Family Recipe Friday: Æbleskivers!

Mmm... æbleskivers!

I've been thinking about æbleskivers lately. In fact, I'm craving these yummy little Danish pancake balls right now. It's probably because that's what I always asked my mom to make for me for my birthday breakfast. I'm heading to her house tomorrow so we can celebrate our May birthdays together this weekend (mine was last week, hers is this weekend). I think we're going to have to make up a batch to celebrate!

Æbleskiver is the Danish word for apple slices. They are spherical in shape, and kind of a cross between a popover and a pancake. They are made in an æbleskiver pan, which has several half-spherical cups or indentations in the bottom of the pan. My mom uses a non-stick æbleskiver pan, but I like my heavy, cast iron pan. I'm told by a Danish friend of mine that you can actually find frozen æbleskivers at Trader Joe's. That just seems so very wrong to me, though...
Here are a couple of versions of the æbleskiver recipe that our family have used. The first one is more traditional, but the second one is my favorite (I love buttermilk...).

Standard Æbleskiver

4 eggs, separated
1 Tbls sugar
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup melted shortening
scant 2 cups milk

Beat egg yolks; add sugar. Sift together dry ingredients and add alternately with shortening and milk. Fold in stiffly beaten egg whites. See below for baking instructions.

Buttermilk Æbleskiver

3 eggs, separated
2 Tbls sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups buttermilk
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder

Beat egg yolks until light and lemon colored. Add sugar, salt and buttermilk; mix well. Sift together flour, baking soda and baking powder; add to egg mixture. Beat egg whites until stiff; fold into batter.

Baking instructions for both recipes:
Place a small amount of shortening (or butter) in each cup of æbleskiver pan, and fill 2/3 full with batter. Cook over medium heat until bubbly; turn carefully with a fork (or a butter knife or a metal knitting needle) and finish baking on the other side. Turn each æbleskiver several times to ensure thorough baking. If desired, a very thin slice of raw apple can be pressed into batter in each cup before turning. In our family, we serve with butter, powdered sugar and strawberry jam.

By the way, æbleskivers seem to be gaining in popularity, even among non-Danish folks. I've seen æbleskiver pans and entire recipe books readily available in several cooking stores, including Williams-Sonoma and Sur la Table. I hope you'll try them out!