Chocolate Dutch Baby: Guest Post by Judie Siddall

My sister Judie Siddall and I share many things, one of which is that for many years we both made Dutch Babies on a weekly basis. So when I saw her post about a Chocolate Dutch Baby on Facebook, I knew she should do a guest post for DyingforChocolate. Chocolate Dutch Baby! What a terrific idea! Thank you, Sunset. Thank you, Smitten Kitchen. Thank you, Judie.

Judie Siddall owns a small antiques business, Merlin Antiques, that specializes in British transferware. She's collected transferware since her teens. She is the founder of the Transferware Collectors Club, an editor of the TCC Database of Patterns and Sources, and had served as the TCC president, vice president, and membership secretary. She is also a wife, mother of three, and grandmother of seven.

Judie Siddall:
DUTCH BABY

Three things were new to me in January 1977: a husband, a kitchen, and a Dutch Baby. Not a human baby, he came later, but a buttery, fluffy, huge pancake that was gorgeous to look at (for a minute before it deflated) and delicious to eat. The recipe arrived by mail in the January 1977 issue of Sunset Magazine. I liked the Dutch Baby so much that I think made it nearly every week for 10 years, and then I didn't. My kitchen grew old and my children complained. They wanted meat!

Recently, two things happened. I remodeled my kitchen! I had an oven the was reliable! And, a recipe for a Chocolate Dutch Baby arrived by email from the superb blog, Smitten Kitchen. I had never thought of adding chocolate to a Dutch Baby. It seemed perfect without it. But I tried it and loved it, so I thought I'd share the recipe.

Smitten Kitchen's Chocolate Dutch Baby 
January 17, 2017. You'll get more information from the link, but I added some of my own ideas here. 

Heat oven to 425 degrees F.

Ingredients
4 large eggs
2 tablespoons (25 grams) sugar
1/4 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
6 tablespoons (50 grams) all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons (15 grams) unsweetened cocoa powder, any variety, sifted if lumpy. (I used Peet's unsweetened Dutch Cocoa)
1/2 cup (120ml) milk (I used 1%, but use whole milk if you have it)
4 tablespoons (60 grams) unsalted butter
Shaved dark chocolate and powdered sugar (to finish). I skipped the extra chocolate, but I did use the powdered sugar.
Fresh berries and syrup (to serve, if desired) I used blueberries and strawberries, but no syrup.

Directions
Whisk (I haven't used my circa 1960s whisk in years) eggs, sugar, and salt in the bottom of a medium bowl. I used the largest of my 1970s Pyrex bowls because I am a messy mixer. Add flour and cocoa, whisking until mostly smooth (some tiny lumps are okay, but whisk out what you can). Drizzle in milk, whisking the whole time.
Heat a 12-inch ovenproof skillet on the stove over high heat. Add butter and melt, tipping the pan around so it butters the sides too. Turn heat off and scrape batter into the pan. Transfer skillet to the oven and bake for 16 to 18 minutes, until pancake is billowy.

Fluffy in the Oven

Just like my old Dutch Babies, the pancake delates quickly.

Deflating

Deflated

Here are some of my Chocolate Dutch Baby thoughts. Despite its sweet sounding name, it is not that sweet. I suggest using the shaved chocolate and the syrup if you have sweet tooth. If you want a light chocolate pancake to enhance you fruit experience (I did), than leave out the extra sweets.

***

One more thing. Here is the original Dutch Baby recipe from 1977. I always tore out my favorite Sunset recipes and put them in a folder. I am so glad I saved them!

Sunset Magazine Dutch Baby

I know it's too small to read, so below I present the recipe for the large version. I always made the largest Dutch Baby (there are different sizes).

Heat oven to 425 degrees 

Pan Size: 4-1/2 - 5 quarts - I used a large paella pan.

Ingredients
1/2 cup butter
6 eggs
1-1/2 cups flour
1-1/2 cups milk

Directions
Put the butter in the pan and set in the oven. Mix the batter quickly while the butter melts (I always had the mixture ready before I did this).
Put eggs in a blender, and whirl at high speed for about 1 minute.
With motor running, gradually pour in milk, then slowly add flour, and continue to whirl for about 30 seconds more. It is so easy to do in a blender!
This is when I put the pan in the oven and melt the butter. When butter is melted, remove the pan from the oven and pour the batter into the hot melted butter.
Bake in the oven for 20 to 25 minutes.

Use your favorite topping. Perhaps chocolate?

Orange Chocolate Bundt Cake: Carleen M. Loper guest post

Today I welcome Carleen M. Loper. I 'met' Carleen through a Facebook group: Picture This. Our group is all about taking photos. Of course, as any group goes, there are also other shared interests. Chocolate is usually one of them!

Carleen M. Loper is an Assistant Librarian at Bridgewater State University (MA). She writes humor and nature essays, as well as being a supporter of environmental causes and baking up a storm.

CARLEEN M. LOPER:

Janet saw my Facebook photo of an Orange-Chocolate Bundt Cake, and because she's human, she immediately wanted a slice. As it goes with recipes, I adapted my recipe from Deb Perelman's Smitten Kitchen version, and she in turn had adapted hers from Ina Garten's Barfeoot Contessa Parties! original. Cooking and baking are all about making food your own!

I'm a volunteer with a land trust, and we have programs that include "light refreshments." Tomorrow morning residents will hopefully be inspired to help the environment when they hear a local river restoration specialist. I do my best to bribe attendance with fabulous baked goods. At the last event, a little old woman with a babushka-vibe about her piled about ten pieces of my banana-carrot bread into her satchel. If she attends again, she may want to look out for the ooey-gooey factor of this cake!

Adapted recipe: cut the sugar down to a little under one and a half cups. Left off the ganache -- not needed. Cake is very chocolatey and very delicious!

Orange Chocolate Bundt Cake

Ingredients
1/2 pound sweet butter, room temperature
1 1/4 cups sugar
4 extra-large eggs, room temperature
1/4 cup grated orange zest (from 4 large oranges)
3 cups flour, plus 2 Tbsp
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp kosher salt
1/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
3/4 cup buttermilk, room temperature
1 tsp Madagascar vanilla extract
 2 cups good dark chocolate chunks (or dark chocolate chips)

Syrup
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C). Grease and flour 10-inch Bundt pan.
2. Cream butter and sugar in bowl of electric mixer fitted with paddle attachment for about 5 minutes, or until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, then add orange zest.
3. Sift together 3 cups flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in large bowl.
4. In another bowl, combine orange juice, buttermilk, and vanilla.
5. Add flour and buttermilk mixtures alternately in thirds to creamed butter, beginning and ending with flour.
6. Toss chocolate chunks (or chips) with 2 tablespoons flour and add to batter.
7. Pour into pan, smooth top, and bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until cake tester comes out clean. Let the cake cool in pan on wire rack for 10 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, make syrup: In small saucepan over medium-low heat, cook sugar with orange juice until sugar dissolves. Remove cake from pan, set on a rack over a tray, and spoon orange syrup over the cake. Allow cake to cool completely.