I grew up in Eastern Ohio, the land of the Pennsylvania Dutch. One of my favorite childhood treats (which I have definitely brought into adulthood) revolved around a trip out to a restaurant called Dutch Valley for the breakfast buffet. The memory of this recipe originates there.
"I should make apple fritters," I thought looking over the still massive number of apples left from apple picking.
"Anything like corn fritters?" My boyfriend asked, offering to make corn fritters.
I hadn't made either before. But somewhere in the back of my mind I remembered a combination pancake of apple and corn from days long gone by. I decided to begin the search.
The internet brought up a few apple fritters and corn fritters, but few apple & corn fritters in combination. Still, I refused to give up. Soon I came across a dish referred to as "datch" and began to wonder, could this be the long lost apple/corn pancake from the breakfast buffets of my youth? The recipes still mainly included apples or corn, but by this time I had decided to throw them together and see what stuck.
What resulted was an intriguing combination of savory and sweet that is heavenly with a little bit of butter. I'm not sure if it really counts as datch or it's the same foodstuff I remembered, but below is my attempt to recreate it.
Amy's Apple & Corn Datch
inspired by Pennsylvania Cooking and Goodreads user Valerie with adaptations by me
[ingredients]
2 apples, diced
3 ears of sweet corn
1 egg
2/3 cup flour
1 teaspoon salt
oil for frying
[What to do]
- Dice apples and cut the kernels off the ears of corn
- Beat together egg, flour, and salt. Then slowly stir in apples and corn. The batter will be thin. Resist the urge to add flour. [I kept trying to, but my boyfriend stopped me saying that corn fritter batter is supposed to be thin...but he's the pancake chef after all. He would know.]
- Fry much as you would a pancake: add a spoonful to the pan, flip when edges start to bubble.
- Serve with butter and salt (to taste)
