German Apple Pancake

A Holiday Breakfast Treat

This coming weekend will include a fun overlap—my birthday and the first night of Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish New Year). So, for this installment of the California Breakfast series, I’m sharing one of my favorite apple-filled breakfasts, which is perfect for both celebrations.

In my family, we have always marked special occasions with apple breakfasts. When I was kid, my mom would make baked apples filled with nuts, raisins, and brown sugar and serve them with a bit of heavy cream. Then, when I was a bit older, a friend gave her this recipe, and it became our go-to celebration breakfast.

This was also the very first dish I cooked for my husband. We had just met a few weeks earlier—we lived on the same floor in college—but after he took one bite, he immediately (jokingly) proposed. So now the two of us make this pancake for our special occasions and birthdays, too.

This is also a perfect Rosh Hashanah treat. There are apples in the batter and sweet, soft, caramelized apples in the center. Add a drizzle of honey, and it’s the New Year on a plate.

German Apple Pancake

Makes 1 large pancake (2-4 servings)

1 lb whole tart apples, plus ½ cup thinly sliced apples*
½ cup plus 1½ tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
¼ cup granulated sugar
Cinnamon and nutmeg
Zest of 1 orange (optional)
¾ cup all-purpose flour
¾ cup whole milk
½ teaspoon Kosher salt
3 large eggs
Powdered sugar

1. Heat the oven to 450°F.

2. Make the filling: Peel and cut the whole apples into slices about 1/4” thick. Melt ¼ cup of the butter in a cast iron pan and sauté the apples for 1 minute. Add the sugar, season with cinnamon and nutmeg, and cook the apples until they are tender but not soft, 8 to 10 minutes. Add the orange zest, if using, and stir to combine. Set the apples aside.

3. Beat the flour, milk, salt, and eggs together until you have a very smooth batter. (I do this with a whisk.)

4. Heat the remaining 1½ tablespoons of butter in a 12” skillet. Pour in the batter, and put the whole thing into the oven to bake for 10 minutes, until the pancake is light brown and crisp. If the pancake bubbles as it is cooking, pierce it with the tip of a paring knife.

5. As soon as the pancake is done, slide it onto a serving plate. Pour the filling onto one side of the pancake, then fold it in half. Dust with powdered sugar before serving, if you like.

*Sorry for the an odd instruction; this is how the measurements were given to me, and I find it works well!

Photo: Georgia Freedman