Puffy Pancake

Puffy Pancake

This is basically a crepe that magically balloons up in the oven. You'll notice that there's rather a lot of butter in it, but after all, you don't make it that often, and it's nowhere near as good if you use less. At least you don't serve it with syrup — just a little powdered sugar and (for those who like it) fresh lemon juice. As with a crepe, you can experiment with your family's favorite fillings. We like adding apples.

Serves 4 to 6

You'll need a 12-inch skillet with a heatproof handle (cast iron works best) — or you'll need to make two half-batches, one after the other, in two 10-inch skillets.

1 cup flour
1 cup milk (2 percent is fine)
4 large eggs, beaten with 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Pinch of salt
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
1/8 cup confectioners sugar
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (optional)

Heat oven to 425.

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, milk, eggs with nutmeg, and salt; it's fine to leave the batter a bit lumpy.

Melt butter in the skillet over medium heat. When it's sizzling and just about to turn brown (about 4 minutes) remove from heat and pour batter into skillet.

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until puffy and golden brown. Sprinkle with sugar and return to oven for a minute or two. ("Use a potholder. I grabbed the handle, like a fool," wrote my mother in the margin.) Then sprinkle with lemon juice, if using, and serve immediately, passing around more confectioners sugar at the table.

Variation:

To get in some fruit, sauté 2 peeled, cored, chopped apples in the melted butter until tender. Add 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon to batter along with nutmeg, then pour batter on apples and proceed on schedule.