Aebleskiver are Danish pancake balls, cooked in a heavy pan of round wells until they puff into spheres. The name means apple slices, from a time when a piece of apple went into the middle — most are made plain now, though a spoonful of jam pushed into the centre as they cook is worth trying.
Ingredients
- 1 cup milk
- ½ cup melted butter
- 3 eggs, separated
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 1½ cups flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- Powdered sugar, to finish
Method
- Heat the milk to lukewarm. Whisk in the butter, egg yolks and sugar.
- Turn into a bowl, add the flour and baking powder, and whisk until well blended with no lumps remaining.
- Whip the egg whites until stiff and fold them into the mixture.
- Heat an aebleskiver pan over medium-high heat until a drop of water sizzles in it.
- Put about ½ teaspoon of butter into each well and spread it around.
- Spoon in one tablespoon of batter per well and cook for about 30 seconds.
- When the bottoms are browned, turn each ball over and cook the other side until browned.
- Lift out onto a serving plate and dust with powdered sugar.
Turning them
This is the part that looks impossible and is not. When the bottom has set, slide a knitting needle or a skewer down the inside edge of the well and roll the ball over rather than lifting it — the uncooked batter runs down into the space and completes the sphere. Danish cooks use a knitting needle and will tell you nothing else works as well.
Why the whites are whipped separately
The same reason as the Swedish wafers: air. Beaten whites folded in at the end are what make aebleskiver light enough to puff into a ball rather than sitting in the well as a dense pancake. Fold gently and do not let the batter stand too long before it goes in the pan.
For more on the tradition, see the history of æbleskiver.