Rolling into Danish Aeblskivers
As we roll into Denmark on the North Sea, I found myself wondering why the heck we didn't eat aebleskivers during the week we spent visiting this country. Then I remembered, we were too busy eating Danish pastry and shrimp spread (well, at least Sam was busy eating shrimp spread). Here are some of the wonderful Danish pastries we had while visiting this country:
Just looking at the pictures makes me want to go back! If you're ever in Copenhagen, check out La Glace. We're hoping that our aebleskiver recipe will remind us of the wonderful flavors of Denmark today.
Let's start with finding a Danish recipe for aebleskivers. I've made these before, but I'm fairly certain that the recipes I used were just regular American recipes, because that's what they tasted like. So, I wanted to make sure to find an authentic Danish recipe. This led me to start my search with Danish blogs, and it wasn't long before I found many that looked tasty. Ultimately I decided on a fairly straightforward recipe that belongs to Diane, a Scot living in Denmark. In her blog, she assures us that this recipe is one handed down through the generations on her Danish husband's side.
While researching aeblskivers for this week, I found it interesting that most Danish consider these "doughnuts". It's interesting because while they are round, they don't resemble American doughnuts in any way, shape, or form. American doughnuts are deep fried in at least a couple of inches of oil, and they're made with a yeast dough. Aeblskivers are not. They are made with more of a thick pancake batter, and they are fried in just enough oil to cover the bottoms of the little wells they're cooked in. Also, Danish aeblskivers are typically served around Christmas time. This could be why we didn't eat them while we were in Denmark, since we were there in July.
O.K., enough rambling, let's get on to the aebleskiver making. To make aeblskivers, you'll need the following ingredients:
1 cup of buttermilk
1 cup of cream
3 eggs
2 tablespoons of sugar
250 grams of flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons of baking powder
1 teaspoon of sugar
1 teaspoon of cardamom (we used cinnamon on accident)
melted butter (about 3-4 tablespoons)
your favorite jam, jelly, honey, syrup, or nutella for dipping the aeblskivers in.
Before we start in on the recipe, there is some special equipment you're going to need. The first thing is a special pan for cooking your aeblskivers. Here in the United States, you can find this pan in many stores under the name pancake puffs maker. We received our as a gift from my parents, but I've seen them in places like Target for around $20. Also, you'll want to make sure you get one that is cast iron so that the heat remains evenly distributed and constant. You'll also need a small pastry brush as well as a knitting needle. Knitting needle?!? Well, in Denmark they use a knitting needle to flip these in the pan; however, if you don't knit and don't have a knitting needled, don't feel like you need to go and buy one. I usually use a metal or wooden skewer. Here's a photo of the special equipment you'll need.
O.K., now we're ready to start making these. First you'll need to mix your buttermilk, cream, sugar, and eggs in a large bowl until it's bubbly and froth.
Next measure out your flour and then add in the salt, baking powder and cinnamon.
Hmmm . . . I'm just realizing that the original recipe calls for cardamom, but I forgot this and used cinnamon instead. Oops! The cinnamon works just fine, but it isn't truly a substitute for cardamom. Perhaps we'll make these again next week with cardamom. Oh well, let's continue on with them the way I made them. Now you're ready to mix the dry ingredients into the wet. Add a little bit of the dry ingredients at a time and mix until completely incorporated. Adding a little at the time will help prevent lumps.
Now that the batter is all mixed up, it needs to rest. I saw lots of different times for letting the batter rest. They ranged in length from 15 minutes to one full hour. I opted to let the batter rest for 30 minutes in the refrigerator. While the batter was resting, Sam of course took pictures of the dogs.
For some reason he also decided to take a picture of the doggie treats container:
If you live in So.Cal., I highly recommend them for high quality food and treats that your dog will love! No preservatives in the food, and all human grade food is used to make their dog treats and food. They have a few locations too. Take a look at their website if you're interested in more info.
After your batter is rested, you're ready to begin making your aebleskivers. The first thing you'll need to do is heat up your aebleskiver pan on the stove. I usually heat it on medium high for about 3-5 minutes. While you're heating the aebleskiver pan, melt your butter.
O.K., so Sam didn't get a picture of me spreading butter on the aeblskiver pan, but basically what you want to do is dip the pastry brush in the melted butter, and then spread it all around each well of the aebleskiver pan. Once each well is coated, you're ready to begin placing your batter in the wells. I use a tablespoon measuring spoon to do this. Scoop up about 1 tablespoon of batter and place it in one well of your aeblskiver pan.
Continue until all of the wells are filled with batter.
It only takes a few minutes to cook each side. Once the aeblskiver begins to look a little dry and brown around the edges, it's ready to flip. I think the first batch might be over done, but let's flip them and see.
O.K., so the first batch never seems to turn out for me. I think it's because I always forget to turn the heat down. You should probably turn the heat down to somewhere between medium low and medium before you put the butter and batter in. When the heat is too high, not only do you get burned aebleskivers, but you also get this:
Raw dough in the middle, not so tasty, huh? O.K., the first batch is thrown out, and we're ready to start the second batch. Follow the same process, except turn the heat down if you didn't remember to. Here's a video of what the flipping process looks like on properly cooked aeblskivers:
Continue cooking in the same manner until all of the batter is used up. You will get about 30 aeblskivers. Here are our finished aebleskivers:
Of course, I think they look so fantastic that they needed a close up shot as well:
We each chose our favorite sweetener to dip them in(Nutella for me and a mixed berry jam for Sam) and added a little protein in the form of soy sausage:
We even tried one with a little bit of speculoos spread we had on hand:
Delicous! Also, you can store any leftovers you might have in the freezer for a couple of months.
Just looking at the pictures makes me want to go back! If you're ever in Copenhagen, check out La Glace. We're hoping that our aebleskiver recipe will remind us of the wonderful flavors of Denmark today.
Let's start with finding a Danish recipe for aebleskivers. I've made these before, but I'm fairly certain that the recipes I used were just regular American recipes, because that's what they tasted like. So, I wanted to make sure to find an authentic Danish recipe. This led me to start my search with Danish blogs, and it wasn't long before I found many that looked tasty. Ultimately I decided on a fairly straightforward recipe that belongs to Diane, a Scot living in Denmark. In her blog, she assures us that this recipe is one handed down through the generations on her Danish husband's side.
While researching aeblskivers for this week, I found it interesting that most Danish consider these "doughnuts". It's interesting because while they are round, they don't resemble American doughnuts in any way, shape, or form. American doughnuts are deep fried in at least a couple of inches of oil, and they're made with a yeast dough. Aeblskivers are not. They are made with more of a thick pancake batter, and they are fried in just enough oil to cover the bottoms of the little wells they're cooked in. Also, Danish aeblskivers are typically served around Christmas time. This could be why we didn't eat them while we were in Denmark, since we were there in July.
O.K., enough rambling, let's get on to the aebleskiver making. To make aeblskivers, you'll need the following ingredients:
1 cup of buttermilk
1 cup of cream
3 eggs
2 tablespoons of sugar
250 grams of flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons of baking powder
1 teaspoon of sugar
1 teaspoon of cardamom (we used cinnamon on accident)
melted butter (about 3-4 tablespoons)
your favorite jam, jelly, honey, syrup, or nutella for dipping the aeblskivers in.
Before we start in on the recipe, there is some special equipment you're going to need. The first thing is a special pan for cooking your aeblskivers. Here in the United States, you can find this pan in many stores under the name pancake puffs maker. We received our as a gift from my parents, but I've seen them in places like Target for around $20. Also, you'll want to make sure you get one that is cast iron so that the heat remains evenly distributed and constant. You'll also need a small pastry brush as well as a knitting needle. Knitting needle?!? Well, in Denmark they use a knitting needle to flip these in the pan; however, if you don't knit and don't have a knitting needled, don't feel like you need to go and buy one. I usually use a metal or wooden skewer. Here's a photo of the special equipment you'll need.
O.K., now we're ready to start making these. First you'll need to mix your buttermilk, cream, sugar, and eggs in a large bowl until it's bubbly and froth.
Next measure out your flour and then add in the salt, baking powder and cinnamon.
Hmmm . . . I'm just realizing that the original recipe calls for cardamom, but I forgot this and used cinnamon instead. Oops! The cinnamon works just fine, but it isn't truly a substitute for cardamom. Perhaps we'll make these again next week with cardamom. Oh well, let's continue on with them the way I made them. Now you're ready to mix the dry ingredients into the wet. Add a little bit of the dry ingredients at a time and mix until completely incorporated. Adding a little at the time will help prevent lumps.
Now that the batter is all mixed up, it needs to rest. I saw lots of different times for letting the batter rest. They ranged in length from 15 minutes to one full hour. I opted to let the batter rest for 30 minutes in the refrigerator. While the batter was resting, Sam of course took pictures of the dogs.
For some reason he also decided to take a picture of the doggie treats container:
If you live in So.Cal., I highly recommend them for high quality food and treats that your dog will love! No preservatives in the food, and all human grade food is used to make their dog treats and food. They have a few locations too. Take a look at their website if you're interested in more info.
After your batter is rested, you're ready to begin making your aebleskivers. The first thing you'll need to do is heat up your aebleskiver pan on the stove. I usually heat it on medium high for about 3-5 minutes. While you're heating the aebleskiver pan, melt your butter.
O.K., so Sam didn't get a picture of me spreading butter on the aeblskiver pan, but basically what you want to do is dip the pastry brush in the melted butter, and then spread it all around each well of the aebleskiver pan. Once each well is coated, you're ready to begin placing your batter in the wells. I use a tablespoon measuring spoon to do this. Scoop up about 1 tablespoon of batter and place it in one well of your aeblskiver pan.
Continue until all of the wells are filled with batter.
It only takes a few minutes to cook each side. Once the aeblskiver begins to look a little dry and brown around the edges, it's ready to flip. I think the first batch might be over done, but let's flip them and see.
O.K., so the first batch never seems to turn out for me. I think it's because I always forget to turn the heat down. You should probably turn the heat down to somewhere between medium low and medium before you put the butter and batter in. When the heat is too high, not only do you get burned aebleskivers, but you also get this:
Raw dough in the middle, not so tasty, huh? O.K., the first batch is thrown out, and we're ready to start the second batch. Follow the same process, except turn the heat down if you didn't remember to. Here's a video of what the flipping process looks like on properly cooked aeblskivers:
Continue cooking in the same manner until all of the batter is used up. You will get about 30 aeblskivers. Here are our finished aebleskivers:
Of course, I think they look so fantastic that they needed a close up shot as well:
We each chose our favorite sweetener to dip them in(Nutella for me and a mixed berry jam for Sam) and added a little protein in the form of soy sausage:
We even tried one with a little bit of speculoos spread we had on hand:
Delicous! Also, you can store any leftovers you might have in the freezer for a couple of months.
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