"A" Pancake

While my kids were young, (about 35 years ago), they would often ask me to fix the kind of foods that they liked best for breakfast. It was often a food that they called, “A Pancake” (when they pronounced this, they would have a hard “A”, like “A” pancake).
These were actually baked pancakes, instead of fried-on-a-griddle kind. They are often referred to as “Dutch Babies”. They are not light and fluffy, but fairly dense and heavy.  They are typically served with fruit and a bit of powdered sugar or syrup.
These pancakes puff dramatically while in the oven and are fun to watch as they puff and bake and rise in the baking pan.  Immediately upon taking them out of the oven, they deflate and flatten -- so if the kids are around, they will want to watch the pancake as it bakes - and particularly when it is brought out of the oven.
Here are the ingredients I use:

• four extra large eggs
• 2/3 cup of all-purpose flour
• 2/3 cup of milk
• 1/4 tsp salt
• three Tbs melted butter
• 2 Tbs room temperature butter (for the baking pan)

First beat the eggs lightly in a large mixing dish.
(a larger one than I show here).
Add flour, salt, milk and melted butter.

Normally, since the eggs and milk are cold from the refrigerator, I then put the mixture in my microwave for 20-30 seconds to bring the entire mixture up to room temperature.  This makes the baking quicker and assures even baking.
Use an oven-safe pan with sloping sides.  This can be a cast-iron pan or something that will NOT hurt the handles when placed in a hot oven.
Pre-heat the oven to 380 F.  Place the empty baking pan in the hot oven for 3-5 minutes.  Then put the room-temperature butter in the hot pan inside the oven.  Always be careful around hot ovens and hot pans.

When the butter has melted (and before the butter starts to burn), pour the pancake batter into the hot pan and close the oven door.

Watch as the transformation takes place in the pan.
The pancake will begin to rise into unusual shapes as it bakes.  It will be done in 10-13 minutes (depending on the heating characteristics of the pan itself).
The pancake is done when the center of the pancake is clearly cooked.   Remove the pan from the oven and place it on a large plate of platter and sprinkle with powdered sugar or syrup.  Cut into pieces for serving.
Enjoy your "A" pancake.