I was going to make pancakes for breakfast this morning. But I figured that I'd better make them sourdough pancakes since my starter is still looking pretty neglected and sluggish. But, looking at the blog, I don't really have much in the way of sourdough pancake recipes. I have one that I got off a random blog. It seemed fine, but nothing to write home about. And in that post I mentioned the King Arthur Flour website. So I figured that maybe I'd take a look there before I committed to anything. And I did, indeed, find a promising-looking sourdough pancake recipe on the site! Unfortunately, it requires an overnight sponge. So that wasn't in the cards for today. But I've bookmarked it for later (possibly tomorrow) and, in the meantime, I needed to find something else for this morning.

After spending entirely too long browsing recipes, I settled on this puffed, vaguely soufflé-esque oven pancake thing. The batter is somewhat similar to a Dutch baby/Yorkshire pudding in its proportions, but, instead of mixing whole eggs into the batter, you separate the eggs and beat the whites to soft peaks with a bit of sugar. (In that respect, it's a lot like many of the extra-fluffy pancake or extra-light-and-crispy waffle recipes that I've seen.)

The batter is poured into a hot pan and baked in the oven not unlike a Dutch baby. But the temperature is lower and the whipped egg whites give it a very different final texture.

The finished pancake is topped with a berry compote and folded over like an omelette. (Sadly, mine broke when I tried to fold it.) It is then optionally topped with some sort of cultured dairy: In order of preference crème fraîche, sour cream, or Greek yogurt.

I'm pretty happy with the recipe overall. Even if it wasn't anything like what I'd originally had in mind for today!

Soufflé Pancake with Mixed Berries

Slightly adapted from King Arthur Flour

Ingredients

Batter

• 3 large eggs, separated
• 2 Tbsp. sugar
• 1/2 c. whole (3.25%) milk
• 1/8 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
• 1/3 c. all-purpose flour

Topping

• 1 Tbsp. unsalted butter
• 1 Tbsp. corn syrup
• 1/4 c. sugar
• 2 c. mixed berries, halved if large
• 1 tsp. lemon juice
• 1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/2 c. crème fraîche, sour cream, or Greek yogurt (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F).
2. Beat egg whites until foamy.
3. Add sugar, 1 Tbsp. at a time, and continue beating until soft peaks form.
4. In a separate bowl, combine egg yolks, milk, salt, vanilla, and butter.
5. Mix in flour.
6. Gently fold in egg whites.
7. Warm a large pan over medium-low heat and lightly grease or oil it.
8. Pour in the batter and gently swirl the pan.
9. Cook for 2-3 minutes to set the bottom.
10. Transfer to oven and bake at 180°C (350°F) for 10-12 minutes.
11. Meanwhile, melt the butter for the topping over medium heat.
12. Add the corn syrup and sugar and bring to a boil.
13. Add the berries, lemon juice, and cinnamon and stir to coat and combine.¹
14. Reduce heat to medium-low and continue cooking until berries are heated through (~3 minutes; longer for frozen berries).
15. Once the pancake is done, pour the berry mixture over it and fold the pancake in half like an omelette.
16. Cut into wedges and served topped with crème fraîche (or cultured dairy of your choice).

---

¹ If you're using frozen berries rather than fresh, you may also want to add a tsp. or so of cornstarch along with the berries to help your mixture thicken as the frozen berries will release a lot of liquid as they thaw. ^Back