German Pancake with Roasted Peaches and Macadamias
german pancake with roasted peaches and macadamia nuts
Roasted peaches, whole macadamias and a dark caramel, and then lime zest grated over the top at the end, which is the move that makes the whole thing.
Caramel and peach and butter are all sweet, all soft and all in the same register. Lime zest is sharp and bitter and cold and it cuts straight through. Grated on at the table, not before — the oils in citrus zest go dull within about ten minutes.
Roast the peaches rather than frying them. Cut side up on a tray, they concentrate instead of falling apart.
- Feeds
- 4
- Hands-on
- 20 minutes
- Peaches
- Roasted, 20 minutes
- Finish
- Lime zest, at the table
What you need
The batter
- 4 large eggs, at room temperature
- 2/3 cup flour
- 2/3 cup whole milk, warmed
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 4 tbsp butter, for the pan
The roasted peaches
- 5 firm ripe peaches, halved and stoned, then in thick slices
- 2 tbsp butter, melted
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
The caramel and the top
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 3 tbsp butter
- 1/3 cup heavy cream, warmed
- A good pinch of flaky salt
- 3/4 cup whole macadamia nuts
- Icing sugar, for dusting
- Zest of 1 lime
How it goes
1 — Batter blended and rested thirty minutes
Blitzed smooth, left on the counter. Everything at room temperature.
2 — Roast the peach slices, do not fry them
Tossed in melted butter and brown sugar, spread on a tray at 425°F for twenty minutes. They shrink, concentrate and take colour at the edges while staying in one piece.
3 — Make the caramel dry, and do not stir it
Sugar alone in a dry pan over medium heat. It melts at the edges and goes amber. Swirl the pan, never stir — a spoon makes it crystallise into a sandy lump.
4 — Butter, then warm cream, off the heat
Pan off the flame, butter whisked in, then the warm cream poured in slowly. It will erupt and hiss. Flaky salt stirred in at the end.
pro tip — Warm the cream first. Cold cream into hot caramel seizes it into a solid disc and you start again.
5 — Macadamias whole, into the caramel
Whole, not chopped. Stirred through the warm caramel so they are coated. They stay loud against everything soft around them.
6 — Hot pan, hot butter, batter, straight in
Skillet preheated at 425°F, butter foaming, batter poured in and into the oven for twenty minutes without opening the door.
7 — Fill it while the walls are still up
Straight out of the oven, the peaches and caramelised macadamias spooned into the well in the middle while the rim is still standing. It sinks around them.
8 — Icing sugar, then lime zest, at the table
Dusted, then the lime grated over in front of everybody. That is the smell that hits before the first forkful.
Watching a lil nightwave and getting lit. It is that kind of pancake. LFG.