What exactly are Æbleskiver? It literally means “apple slices” in Danish, which is a bit weird as this delicious hot snack has no apples in it (you may have seen them at Christmas markets in Denmark, and apparently although they used to contain apple they don’t any more!). They are little puffed pancake balls, which are made in a special aebleskiver pan, usually cast iron and with nine little indentations. They may need a bit of practise, as there is a knack to turning them so they cook all over. I use a metal knitting needle for this, although my cousin Hanne (who is braver and more used to burning herself) uses a cocktail stick. She also uses lard for stopping the pancake balls from sticking to the pan as you can get the temperature much hotter than if you use butter; they don’t normally sell lard at our village shop so I just use oil.
In Denmark my family make them with natron (a type of baking soda), and buttermilk, but I like this version as it’s made with just the usual stuff you have in the fridge.
Serve hot with jam, and (hopefully) a big glass of gløgg .
Ingredients
1 ¼ cups plain flour
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon of baking powder
2 tablespoons of sugar
½ teaspoons of ground cinammon or ground cardamom
1 cup of milk
1 beaten egg
2 tablespoons of butter
Oil
Jam, to serve
How to make Æbleskiver
- Sift all the dry ingredients into a bowl. Mix in two tablespoons of the melted butter and whisk in the milk and egg until smooth.
- Now place the pan over a medium heat until it is good and hot then generously brush each little hole with oil.
- Quickly spoon mix into the holes until each one is just under full. After about thirty seconds the bottom will have formed a shell, so using your knitting needle or skewer hook the half shell and pull it up so it is sticking up at an angle of about 60 degrees. As the batter cooks keep hooking the balls up and over so that eventually it will have formed a ball and sealed back on itself.
- Keep turning them until they are a uniformly golden colour and cooked through. Repeat with the rest of the batter, then dust with icing sugar and serve warm with jam.
- NB. If you buy a new iron aebleskiver pan you will need to season it before it can be used. Place on a medium to high heat and then brush with oil. As soon as the oil is smoking, turn the heat off and leave the pan to cool. Wipe with some kitchen paper and then it is ready to use.
