Blueberry Ebelskiver

I never need an excuse to break out my ebelskiver pan and cook up some of those delightful spherical pancakes on a weekend morning. You do need a special pan to make them, but ebelskivers are just as easy to make as regular pancakes and might taste just a little bit better due to their shape and size. In fact, the recipe is very much like a more traditional pancake recipe and contains all of the same ingredients. The primary difference is that the eggs added to ebelskiver batter are usually separated and the whites are beaten to stiff peaks and folded in to add extra lightness and to the center of the pancake, creating more of a contrast with the slightly crisp exterior of each ebelskiver.

As you can do with regular pancakes, you can add all kinds of flavorings to ebelskiver. They are often served plain, but other traditional ways to serve them include filling them with jam or pieces of fruit. For this batch, I added some fresh blueberries to the center of each pancake. This is an easy change to make in the original recipe, because I all you need to do is press a couple of berries down into the center of the batter-filled cavity before the pancakes firm up. The trick is to just use 2-4 berries (depending on size) so that you don’t overwhelm the pancake and keep those berries neatly contained.

The result is great, and as much as I like traditional blueberry pancakes, it’s fun to bite into one of these ebelskiver hot off the pan and get a burst of warm, sweet berry flavor. I might mix these up in the future to include other berries, but blueberries seem to be just the right size to easily tuck into these breakfast treats.

Blueberry Ebelskiver
2 large eggs, separated
2 tbsp sugar, divided
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 cup buttermilk
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 cup all purpose flour
approx 1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries

In a large bowl, whisk egg yolks and 1 tbsp sugar until sugar is dissolved. Add vegetable oil and buttermilk and mix well. Whisk in salt, baking powder and flour until batter is relatively smooth, with only a few lumps, and no streaks of flour remain.
In a medium bowl, beat egg whites with remaining tbsp of sugar until soft peaks form. Fold into flour mixture.
Once the batter is made, heat ebleskiver pan over medium heat until very hot. Brush each of the wells with a bit of vegetable oil, then fill each indentation almost to the top with batter. Place 3-4 blueberries (depending on size) into the center of the pancakes.
When the batter bubbles slightly around the edges and the bottom is golden, turn over by inserting a fork (or skewer) into the side and flipping quickly. Cook until second side is golden brown. If the ebleskiver are too dark, reduce heat down slightly.
Serve with maple syrup and extra blueberries.

Makes about 20 ebleskiver (serves 5-6)