Recipe: Helen Goh’s Dutch Baby Pancake With Berries and Yoghurt Cream

Helen Goh is a big-time brunch fan. “I love the mix-and-match vibe of this in-between, convivial meal,” she writes in Baking and the Meaning of Life. 

When she’s feeding a crowd, the Ottolenghi collaborator turns to Dutch Baby pancakes. Unlike their pan-fried American cousins, Dutch pancakes (sometimes called German pancakes or Hooligans) are baked in the oven, and emerge looking more like an oversized Yorkshire pudding than a pancake. 

“They arrive … magnificently puffed up and then subside helpfully into a bowl shape that will carry any topping you fancy,” writes Goh, who calls this recipe and its savoury sibling her “secret weapons”.  

“With just a tweak of the simple batter, the pancakes can be sweet or savoury,” she writes. “Golden brown and crisp at the edges, soft and custardy in the centre, they are texturally delightful to eat.” 

Like the occasion of brunch itself, this recipe is an anything-goes situation. Just make sure your pan is scorching hot (this helps the pancake rise) and your toppings are ready to go – these babies will start deflating as soon as they come out of the oven. “You won’t want to miss the gasps when your guests see that glorious puffed-up pancake emerge.”

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Helen Goh’s Dutch baby pancake with berries and yoghurt cream

Serves: 4–6
Preparation time: 15 minutes, plus 2 hours to chill
Cooking time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

75g plain flour
1 tbsp caster sugar
¾ tsp fine sea salt
2 large eggs
125ml full-cream milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
Finely grated zest of 1 small orange
15g unsalted butter
2 tsp neutral oil

Yoghurt cream
120ml thickened or pure (double) cream
120g full-fat Greek yoghurt
20g mild, runny honey
15g icing sugar, sifted, plus extra for dusting
Scraped seeds of ½ vanilla bean

To serve
350g fresh mixed berries
20g toasted, flaked almonds (optional)

Method

Sift the flour, sugar and salt into a medium mixing bowl, make a well in the centre and crack the eggs into it. Whisk to break up the eggs, then slowly add the milk and vanilla. 

Continue to whisk, gradually drawing in the flour until the mixture is smooth. Finally, fold in the orange zest. Transfer the batter to a jug, cover and refrigerate until ready to bake (it can be kept in the fridge for up to 2 days).

Preheat the oven to 190°C fan-forced. Place a large, deep ovenproof frying pan, about 25cm in diameter, into the oven to heat up for about 5 minutes. Meanwhile, take the batter out of the fridge and stir well.

Remove the empty pan from the oven and add the butter and oil. Swirl the pan until the butter has melted, then return it to the oven. Pull the oven rack out slightly, then carefully pour the batter into the pan all at once. Push the rack back into the oven and bake for about 25 minutes, until golden brown and puffed up.

While the pancake is in the oven, prepare the yoghurt cream. Place all the ingredients in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and beat on medium-high speed until soft waves form, then refrigerate until ready to serve.

When the pancake is cooked, lift it out of the pan with a spatula and slide it onto a large plate. Scatter some of the berries on the pancake and serve immediately.

This is a lightly edited extract from Baking and the Meaning of Life by Helen Goh, photography by Laura Edwards. Published by Murdoch Books (RRP $55).