SOUFFLE PANCAKES

What steroids are to batting averages, egg whites are to pancakes….

One of my many guilty pleasures is to watch Diners Drive-Ins and Dives ("Triple D") while eating an unhealthy snack.. or meal, or snack that turned into a meal.  Anyways, I digress.  I was watching Triple D the other day and saw an episode where  Guy Fieri goes to Berkeley, California visiting Betty's Ocean View Diner and they made this wonderful Souffle Pancake.

Thus my research began, and I found Steph at The Culinary Life  had a good recipe for a soufflé pancake, and Chef Michael Simon on The Chew had a good video tutorial but…. I made some modifications and I  came up with my own version.

* You will need a cast iron skillet (approx. 10 ")*

Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Yields: 1 large pancake (feeds 2-3 people)

Ingredients:

2 egg yolks
1 1/2 Tablespoons butter melted
1/3 cup white sugar (less if you desire a more savory pancake)
1/2 cup 2 % milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (or use almond extract)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup all purpose flower

3 egg whites (whipped until they form soft peaks)
2 Tablespoons of butter for pan (use a cast iron skillet)

Fruit of your liking to top pancake (I suggest strawberries, bananas, or blueberries)
Powdered Sugar to Top

DIRECTIONS:

Pre-heat your oven to 350.  Also pre-heat broiler.

WET MIXTURE

In a large bowl, using a wire whisk, whisk egg yolks and sugar. Add melted butter, whisk.  Add milk, vanilla, and salt, whisk.

Slowly whisk in flower until fully incorporated with no lumps. * You can also add a teaspoon of nutmeg or cinnamon to the wet mixture, if desired.

EGG WHITES

Now, with an electric mixer whip your egg whites until they form soft peaks (approximately 3 minutes).

Fold in the egg whites into the wet mixtures until there are just a few lumps of egg whites.  Note: the egg whites do not need to be perfectly incorporated.  Over mixture of the egg whites will prevent the pancake from getting nice and fluffy. Remember egg whites are the secret to this magical recipe!


Put your cast iron skillet on medium heat for one minute.  Add butter to coat your pan (this is key to prevent the pancake from sticking).  Pour your batter into the pan.  Let it sit one minute.  Add whatever cut up fruit you like directly to the top of the pancake (I used strawberries). Let it cook on medium for another minute or two until the batter looks firm (1-2 minutes).

Remove the pan from the stove top and place in broiler (1 minute or until gets a nice golden brown top).  Remove from broiler and finish baking in oven (3-5 minutes or until cooked through).

Remove from the oven.  Loosen sides and bottom of the pancake with a spatula. Slide onto plate, dust with powdered sugar ( I left this out) and mangia, mangia!