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If I had to choose a last meal on earth, it would be this Upside Down Blueberry Pancake. My husband created this incredible skillet pancake over many months of trial and error. It would be too cruel of me not to share it.

Breakfast foods are a favorite of mine – but only when I eat them for dinner. I just can’t consume that much first thing in the morning. About once a week, I ask my husband to make this Upside Down Blueberry Pancake for dinner. And as soon as I have devoured it, I begin counting the days until he makes it again.

Without any shame, I eat half of the pan with vegan sausage patties in one sitting. There are 18 ounces of blueberries in this pancake! My tongue and teeth are purple when I finish – but that is what baking soda is for!

The gorgeous, fat purply blueberries burst in your mouth and the delicious tang of fresh lemon – zest and juice – enhances the fruitiness. This is AMAZING! The pancake part of this dish is spongey and lofty, perfect for absorbing all of the fruity, blueberry, lemony juices. And if there is anything – and I mean anything – left on my plate, I use my finger and tongue to lap up every delicious bit.

For a lot of people, this dish would serve 4. But I have never felt uncomfortably stuffed or heavy after eating half of the pan. Upside Down Blueberry Skillet Pancake is neither overly sweet nor heavy. This will knock any other skillet or griddle pancake right out of the running. And because it bakes up in the oven, there is no standing over a griddle or fussily flipping pancakes. Everything is done in one pan.

Other than a well-seasoned cast iron skillet, there are no special tools or skills needed for this recipe. This is dinner AND dessert in one go. If you don’t make this right away – well, I can’t be held responsible.

Recipe

Yield: 2 to 4 servings

Ingredients

For the blueberry filling:

    1/3 cup granulated sugar

    Zest and juice of 1 medium lemon

    18 ozs. of blueberries, rinsed and well drained

    3 tbsp unsalted butter

  For the batter:

    1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour

    1 tsp double acting baking powder

    1/8 tsp baking soda

    1 tbsp granulated sugar

    ½ tsp kosher salt

    ½ tsp ground cardamom

    4 large eggs at room temperature

    1 cup buttermilk (or 1 cup plain, whole milk kefir)

    1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Directions

Preheat oven to 400°F

Place a 9” cast iron skillet on the stove. Put 3 tbsp unsalted butter, cut up, into the skillet.

Dry ingredients:

Place 1 cup flour, 1 tsp baking powder, 1/8 tsp baking soda, 1 tbsp granulated sugar, ½ tsp kosher salt, and ½ tsp ground cardamom in a bowl and whisk to combine. Set aside.

Filling:

Place 1/3 cup granulated sugar in a small bowl.

Finely grate the zest of 1 medium lemon onto the sugar.

Mash the zest and sugar together with a rubber spatula, or rub the zest into the sugar with your fingertips until the zest and sugar is fully combined and gritty. If no one is watching, then by all means, lick your fingers.

Start heating the skillet on medium heat to melt the butter. Reduce the heat to low.

Juice one half of the lemon onto the blueberries. Add one half of the sugar/zest mixture. Gently toss to combine.

Juice the other half of the lemon into butter in the skillet. Add the remainder of the sugar/zest mixture. Stir to combine.

Pour the blueberries into the skillet. Use a spatula or spoon to even them out in the skillet. The butter should be gently bubbling under the blueberries.

Batter:

Place 4 large eggs into a large bowl and whisk until frothy. Add 1 cup buttermilk (or kefir) and 1 tsp vanilla extract and whisk to combine.

Gradually add the dry ingredients to the eggs/milk, stirring the batter just enough to combine them.

Remove the skillet from the heat.

Pour the batter evenly all over the berries, by swirling from the middle of the pan outwards into a circle.

Put the skillet in the oven, baking at 400°F until puffed and golden-brown, about 20 minutes. You want this to be well browned or the batter will be under-done.

Remove and let cool for a few five minutes.

Serve and enjoy! And don’t forget to spoon all those delicious juices onto the plate. They are perfect for dipping the poufy pancake in.