Steal This Recipe® German Apple Pancake

From Chefs Carolyn Niklas Pappas and Gregory Pappas of The Bistro Garden in Studio City, California

Stolen with permission from Chefs Carolyn Niklas Pappas and Gregory Pappas, this German Apple Pancake recipe has been a staple on the brunch menu at their Bistro Garden restaurant, for 19 years (it can also be ordered by request as a dessert). During this time it has been enjoyed by Elizabeth Taylor, Jack Lemmon, Billy Wilder, Grace Kelly and President John F. Kennedy! 

The Bistro Garden at Coldwater is the third in the Bistro and Bistro Garden family of restaurants - two of which were the most famous restaurants in Beverly Hills from the 1960s through the l980s. Every famous person of the day, including movie stars, Presidents and gangsters, dined at the restaurants.  In 1990, Carolyn Niklas Pappas and her husband Gregory opened The Bistro Garden at Coldwater in Studio City and it quickly became the official lunch spot for Nancy Reagan and the “Kitchen Cabinet” wives.  

The restaurant is modeled after a European winter-garden with 30 foot ceilings, glass latticework and expansive skylights and features a beautiful dark mahogany bar, and the special Fireside Room, with its 19th Century Scottish marble mantle, crystal chandeliers, private bar and baby grand piano. The classically romantic dining room has been the set for many film shoots, including Garry Marshall’s ‘Valentine’s Day’ and the restaurant is known for its American-Continental cuisine, with signature dishes such as Lobster Bisque en Croute, Niman Ranch Double Cut Pork Chop with Whole Baked Apple filled with Cinnamon Applesauce; Scottish Smoked Salmon with Potato Pancakes, Colorado Rack of Lamb with Rosemary Thyme Jus.

About the chefs: Carolyn Niklas Pappas and husband Gregory Pappas still honor many of the original recipes served at the Bistro and Bistro Garden, including the German Apple Pancake. The original restaurants were owned by Carolyn’s father, noted restaurateur Kurt Niklas, who had been the maitre d’ at the Romanoff’s in Beverly Hills.  

The Bistro Garden at Coldwater
12950 Ventura Boulevard
Studio City, CA 91604        
818 501 0202

German Apple Pancake is served at The Bistro Garden with sour cream and a blueberry compote for $15.
This recipe makes 4 to 6 servings (about 12 pancakes) and takes about an hour.

German Apple Pancake Ingredients:
1/4 cup plus 2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 
1 cup all-purpose flour 
1/2 teaspoon salt 
1 1/2 cups whole milk 
4 large eggs 
1 1/2 lb Gala apples (3 or 4) 
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice 
3/4 stick (6 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into 12 pieces

Steal This Recipe® Step by Step Instructions:
Preheat oven to 200°F. 
Stir together 1/4 cup sugar and cinnamon and set aside. 
Whisk together flour, salt, and remaining 2 teaspoons sugar in a large bowl. 
Add milk in a slow stream, whisking, then add eggs, 1 at a time, whisking well after each addition. 
Peel apples, then cut into 1/8-inch thick slices with slicer, rotating around core (discard core). 
Cut apple slices into 1/8-inch-thick matchsticks and toss with lemon juice in a bowl. 
Fold apples and juice into batter. 
Heat 1 piece butter (1/2 tablespoon) in a 6-inch nonstick skillet over moderate heat until foam subsides, then add 1/3 cup batter, spreading evenly to cover bottom. 
Cook, reducing heat if browning too quickly and turning pancake over once with a thin flexible heatproof spatula, until golden on both sides, about 4 minutes total. 
Slide pancake onto a platter and keep warm in oven. 
Make more pancakes with remaining butter and batter in same manner. 
Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar and serve immediately.