Aebelskivers are Danish Apple Pancakes!

(edit: aebelskivers are Danish, not Dutch. Thanks, loyal blog reader R.H.)

After an unusually long hiatus from food-blogging, I am pleased to present a very delectable breakfast item, perfect for you and your guests. A few years ago, my friend and I were browsing for kitchen supplies at a thrift store, when we came across a small, wild-looking cast iron pan containing seven equal-sized divots. “Ooh, an aebelskiver pan! You have to buy this,” said friend. Apparently, she had a good family recipe for aebelskivers, and the pan was cheap!

I had no idea what aebelskivers were when I first heard about them (so don’t feel bad about not knowing, loyal blog-reader). Aebelskivers (also spelled ableskivers, ebelskivers) are simply round, puffy pancakes filled with applesauce. Sounds nice, right? It is! Well three years ago, I bought this aebelskiver pan, and my friend made a batch of delicious aebelskivers for me. I washed the pan, put it away, and never considered using it again until last weekend. My current state of bold epicurean creativity combined with a rare wintertime guest inspired me to blow the dust off of Old Dimply for a second go-round.

Making aebelskivers is wicked easy, although I was initially somewhat intimidated. Aebelskiver batter is a lot like pancake batter, with some minor adjustments. Basically, it’s flour, baking powder, dash of salt, milk and eggs. But you have to separate the whites and yolks, and do something different for each. So you combine the flour (sifted), baking powder, and salt and mix it together. Then, dump milk and egg yolks into the whole mess and stir it. Easy! Then you have to beat the egg whites “stiffly” (which means “a lot”) and “fold” them into the batter! To fold in the baking sense means to take the frothy egg whites and gently mix them into the batter with a spatula. Presumably, this is for the effect of not killing the frothiness of the stiffly beaten egg whites, which may or may not add to the effect of a poofy pancake. Put Old Dimply on the stove top and set the heat to medium. Melt a tiny morsel of butter in each dimple. Drop a dollop of aebelskiver batter into each dimple and let it cook for about a minute. Add about 2 tablespoons of apple sauce into each dimple atop the batter, then cover it with another layer of batter. Each individual aebelskiver will cook evenly around the edges like magic. Once they are cooked (and thus loose in their dimples), scoop them out ever so gingerly and turn them upside down. After about another minute or two, the top-side will be cooked and these babies will be ready to go. My guest brought some homemade peach preserves, so we used this for a few aebelskivers and they came out awesomely. An aebelskiver with peach filling is technically called a perzikskiver.

Serve with syrup (and powdered sugar if you like). They are delicious! If anyone actually reads this blog, and they want the recipe, just comment below and ask for it. I don’t have it in front of me right now!

-Sav