... they're very close geographcially though and share very similar languages.

They're basically egg-y "pancakes," which are baked in a cast iron skillet in an oven where they puff up then fall back a bit in the middle, and traditionally served with lemon juice and powdered sugar on the side... but they're also often prepared with a filling of some sort on top, esp. by restaurants and bed & breakfast places, etc.... sliced apples are probably the most popular filling.

Here's one recipe (they can vary a bit, even for the "plain" ones), and pretty easy to do:
http://whatscookingamerica.net/Eggs/GermanPancake.htm

and here are some better pics of a Dutch Baby, as well as a pic of an "Apple Pancake" (Dutch Baby with apples/cinammon topping baked with it):
http://www.originalpancakehouse.com/phm_specialties2.html
http://www.cornichon.org/archives/Dutch%20Baby%20w%20condiments.jpg


Diane B.