red, white and blueberry

to the three people who are reading this, happy 4^th of july!!  or, as i like to call it, “Happy Not Having a British Accent Day.”  (okay, so maybe it’s actually july 6^th (or now actually july 9^th) but i truly meant to post this on independence day proper.  apparently 3 kids, a summer cold, a trip to the ER, and seven stitches slowed my roll.  i know, excuses…)

now, to a british person, independence day has a slightly different meaning.  it’s a day of fireworks, of grilling, of strawberry shortcake, of hanging with friends, of hot dogs, and of weeping over the demise of the british empire.  naaaaaah, i jest.  but not really.  but kinda.  not.  actually, i have said before, but i do in fact have the key to rebuilding the british empire:  meat-flavoured snacks.  who cares if the whole of the united kingdom could fit into the state of california?  who cares if, the occasional tabloid cover-aside, nobody pays much attention to the royal family anymore?  we have MARMITE!  and frazzles!  steak-and-onion-flavoured potato chips!!  chicken-and-stuffing-flavoured corn snacks!!  i say we could rebuild the bloody empire on salty and delicious meat-flavoured treats alone!  but i digress…

this independence day, bored of cereal and toast and of my kids saying for the umpteenth time “cereal and toast are BOOOOORIIIING!” i decided to make something new for breakfast.  i cracked open melissa clark’s “eat this now” and landed upon the fantastically-named Mysterious David Dares Pancake.   (apparently the real name is David Eyres Pancake, but she spent most of her life thinking it was named after a young lad named david who was terribly, terribly daring.  this is almost like me learning at the frighteningly late age of 15 that the things by your collar aren’t, in fact, pronounced LAY-palls.  awesome.) 

so, full disclosure, this pancake is basically a glorified yorkshire pudding, and the thought of serving something so very british for independence day breakfast might have tickled me in all sorts of cheeky ways.  but cheekiness-aside, this is truly a mighty pancake to behold; it puffs up to glorious heights, is ever-so-slightly stodgy in the middle, and is everything you look for in a fantastically simple, yet somehow special breakfast.  i added strawberries for the red, the powdered sugar made the white, and blueberries gave us (vaguely) blue.  all we needed was the dearly-departed jimi hendrix playing the star spangled banner (or maybe god save the queen) as we ate, and it would have been, frankly, perfect.

The Mysterious David Dares Pancake (adapted from “Eat This Now” by melissa clark)

(serves two parents and a couple of apparently bored children)

3 large eggs, lightly beaten
½ cup milk
¾ cup all purpose flour
¼ teaspoon grated nutmeg
pinch of salt
4 tablespoons unsalted butter (i used only 2 and it was more than enough.  sweet: extra glass of wine for me tonight!)
2 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar
1 cup of strawberries, roughly chopped

½ cup blueberries

preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

in a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, flour, nutmeg and salt until combined.  the mixture will still be a bit lumpy.  and that’s okay.

in a 9-inch skillet, melt the butter over medium heat. when the butter has melted, lower the heat slightly and allow the butter to brown just a titch.

pour the pancake batter into the skillet and transfer it to the oven. bake until the pancake is golden brown around the edges, about 15 minutes.

take the skillet out of the oven and, using a fine-mesh sieve, shake the confectioners’ sugar over the pancake.

note: when you take the skillet out of the oven, don’t be ridiculous like me and attempt to grab it bare-handed, forgetting that it’s hotter than the surface of the sun.  can’t really recommend it. 

return the skillet to the oven until the butter has been absorbed into the pancake and the sugar is lightly caramelized, an additional 2-3 minutes.

throw the fruit into the middle, cut into wedges and serve immediately, adding a splash of lemon juice or a drizzle of maple syrup if desired.  celebrate one's country, be it star-spangled or union-jacked.