German Pancakes & Buttermilk Syrup

Thank goodness Annelie was here to help for that first week or two after Jonas was born. Nothing like new mommy hormones and the irresistible desire to sit and stare at your new little bundle of deliciousness to make you lose track of time and let every normal household routine go down the tube. Not that that's a bad thing, I'm just really thankful I had someone to think about all the things I never would have in a million years ... like breakfast. Seriously, without Annelie breakfast would have been a fend for yourself event. There's bananas in the fruit basket, cereal on the shelf, and milk in the fridge - we're all good, right? But Annelie brought some rhythm to our day by making breakfast so yummy that everyone actually voluntarily came to the table for it.

My FAVORITE thing she made was German Pancakes with that indescribably heavenly Buttermilk Syrup. I finally realized that the reason it's so perfect is that it tastes like liquid cookie dough. (Ok, I think I just made it sound gross without meaning to.) But it's totally not. It's unbelievable. And whenever I make it I immediately remember sitting on the front porch at our table in the coolish summer mornings with the sunshine warming things up, and my sweet little baby either on my lap or in his little bassinet on the porch right beside me.

Heaven.

German Pancakes

1 cup milk

4 eggs

1 cup flour

a little salt

1/2 stick butter



Lower oven rack. Melt butter in casserole dish. (I have one of those old round deep Pyrex ones that works great.) Combine in order: milk, eggs, flour, salt. Mix on high for 3 minutes in blender, food processor, or hand mixer. Pour batter into hot butter and bake at 425 20-30 minutes or until fluffy in the middle, a tad crispy around the edges, and golden brown.



Buttermilk Syrup

1 cup butter

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup buttermilk

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp vanilla

Melt butter in a large saucepan. (You need a big pan because it bubbles up a lot.) Add sugar and buttermilk. Bring to boil, stirring often enough that it doesn't burn or scald. Remove from heat when full boil is reached. Stir in vanilla and baking soda and pour on just about anything to serve. Leftovers can be refrigerated and reheated in microwave.