Baked Apple Pancake recipe?

Anyone have a great and successful recipe for a baked apple pancake like the kind they serve at Walker Bros.? It's an annual event here but I can't seem to find the recipe I used in the past.

I did try the search function but sifting through 1899 results....I'm sure someone will remember a thread if one already exists. Thanks.

I use the one out of the Tribune test kitchen cookbook. I'd dig it out but I think that might be a © violation....

think eggs milk and some flour & rising agent
having cooked the apples in butter and brown sugar & cinnamon

Hi,

Last March at a Chicago Foodways Roundtable meeting, Steve Katz presented a program on his reserve engineering the Walker Brother's Apple Pancake. In January, 2007 the Chicago Tribune printed Steve's article with an adaptation of his Apple Pancake. I happen to have Steve's original recipe that has worked very well for me. An important ingredient is the addition of gluten (available at Whole Foods in the baking section), which increases the dough's protein content. He also used Vietnamese cinnamon, which he considered another key ingredient. I have made Steve's recipe several times with great success.

Regards,

Cathy,

I have the recipe from the January Tribune, and PMed it to the OP. I hope that is ok!? Is this recipe very different from Steve's?

Hi,

I'm glad you sent the January article to the OP. The most significant difference was:

1. Saigon Cinnamon instead of simply 'cinnamon'
2. Use only 30 slices of the apples

The ideal pan for making this recipe specified by Steve and one used by Walker Brothers: Lincoln Wearever 8 inch nonstick #
EZ4008. You can buy it online at http://www.suitesupply.com/Lincoln-Wear ... 8LN.01.htm

(Edited to include updated information on the ingredients)

Regards,

Here's Gale Gand's recipe for the apple pancake, which she claims in her cookbook is similar to the way Walker Brothers used to make it. It sounds like WB's current version is sweeter than the original version. I've wanted to try this recipe for a while, but haven't gotten around to it . . . yet.

Hi,

It would be interesting to try the two variants side-by-side. I wonder if the Gale Gand recipe is similar to apple pancake published in the Chicago Tribune Magazine in the 1980's. Does it happen to use buttermilk? The 1980's recipe did not rise up like the Steve Katz reverse engineering method does.

Steve Katz's reverse engineered recipe is similar to the recipe served by the restaurant today. Original Pancake House experimented for a few years to develop the new method better suited for a restaurant. Steve's recipe he provided at the lecture has a two step cooking process: 1) Low temperature baking to set the dough, 2) High temperature baking to get the dough to rise up and puff. The first step allows the kitchen to cook a pancake to set up then hold it until ordered, finishing with a high temperature baking cycle for a quicker delivery to the table.

The original apple pancake created the following problems:
1) Low table turn-over while people waited for pancakes to finish baking.
2) Lines of people waiting to access tables that were not turning over fast enough.
3) Customer's tendency to share the apple pancake, which kept the income per table low, too.

The double-baking method quickened the pace of delivery and table turnover. I surmise they likely reduced portion size, too.

Regards,

Cathy2 wrote:The double-baking method quickened the pace of delivery and table turnover. I surmise they likely reduced portion size, too.

There's certainly something to your last sentence -- I remember as a child that the apple pancake was like a foot across, something no single person could finish themselves. And this isn't coming from childlike memory, since I was at least the size of a normal adult by age 10.

Given the breakfast crowds and prices, we seldom end up at Walker Bros. for breakfast or lunch -- but it makes a reasonably-priced breakfast-for-dinner. I still haven't had the apple pancake on one of those dinner jaunts, since I'm more likely to order their very nice spinach crepes. Have to go back and try it, though.

Thanks for all the replies, and for Pucca sharing the recipe with me.

I did make it for our breakfast dinner tonight and though I didn't have any gluten for puffing purposes, it did a pretty nice job. I also ended up dicing the apples instead of slicing (my 25th reason to get glasses) but I think everything else was pretty much by the book.

Overall I think I'd give it about a 7.5. The recipe calls for sauteeing the apples in a nonstick ovensafe pan, then removing them to a bowl while the sugar/cin/butter/cornstarch topping is placed along the bottom of the pan, and finally topping the sugar mix with the pre-sauteed apples. A teensy bit of a pain but bigger issue is that I always loved the smell and taste of the apples that had been sauteed in the sugar/butter mixture...I thought they caramelized better and somehow absorbed the flavor more than this one.

After the batter is poured over the pan, it's baked at 250 for a half hour, then the oven is to be raised to 500, then reduced to 450 before the puffing occurs. My kids were starving so I actually used one oven for the low heat and turned on the second oven while the first round was baking so I could just transfer to the hot oven and save the 20 minutes preheating time.

The pancake puffed nicely, though unevenly (which may be my oven's fault). I did NOT use the convection for this though I suspect I could have done so, though that early bake at 250 would have to be at 225 and that's mighty low to me.

Anyway, I'll probably try the Gale Gand version this weekend, now that the kids konw there's another recipe they want to compare. I'll try to post on that experience if I get to it.

Hi,

Your uneven rise could be contributed to the lack of gluten. The gluten-enhanced batter has a greater capacity to rise because the increased protein created stronger bonds. Weaker bonded dough, without the protein addition, will collapse far earlier or visually baked unevenly.

The gluten in the Katz reversed engineered Original Pancake House (OPH) apple pancake is a critical ingredient. OPH, which Walker Brothers is a franchisee, uses a higher protein flour than available on the retail market. The gluten added to retail flour increases the protein content, which are bolstered further by the skim milk and egg whites (size of egg was specified because of the quantity of whites expected), to create a stronger, more elastic dough. This is an important element when the dough begins to rise in the second bake.

If in addition to not adding the gluten there were substitutes on the size of eggs or skim milk, then this also contributed to the end product not being precisely as the recipe intended. I might have also made similar substitutions, if I had not sat through Steve's lecture and demonstration where he explained what each ingredient contributed to the oversall outcome. Baking is chemistry where substituting ingredients do affect the outcome.

I'm not quite sure it is fair to consider the Gand recipe vs the Katz recipe, when the Katz recipe was not prepared as intended. Of course, if you are happy either way, then it does not matter. I have an appreciation for the efforts made by Steve to faithfully reproduce this recipe. In any case I don't think I ever got around to writing up what I learned at Steve's program, though I guess this post gave me an opportunity to do it justice.

Regards,

THe recipe I received did NOT specify the size of eggs to use; I used 2 large and 2 extra large, just in case. Did use skim milk as directed.

For comparison purposes, I guess I'm thinking of (a) which the family enjoys more and (b) how that compares to the time and simplicity of the recipe. For my money, the changing oven temps/time delay is a negative.

HI,

I have two ovens also, so I did have one heating to the higher temperature about 15 minutes before. I did not wait, just moved it from one oven to the other. While wait probably replicates the holding for an order in the restaurant. The recipe was also structured for people who only had one oven at home.

FYI - I made a double recipe in a 10-12 inch cast iron pan, which I preheated in the oven. I used butter to grease the sidewalls before pouring in the batter. It also meant longer time for the first bake. Double recipe did allow me to feed the whole family in one swoop.

I'm curious on your thoughts on the Gale Gand.

Regards,

I was at Whole Foods last night looking at their baking aisle. I have a stupid question: is wheat gluten the same thing as wheat gluten flour? Thanks

Hi,

It was in a small sky blue box as I recall. The gluten instructions were geared more toward making seitan than for baking. In fact I was originally directed to the refrigerator case when I initially inquired for gluten. I knew it was a powder so I stood there trying to understand why a powder needed refrigeration. I am just not seitan oriented! Later it took two people to help me find the gluten in baking ingredients area. At the Deerfield store it was on the top shelf amongst many alternative flours.

I hope that helps!

Regards,

Cathy - Yes, this is very helpful. Thank you.

Never let it be said that LTH Forum doesn't cover all ends of the spectrum. Just a few weeks ago we were obsessing about gluten free dishes and now the conversation has turned to a dish with extra gluten. I love LTH Forum.

Steve,

Actually all in one day: late last night I linked to a gluten free cooking website!

Regards,

I wonder if using bread flour over all-purpose or pastry flour would work, since it has higher gluten content. Is it high enough, though..

HI,

Bread flour available retail did not have the protein content of the flour used by OPH. Yours is a reasonable observation, though.

Regards,

PS the recipe itself actually calls for bread flour (which I used) but also encourages the addition of the gluten.

Cathy2 wrote:The double-baking method quickened the pace of delivery and table turnover. I surmise they likely reduced portion size, too.

I love the Walker Brothers apple pancake, ever since I tried my first one around 1969 or so. It is indeed true that the version produced many years ago was significantly bigger than today's apple pancake. I'm pretty sure I remember at one point (1990s?) that they offered two different sizes, the way they still do with their German pancake and Dutch baby, but I don't know whether the smaller size is the same as the only size served today.

And Steve was absolutely correct in his recollection from years ago of waiting 45 minutes when placing an order for one.

IMHO, other than portion size, today's apple pancake is every bit as good as the ones from years ago that took a lot longer. It's one of my very favorite dishes, anywhere. (And I haven't had anyone else's that comes close, not even the ones that Steve Katz made, sorry Steve.)

Cathy, thanks for posting in LTH at the time about Steve's upcoming lecture. I really enjoyed seeing him.

From the WB website:

Just wanted to update, we tried the Gale Gand version today. The family enjoyed it but voted the other version (Steve Katz?) the winner. I however, as the cooker, will probably use the Gand version since it was just a little less work. I think the pancake itself was lighter.

Anyway, just wanted to share.

Took the kids to Walker Bros. today, just had to try an apple pancake. It was good. Really good. Much wetter than the ones I made at home, but with really nice caramelization of the apples and good flavor. Didn't have as distinctive a "pancake" part as the at home ones did but I must admit, I really enjoyed it. As did the children who ate their own meals AND some of mine.

Hi,

At Sunset Foods in Lake Forest today, I noticed a new (to me) offering:

Walker Brother's Apple Pancake.

It was in the freezer section for approximately $9.25 each.

Regards,

I'm so excited! I just found a recipe for individual dutch baby pancakes that you can fill with any fruit you like! We've got an extra-large muffin tin that should be perfect for this job!