The single-pan oven pancake that Manca's Cafe popularised in Seattle in the 1900s and Tilikum Place Cafe carries today. Eggs, flour, butter, oven, lemon and sugar.
Where to eat it: 2 restaurants across 1 city.
The Dutch baby was reportedly invented at Manca's Cafe in Seattle around 1920 by Victor Manca, who renamed the Bavarian Pfannkuchen on his menu in honour of his small daughter who could not pronounce Deutsch. Manca's closed in the 1950s but the recipe survived because Sunset magazine published it in 1942 and again in 1972, giving the dish national circulation. Tilikum Place Cafe in Belltown, opened by chef Ba Culbert in the late 2000s, anchored the dish back in Seattle's brunch repertoire: a cast-iron skillet pre-heats in the oven, melted clarified butter goes in, then a thin egg-flour-milk batter, then 15 minutes at 230 C until the edges shoot up the side of the pan. The classic version is finished with lemon, icing sugar and maple syrup; Culbert also runs savoury versions with caramelised onions and gruyere.
Common allergens: Dairy, Gluten, Egg
Tip from the editors. If the pancake fails to climb the pan, the oven is not hot enough or the batter was cold from the fridge. Both must be aggressive: hot pan, room-temperature batter, fast pour.
This is the TableJourney editorial recipe, modelled on the canonical bistro / counter version. The first place to try the dish in its city of origin is below.
Tilikum Place Cafe in Seattle's Belltown is the historic brick brunch room with 12 tables and Ba Culbert's Dutch baby: a 15-minute cast-iron oven pancake, the city's defining brunch order.
Order: The classic Dutch baby with lemon, powdered sugar and maple syrup
Cafe Campagne in Seattle's Pike Place runs the city's most enduring French brunch since 1994: croque madame, oeufs en cocotte, Lyonnaise salad, all on Post Alley's quiet side.
Order: Croque madame with Sancerre by the glass
More cities are in research. Want dutch baby pancake covered somewhere specific? Tell us where you want to eat.