Apple Puff Pancake

I have a recipe to share with you that I just received.  My favorite publication came in the mail yesterday, Notes from Toad Hall.  It is a news letter written by Margie Hack.  She and her husband run the ministry Ransom Fellowship.  Ransom Fellowship publishes the magazine Critique that has 6 or 7 issues a year.  But my favorite part of Ransom Fellowship is Notes from Toad Hall.  Sadly this only comes 4 times a year and is usually only 6 to 8 pages, but when my copy comes in the mail, I stop everything I am doing to see what Margie has to share.  Margie has a way of writing that draws out God's beauty in everything!  Margie always inspires me to slow down and look at all the ways that God is working in and around me, in the things that seem good and the things that seem bad.  I have only met Margie briefly at our church in St. Louis, but I feel like I have known her for years!  Every time I read Notes from Toad Hall I feel like I am sitting in her living room having a conversation, always leaving uplifted.

In this issue, Margie included this recipe for Apple Puff Pancake.  I thought, if Margie likes it, it has to be great.  Since it is officially summer at the Lee House and we tend to get our day started a little bit slower in the summer, I thought this would be a fun treat for the kids.

Apple Puff Pancake
Heat oven to 450 degrees.  Melt 3 T. butter in cast iron skillet.  Make sure the sides are greased too.

3 apples, peeled and thinly sliced (I only used two)
1/4 c. brown sugar
1/2 t. cinnamon

Layer apple slices in iron skillet.  Sprinkle sugar and cinnamon over apples.  Bake for 10-12 minutes or until apples begin to soften and caramelize, stirring after 5 minutes.

2 eggs
3/4 c. milk
1/2 t. salt
1 T. sugar
3/4 c. flour

Whisk eggs and milk.  Add flour, sugar and salt.  Whisk just until smooth.  Pour over apples and bake for 15-20 minutes or until top is puffy and edges are browned.  If it doesn't puff, it is still yummy. (can serve drizzled with maple syrup)

(this is what it looks like when you put it back in the oven)

And it comes out looking like this!

(I will warn you, it does puff up a lot.  So, be careful which rack you put it and and make sure there is plenty of room for puffing.  I am still trying to get used to my new oven.  I knew I could not put it on the bottom because I have burned everything I have cooked on the bottom rack so far.  I decided to put it on the top rack.  When I opened the oven, the pancake and had puffed so much it was all over the elements.  That is why I have some very black burned spots around the edges of mine, yours probably will not have the charring like mine does in this picture.)

I am going to be completely honest, I am not much of a sweets person for breakfast.  As much as I love french toast and pancakes, they just make me sick if I eat them for breakfast.  I knew if I ate this, I would regret it, but I could not resist.  It looked sooo gooey and good!  And it was!  And I did regret it.  But it was so worth it!  I will say, I do think this would make a great dessert if you are having a few people over.  Serve it right out of the oven with some vanilla bean ice cream.  It makes me hungry just thinking about it!

I officially have a new helper in the kitchen.  Sara Wells is never far from me, she actually prefers to be in my arms at all times.  This is extremely difficult when trying to prepare meals.  I think the countertops in the new kitchen are lower than ours because Sara Wells can now stand on a chair and be at the perfect height to watch me cook.  Sara Wells put every apple in the iron skillet this morning for our pancake.  Watching and helping me cook seems to take her mind off the fact that I am not holding her.