Aebleskiver are a Danish delicacy, a type of small, round pancake or waffle, with somewhat crisp exteriors and very moist interiors. They usually have small slices of apple inside them, but they can also be filled with jam or left plain. The are best eaten with powdered sugar, in my opinion, but syrup and jam are popular, and they can be rolled in butter and a cinnamon-sugar mixture to create small doughnut-like confections.
You need a special pan to make aebleskiver. They are generally cast iron and have small, semi-spherical indentations to hold batter and give the cakes their unique, round shape. Aebleskiver are cooked on the stovetop and flipped over halfway through cooking. I use a fork to flip mine, but it is more traditional to use a large wooden skewer or knitting needle. These aren’t the most versatile of pans – probably best for aebleskiver (obviously) and perhaps even donut holes – but they are rather fun-looking. And aebleskiver are so easy to make that you’ll get your money’s worth out of the pan.
I based my recipe on one that came with my pan, just to stick as close to an authentic recipe as possible. I added cinnamon to the batter and filled them with raspberry preserves. They were amazing – soft, fluffy and with a lovely sweetness. I would put them half way between pancakes and donut holes (jelly donut holes, of course)! I’ll be using my pan a lot more after today.
Raspberry Filled Aebleskiver
2 large eggs, separated
2 tsp sugar
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 cup milk (I used low fat)
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 cup all purpose flour
raspberry preserves
In a large bowl, beat egg yolks and sugar until sugar is dissolved. Add vegetable oil and milk and mix well. Stir in salt, baking powder, cinnamon and flour.
In a small bowl, beat egg whites until soft peaks form. Fold into flour mixture.
Heat aebleskiver pan, brushed with a bit of vegetable oil, over high heat until hot. Fill each indentation about 3/4 full with batter. When the cake begins to puff up, add about 1 tsp raspberry preserves. When the batter bubbles slightly and the bottom is golden, turn over by inserting a fork (or skewer) into the edge and flipping quickly. Cook until the whole thing is golden brown. The aebleskiver will take about 2 minutes on the first side and 1 minute on the second side.
Keep in a single layer in a slightly warm oven until serving, if not serving immediately as they cook. Serve with powdered/confectioners sugar.
Makes 28 aebleskiver.
Corianne
January 15, 2006The pan looks a lot like a dutch ‘poffertjes’pan.
Is it the same, you think?
chefmir
January 15, 2006these sound just like the israeli jelly doughnuts that are traditionally eaten on hannukah–called sufganiyot. the only difference is sufganiyot don’t need a special pan; they are deep fried and can be prepared in a pot, deep fryer, or my preferece, a frying pan with about 3 inches of oil.
nosheteria
January 15, 2006These look amazing! I want to come to your house on Sunday mornings.
Zarah Maria
January 15, 2006Oh, æbleskiver! For brunch? Now that’s decadent Nic! I never thought of that, but why not?! We usually only eat them around Christmas here, with a slice of apple in the middle. With traditions somehow ruling this type of food around here, it never occured to me to fiddle around with them – but I love this idea – now I just need to get myself a pan…
Randi
January 15, 2006btw, there is a fabulous looking recipe for them on the williams sonoma site.
anni
January 15, 2006Can you say “æbleskiver” three times in a row?
Now that’s a mouthful of goodness…
Nic
January 15, 2006Corianne – I think they’re the same (or at least very similar).
Chefmir – I think they’re much moister than sufganiyot, more like a popover. And, of course, not fried.
Nosheteria – Open invitation if you’re in town!
Zarah – Well, why not? I’m not a stickler for tradition. Particularly not when I have a neat new pan at my disposal.
Randi – My pan is nordicware, too, but I’m fairly certain that the pan from the Baker’s Catologe is, as well. It looks the same, and I didn’t see a nordicware one on Amazon. Also, the filling leaked out of a few of mine, but putting it in a bit earlier really seemed to help.
Clare Eats
January 15, 2006OOH!!!
YUM!
Jessica
January 15, 2006This looks a lot like Chinese “pancakes,” except ours have flat bottoms. In Chinese grocery stores, they fill them with red bean paste or bavarian cream. It was a childhood treat.
Angie
January 15, 2006These looks really dainty and delicious 🙂
J
January 15, 2006hi nic, i have never had aebleskiver before but just taking one look at your picture and reading your recipe, i know they will taste divine – crisp without and moist within, hmmm…now, to find the right pan…
Pille
January 16, 2006I absolutely love æbleskiver, although I haven’t had them since 1993!!! I lived in Denmark for a year as an exchange student, and consumed copious amounts of æbleskiver during the winter – they’re absolutely delicious. And I’m still thinking of buying the special pan:)
Stacey
January 16, 2006I love your blog and have gotten some great ideas. Thank you.
My mother is Danish and we eat Aebleskiver several times a year. We do not fill them with anything, but dip them in jam and powdered sugar. We use a large crochet hook to turn them (as the little hook on the end really helps the turning action without creating a huge hole or mess). Our recipe is as follows:
2 C buttermilk
2 C flour
2 eggs (whites beaten stiff)
2 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
1/2 t baking soda
2 T sugar
4 T melted butter
Beat all ingredients (except the egg whites) together until smooth and let sit for 30 minutes to let the baking powder work, then we fold in the egg whites.
Cindy
January 17, 2006That looks so good !
ggpaborito
January 26, 2006You sure like to bake a lot there in los angeles california..everything are all sounds and look yummy for me..I guess if you don’t mind can I try one of your recipe especial your sunday branch……….
Ging………..
AmyArtisan
June 14, 2006Just found your site through “Simply Recipes” – will definitely be checking back often!
What a great post on Aebleskivers! Our family tradition is to have these & sausage as our Christmas eve dinner. Mom normally puts a dab of her homemade applesauce in the middle of them.
open.window
October 21, 2009I can’t believe you have a recipe for this, I’m so happy 😀 I am from Denmark, and there we always just bought them premade, but now I live in England where we have no such luxury. Luckily my mom actually has an aebleskive pan, so I’ll probably try making them 😀
If your interested, this are usually eaten mostly around Christmas time 🙂