The conundrum of initially missing cooking surface (6)
I believe the answer is:
riddle
'the conundrum' is the definition.
('riddle' can be a synonym of 'conundrum')
'initially missing cooking surface' is the wordplay.
'initially missing' means to remove the first letter.
'cooking surface' becomes 'griddle' (I've seen this before).
'griddle' with its initial letter taken away is 'RIDDLE'.
'of' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for riddle that I've seen before include "Make many openings" , "Ingenious question" , "Puzzle or strainer" , "Question to test ingenuity, something puzzling" , "Kind of puzzle or coarse sieve" .)