In Denmark, Christmas will never be Christmas without these little pancake balls. The word æbleskiver literally means ‘apple slices’, because in the 1700s these were actually slices of apple, dipped in batter and fried. Nowadays, people rarely use apple the balls are usually cooked, dusted with sugar, dipped in raspberry jam and eaten. That said, I think that apples give these a bit of a lift. If you prefer them plain, simply leave out the filling. These are also found in southern Norway, where they are known as munker. You will need to use an æbleskiver pan a round pan with indentations in the surface. They are quite easy to buy online.
Ingredients
- 3 eggs, separated
- 1¼ cups (300 ml) buttermilk
- ⅓ cup (100 ml) double heavy cream
- 1 tablespoon caster superfine sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon bicarbonate of baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 1½ cups (200 g) plain all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3½ tablespoons (50 g) melted butter, for cooking
- icing confectioners' sugar and raspberry jam preserves, to serve
Filling (optional)
- 2 apples, peeled, cored and chopped into small pieces
- 1¾ tablespoons (25 g) butter
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ¼ cup (50 g) sugar
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
How to Make It
- Mix the egg yolks, buttermilk and cream in a bowl.
- In another bowl, mix together the dry ingredients the sugar, salt, baking powder, bicarbonate of/baking soda, cardamom and flour, as well as the vanilla extract.
- In a third bowl, whisk the egg whites on high speed until stiff.
- Mix together the wet and dry ingredients, then carefully fold in the whisked egg whites. Leave to rest for 30 minutes in the fridge.
- If including the filling, place the ingredients in a saucepan, bring to the boil, then leave to simmer until the apple goes soft.
- When you’re ready to cook the balls, preheat the æbleskiver pan over a high heat, then reduce the heat to medium and add a bit of melted butter to each hole. Carefully add enough batter to each hole so that it reaches about 2.5 mm/⅛ in. from the top. Add 1 teaspoon of filling mixture to the middle of each hole, if including it. Leave to cook for a few minutes, then, using a knitting needle or chopstick, carefully turn the balls over to cook on the other side. If you have filled the holes too much, this can be tricky, but you’ll get the hang of it.
- Once browned on all sides (this will take about 3–4 minutes per batch), keep the cooked æbleskiver in a warm oven until you are done this will also help to cook them through.
- Serve dusted with icing/confectioners' sugar and a little pot of raspberry jam/preserves for dipping.