My friend Erin gave me a family recipe for apple pancake a while back. The recipe had been on my fridge for months before I finally decided to make it for breakfast this morning. I had fresh eggs from my chickens, some Granny Smith apples, butter, sugar, everything I thought I’d need—until I realized that I forgot Bisquick, a key ingredient for the recipe.

I briefed toyed with the idea of giving up. But the thought of having to tell Nick that we are having a bowl of cereal on a Sunday morning instead of the wonderful apple pancake I had promised was just too much to handle. So I improvised and came up with a recipe of my own.

The apple pancake turned out to be a pleasant surprise. It was golden and crispy around the edges and moist and tender in the center. The caramelized apple slices were soft and sweet. And the smell, oh the smell, with butter, sugar, cinnamon, need I say more?

We had the pancake for breakfast. I garnished it with some powdered sugar and poured some maple syrup over it. The dish would be great as a dessert. You can serve it with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or a generous drizzle of caramel. Just be sure to serve the pancake right way. It deflates after about five minutes, which though does not change the taste, does affect the presentation.

Give this a try. And if like me, you forget to buy a couple of ingredients in this recipe, maybe you can substitute them and invent your own pancake. I am thinking pears would be great instead of apples. Whole wheat pastry flour instead of all-purpose flour may be a healthy twist. Some lemon zest might brighten up the sweet treat. Hum… I am liking this improvisation thing.