Thursday, April 25, 2013

Blueberry Pancake Cake

So, a while ago I had this idea.  It seemed to me that a stack of pancakes looked a lot like a layer cake with lots of layers.  From there, it was an easy set of mental leaps to making it into an actual dessert cake.

This recipe is in two parts, the pancakes, and the frosting.  The Pancakes I took from my first book, “The Best of the Black Pot”, and I used blueberries instead of apples.

Blueberry Cinnamon Pancakes on the Dutch Oven lid

12” dutch oven lid, inverted on a trivet

20 coals underneath, with more in a side fire

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 ½ Tbsp baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
3 Tbsp white sugar

2 1/2 cups milk, with as much as an additional cup to the side
2 eggs
6 tablespoons butter, melted
1 cup of fresh blueberries, coarsely chopped (set a few whole ones aside)
1-2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp of nutmeg


First, I made the pancakes.  I started by lighting up the coals and getting them hot.  Once they were ready, I put the trivet over the coals and the 12” Dutch oven lid upside down on the trivet.  I sprayed a little oil on the lid as it preheated.

In a bowl, I sifted and mixed the dry ingredients.  I mixed in the wet ingredients and stirred it all up.  I chopped up the berries (it wasn’t easy, they kept rolling everywhere),  and stirred them in with the spices as well.

I find that pancakes cook better if the batter is pretty runny.  I added milk until it got to the consistency that I like.  It’s a little runnier than a typical cake batter.

Once that was all mixed up, and the lid heated up, I just started cooking up the pancakes.  I did a little less than a cup of batter for each one.  I let it cook on one side until the bubbles would pop and not refill back in.  Then, I’d turn it over for just a few moments more.  This mix was about enough for 6-7 of these big pancakes.  When they were done, I brought them in and let them cool.

Then, it was time to mix up the frosting and assemble the cake.

3 cups confectioners' sugar
1 cup butter or cream cheese
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 to 2 tablespoons whipping cream

This is a particularly challenging part of the dish to make if you don’t use any electrical appliances.  Because IDOS cookoff rules currently forbid them, I like to try and do all of my blog dishes using hand tools only.  In this case, I recommend starting by creaming the butter or the cream cheese using the back of a spoon with holes in it, or a potato masher that has a flat plane with holes.  Gradually add in the sugar so as to not make it too stiff right away, then when it starts to look good and aerated, mix in the vanilla and the whipping cream.

Once it’s mixed, then it’s pretty easy to assemble.  First, I took out about a third of the frosting.  That would be the top. Then, I started with one pancake on my plate, and I spread a paper-thin layer of frosting on it.  I allowed a little more thickness at the edges, but not much.  I also spread the frosting all the way to the edge.  Then, I put another pancake on top of that.

Layer after layer, frosting, pancake, frosting, I built it up.  It’s important to not use too much frosting in between layers.  Use less than a normal layer cake.  First of all, you’ve got six or seven layers and it will get used up pretty fast.  Second, eating six or seven full layers of frosting in between the cake will make the whole thing pretty dang sugary!

Sometimes, the frosting would squeeze out a little from between the pancake layers.  I didn’t mind that.  I thought it looked more “cake-ish” that way.

Finally, after seven layers of cake, I’d pretty much used up my allotted two-thirds of the frosting.  I plopped the final third on top and spread it around the top like a real frosting layer on cake should be. I pushed it all the way to the edge and even let it droop over a bit.  I did not, however, frost the sides.  My pancakes were not perfectly round, and I liked the irregularities of the edges.  Finally, I judiciously sprinkled and scattered the few remaining unchopped blueberries across the top to get stuck in place by the frosting.

When serving, I cut it into wedges, just like a regular cake. The blueberries on top and the blueberries in the pancakes make for a delicious cake!


Mark has discovered a love of Dutch Oven Cooking. Mark also has other sites and blogs, including MarkHansenMusic.com and his MoBoy blog.

5 comments:

  1. I just got your "Best" cookbook for my birthday, along with my first Dutch oven, and I am really looking forward to my first try this weekend...
    Anyways, thought I'd checkout the blog, and this looks absolutely delicious!! Definitely a layer cake I can get behind! Thanks for sharing!

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