Aebleskiver Sunday - Danish Pancake Balls

I have always been intrigued by Aebleskivers but I had never made them. There was a pan at Williams Sonoma that I was looking at before Christmas and when I went to buy one they were sold out! Last week, I was in the store browsing and saw that they had them in stock again so, naturally, one came home with me :)

This morning I put on my new apron that I had received as a birthday gift from my friend Monique at La Table de Nana and got to work making my first aebleskivers.

I also set my place with the new napkins and napkin rings that I received from my friend, Kathleen, at Cuisine Kathleen (she knows how jealous I am that she has a Williams Sonoma outlet store near her!).

My new pan worked beautifully and I was very pleased with my first attempt. I had been worried if I would be successful at flipping them over!

I filled them with diced apples that I had sauteed in butter and then added some cinnamon and sugar. The result was very tasty but there was just a little something missing in my mind. I looked in the frig and found a jar of Sarabeth's Plum and Cherry preserves. I added a heaping tablespoon of the preserves to the sauteed apples before making the next batch and that did the trick! They were puffy, light and delicious on the outside and moist and flavorful inside!

If you are lucky enough to have an aebleskiver pan you probably have a recipe already but I am sharing it for those of you who may be thinking about buying one like me :)

Aebleskiver ? Danish Pancake Balls
Printable Recipe

The recipe is also located here.

One of Denmark's most famous types of pastry, Aebleskiver (in Danish, "Apple Slices") are light, melt-in-your-mouth pancake balls that taste like a cross between a pancake and a donut. Once you master the knack of using an aebleskiver pan, you may never buy fat-filled commercial donuts again!

Ingredients:

2 apples, peeled, cored, pared, and chopped into 1/2? pieces
2 Tbsp. butter plus butter to grease aebleskiver pan
2 tsp. cinnamon
2 eggs
1 Tbsp. sugar
2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 cups buttermilk

Preparation:

Place aebleskiver pan over medium-high burner and bring up to heat (to the point where butter sizzles on the surface).

In a separate pan, lightly sauté apple pieces in 2 Tbsp. butter until softened but still firm. Sprinkle with cinnamon. (Or in my case, add a little sugar and a tablespoon of your favorite preserves).

Separate the eggs and beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Whisk egg yolks and sugar together until creamy. Sift together flour and baking powder; gradually stir flour and buttermilk, alternating with each 1/2-cup addition, into egg mixture. Gently fold beaten egg whites into batter.

Reduce heat under aebleskiver pan to medium. Place 1/8 tsp. butter into each well to grease, using a pastry brush to coat surface of wells entirely.

Spoon batter into each well, filling half-way (about 1-2 teaspoons). Place a teaspoon of apple filling on the batter, then spoon enough additional batter over apple to cover and fill well to the top. Allow to cook until the edges of each ?pancake? begin to brown and pull away from the sides of the wells. Lightly run a knife (I used two wooden skewers) around the edge of each ball to loosen, and then flip over to cook through (about 2 minutes).

Remove the aebleskiver to a plate and sprinkle with powdered sugar to serve.

Alternative: Although aebleskiver are commonly filled with apple slices, you can substitute jam, dried fruit, or even cheese to create a delicious range of both sweet and savory variations.

Yield: 28 aebleskiver.