Recipe of the month: Æbleskivers

Æbleskivers are traditional Danish pancakes in a distinctive shape of a sphere. Somewhat similar in texture to American pancakes crossed with a popover, Æbleskivers are solid like a pancake but light and fluffy like a popover. They were traditionally cooked with bits of apple (æble) or applesauce inside but these ingredients are rarely included in modern Danish forms of the dish. Æbleskivers are not sweet themselves but are traditionally served sprinkled with powdered sugar and dipped in raspberry, strawberry, lingonberry or blackberry jam. BTW, all this information I've been rattling off like an annoying know-it-all is what I gathered from Wikipedia. I am by no means an authority on Æbleskivers **grins sheepishly**

I first heard of Æbleskivers a few months ago on the television segment "The Best Thing I Ever Ate" on Food Network. I was not paying much attention to the telly but when I heard this strange word, I cocked my head and went "Evil....what now??" I saw celebrity chef Aaron Sanchez describing these sweet little Danish pancakes (which looked delicious by the way) and I was startled to see that the cast iron indented pan you use to make it looked very similar to a pan I had with me at home.

My pan (a nonstick one) is used to make a South-Indian breakfast item called Guliappa which I've posted previously so, I immediately thought that this was something I should try in the future. I find having pancakes for breakfast quite filling but these little Danish pancakes are perfect for a little sweet craving at the end of a meal.

I found several variations in the recipe. Some mentioned separating the eggs and beating the egg whites to stiff peaks, some of them used buttermilk in the recipe, some didn't have any filling in them, some had bananas in them and some had the traditional apple filling. I stripped down my recipe to a bare minimum and thought I would do a banana filling since I had some bananas lying around at home.

This simplified version might not be the traditional way of making them but trust me when I say they are really easy to make and yummy too.

Æbleskivers

Preparation time: ~15 mins

Cooking time: 4-6 mins per batch
Serves: 2-3

Recipe category: Breakfast/Scandinavian
Recipe level: Super-duper easy

Recipe source: Various websites

Ingredients:

For the batter:

11/4 cup plain flour or all-purpose flour

3 tbsp refined sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp cinnamon powder

1/4 tsp salt

1 egg, beaten

1 cup whole milk

1/2 tsp good quality vanilla extract

2 tbsp flavorless vegetable oil

Unsalted butter for frying

For the filling:

4 small ripe bananas (the sweet variety), cut into chunks

A sprinkling of brown sugar (Optional)

For serving:

A sprinkling of powdered sugar 

Maple syrup 

Method:

1. Whisk together the dry ingredients (first 5 ingredients) in a large bowl. 
2. Then slowly mix in the liquid ingredients and whisk until the batter is smooth and there are no lumps. 
3. Heat the Æbleskiver pan on medium to low heat. Grease it with a little butter and fill the indentations up to half with spoonfuls of the batter. 
4. Drop in a chunk of banana and sprinkle it with a little sprinkling of brown sugar. 
5. Now add in more of batter until the indentation is almost completely filled with batter. It is better to do this one by one as the batter cooks very quickly. 
6. Close the lid of the pan and cook till one side turns golden brown. Now using a wooden skewer, overturn the Æbleskivers until the other side is cooked. 
7. Serve generously dusted with powdered sugar and maple syrup. 

Notes:

• These pancakes are not very sweet so if you have a real sweet tooth, you can increase the amount of sugar in the batter
• You can fill these Æbleskivers with lightly sautéed slices of apple (the traditional filling)
• You can replace the cinnamon powder with cardamom powder for a change of flavor
• If you don't have a wooden skewer, you could also use a fork or a knitting needle to turn the pancakes over
• Depending on whether you use any filling in the Æbleskivers or the kind filling you use, could could serve these Danish pancakes sprinkled with powdered sugar and a complimentary assortment of jams

References:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%86bleskiver

Cheers,

Megha