Many years ago, I had seen these pans with seven little spherical indentations, and had wondered what they were for. Then one day, while visiting a Danish friend, I was flipping though some of his interesting recipe clippings and saw these cute, puffy little balls, stuffed with blueberries and served with a dollop of cream. He explained they were Æbleskiver, or ebelskiver as they are more commonly known in North America.
My Raspberry~Basil Compote Ebelskiver ~ Delish!, a photo by ©EpicureanPiranha ~ on Flickr.
Ebelskiver are Danish pancakes that were traditionally stuffed, and served, with apples ~ in fact, æbleskiver means apple slices in Danish. But now, these small golden spheres, that look like perfect dumplings but are lighter than the usual pancake, are stuffed with all sorts of goodies from sweet to savory.
I'd fogotten all about these little pancakes until a shopping trip some time ago, when I found a traditional cast iron ebelskiver pan (see the image below) and just had to buy it. A few weeks ago, I finally decided it was about time to try making some of these!
My Raspberry~Basil Compote Ebelskiver ~ Delish!, a photo by ©EpicureanPiranha ~ on Flickr.
You start by making the batter, which is very much like a pancake batter, except that the eggs are separated and the whites, beaten until stiff, are then added to the batter which makes it quite light. Then you melt a little butter in each cavity of the hot pan, and wait till it starts to sizzle ...
Traditional Æbleskiver Pan ~, a photo by ©EpicureanPiranha ~ on Flickr.
Once the butter is very hot, you pour in a little batter - not too much because it will overflow as it cooks!
Attempting to make ebleskiver, a photo by ©EpicureanPiranha ~ on Flickr.
I used about 12 ml (about 3/4 Tbs) to fill the indentations two thirds full. Now cook this for about a minute and a half until the bottom starts to get golden, then add a small teaspoon of filling and top it up with a little more batter; continue cooking another 30 seconds or so (ie: about 2 minutes in all for the bottom side); then using two chopsticks (or two wooden tooth picks), catch the crispy edges on either side of a little sphere and flip around to cook the other half for another 2 minutes or so until golden (NB: Cooking time depends on size of indentations and amount of batter used, and assumes cooking on medium heat. Please see note below).
Sound tricky? Well, it's not really, because of the butter which prevents the batter from sticking, and the round cavity which makes the whole process really easy. You'll find they flip very easily once you get the knack (after doing two or three!).
Sound tricky? Well, it's not really, because of the butter which prevents the batter from sticking, and the round cavity which makes the whole process really easy. You'll find they flip very easily once you get the knack (after doing two or three!).
Danish ebleskiver ~ almost ready, a photo by ©EpicureanPiranha ~ on Flickr.
Traditionally sprinkled with icing sugar, my favourite way of serving them that day was filled with my fresh raspberry-basil compote, which I also served alongside. I tried adding some black chocolate to this filling, but preferred them without. And I also made some with sour cherry preserves ~ deelish!
You can see the final result in the first image at the top of the page. It was my first try and I used a little too much batter for the bottom half I think, so they weren't as perfect as they could have been. Later batches looked much better but by then we were into devouring, as opposed to picuture-taking!
The recipe I used for the batter, below, is from Williams-Sonoma :
Ebelskiver Batter (35 to 40 ebelskiver):
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 Tbs. granulated sugar
4 eggs, separated
2 cups milk
4 Tbs. (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted, plus more for cooking
Method:
In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt and granulated sugar. In another bowl, lightly whisk the egg yolks, then whisk in the milk and the 4 Tbs. melted butter. Whisk the egg yolk mixture into the flour mixture until well combined; the batter will be lumpy. Using an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites on high speed until stiff but not dry peaks form, 2 to 3 minutes. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold the whites into the batter in two additions.
PS This recipe is light and delicious but makes a lot! In fact, the recipe and pan should come labelled with the warning that these little stuffed pancakes are addictive!
Notes:
Note that my ebelskiver pan has smaller indentations than some, so I found I had to use a little less batter - about 23 ml in all (ie: 1 1/2 Tbs). If you use 30 ml batter in all (ie: 2 Tbs) to fill the indentations (ie: 15 ml to fill it two thirds full, then another 15 ml batter on top of the filling), then you will need to increase baking time to about 3 minutes for each side.
