Giant Curly Pancake

Mom loved this, but she hardly ever was successful at making it curl because she was too impatient to let the oven pre-heat before she put in the frying pan. She’d call me and complain that her pancake didn’t puff up and curl; I’d explain why— unless the oven is really hot, the pancake won’t curl— but she never remembered. The next time she’d try the recipe, the same thing would happen. I tried to make it for her whenever I came home to visit. It’s probably the only thing I could do better than Mom.

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup flour

2 eggs

T. butter, melted

dash of nutmeg

Juice of 1/2 small lemon

Powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 425. Place a 10-12 inch frying pan in the oven for about 5 minutes to preheat. (Or, instead, heat the frying pan on a burner set to medium, then add butter. As soon as it melts, add the flour, milk and egg mixture) While the pan is heating, beat eggs lightly in a bowl, add milk, flour, and nutmeg. Put the butter into the hot frying pan; as soon as it melts, pour in the batter, place pan back in the oven. Bake 15-20 minutes. Pancake will puff up and edges will curl. Remove from oven, pour lemon juice over the pancake and sift a couple tablespoons of powdered sugar over it. If you have a small frying pan, this recipe can be cut in half for an individual pancake. Emily asked for a curly pancake for breakfast almost daily when she was 3.