Cherry Puffed Pancake

Oh my yum. Thanks to our Tonnemaker fruit basket we were swimming in cherries this year. So we tried out this pancake and made it several times and ended up buying an extra 5 lbs of dark cherries at the farmer's market just to pre-measure and freeze them so we could have this all winter. It's definitely best if the cherries are fresh but drinking the juice that drains off your frozen cherries was heavenly and we're not even in the depths of winter. We've made it with various dark cherries and Rainiers. It's always delicious. I've made puffed pancakes before but hadn't ever used my cast iron skillet for it until I made this recipe. I'm never going back.

I use this recipe from Eating Well but make 1.5 times the amounts because my cast iron pan is larger.

• 1 teaspoon plus 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, divided
• 1/2 cup low-fat milk
• 3 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup whole-wheat pastry flour (see Tips) or all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• Pinch of ground cinnamon
• 2 cups halved pitted sweet or sour cherries, fresh or frozen (thawed, drained)
• 1/4 cup sliced almonds
• Confectioners’ sugar for garnish

Preheat oven to 450°F. Place 1 teaspoon butter in a 10-inch cast-iron skillet or ovenproof nonstick skillet and transfer to the oven to melt the butter.

Melt the remaining 1 tablespoon butter in a small pan or the microwave. Transfer to a medium bowl and whisk in milk, eggs and vanilla. Add flour, granulated sugar, salt and cinnamon and whisk to combine.

Remove the pan from the oven, tilting it to coat the bottom with butter. Add cherries in a layer. Pour the batter over the cherries and sprinkle with almonds.

Bake the pancake until golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 15 to 20 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes before cutting into 4 wedges. Sprinkle with confectioners’ sugar, if desired.