Every weekend, and especially since the pandemic started, my girlfriend Mia and I make nice breakfasts. Before all the restaurants were shut down, I would say that we brunched at least once a month and it was always a pleasure for us. There is nothing like starting off a weekend with a tasty brunch that you did not have to labour over. 

This recipe is about as close as you can get to having a wonderful brunch without doing much of the effort. This is a spin-off of pannekoeken, an eggy dutch pancake. It often incorporates apples and sometimes even bacon. Mia introduced me to pannenkoeken, and we have since begun experimenting with different fruits. We have made the classic with apples, we have tried with wild blueberries and, as you can tell from this recipe, we have made it with pears. 

This recipe is not too sweet, and super simple. It has a wonderful puffy egg texture and has a nice taste from the orange zest. To top it all off and add some texture we finish the pannekoeken with some toasted almonds. I hope someday soon you have the pleasure of starting off a leisurely Saturday with this breakfast. 

Active time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 25 minutes

Ingredients:

• 4 large eggs 
• ¾ cup flour
• ¾ cup almond milk
• ¼ cup sugar
• ½ tsp vanilla extract
• ½ tsp orange zest
• ½ tsp salt
• 2 ripe bartlett pears
• 1 tbsp butter
• ¼ cup slivered almonds
• 2 tbsp sugar

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 F. Add the eggs, flour, almond milk, sugar, vanilla, orange zest and salt to a blender. Blend on medium low until thoroughly incorporated, scraping down the sides halfway through if some flour has stuck to them. 
2. Cut the pears into small cubes, about 1 cm in width. Do not remove the skins from the pear, we want their nice flavour. Add them to the blender and gently mix in with a rubber spatula (do not blend more)
3. Heat a large cast iron skillet on low heat– just warm enough to melt the butter in the pan. Once heated, add the butter to the pan and grease the entire skillet, coating the sides of the pan. 
4. Pour the batter with the pears into the greased pan. Put in the oven for 25 minutes. 
5. While the pannekoeken is cooking, heat a small non-stick pan on medium heat. Add in the slivered almonds and toast, stirring frequently, until they have started to brown and have a nice aroma. Careful, they can burn easily. 
6. When the pannekoeken comes out of the oven, it should have puffed up, with the sides potentially climbing up and out of the pan. Immediately after removing from the oven sprinkle the 2 tbsp sugar over the top, followed by the toasted almonds. Serve immediately while warm.