Æbleskiver: A Traditional Danish Winter Treat

(Danish meaning apple slices (singular: æbleskive)) are traditional Danish pancakes in a distinctive shape of a sphere. Somewhat similar in texture to American pancakes crossed with a popover, Æbleskiver are solid like a pancake but light and fluffy like a popover. The English language spelling is usually aebleskiver or ebleskiver.

Æbleskiver are cooked on the stove top by baking in a special pan wíth several hemi-spherical indentations in the bottom of the pan. The pan exists in versions for gas and electrical stoves(the latter with a plain bottom). Pans are usually made of cast iron, allowing good heat conduction. Traditional models in hammered copper plate exist but are today used exclusively for decoration. (source Wikipedia)

Aebleskiver pans can be bought locally at Williams-Sonoma.

Miss Jensen's æbleskiver with buttermilk

4 servings

2 cups flour
½ tsp salt
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp cardamom
1 teaspoon baking soda
3 eggs, seperated
4 cup buttermilk
grated peel of 1 lemon
4 tablespoons butter, melted & cooled

Mix flour, salt, sugar, cardamom, baking soda and grated lemon peel. Wisk the egg yolks and buttermilk together and stir in the flour. Add the butter to the dough rest approximately ½ hour. Then wisk the egg whites until stiff, fold into batter. Heat aebleskiver pan and pour a little butter in each hole. Fill the holes up with three quarters of dough. Turn the aebleskiver, as they begin to stiffen and flip. Before flipping the aebleskiver you can add a slice of apple. (See that's why it is called æbleskiver!) Turn the aebleskiver on several times by poking them with a wooden stick or a knitting needle. If there is dough on the stick, then cooked a little longer.
Keep the aebleskiver warm in oven. Aebleskiver can be frozen once cooled.

Serve with sugar or powdered sugar and your choice of jam.