My Mom's first paying job after nearly 30 years of marriage and motherhood was at the Wagon Wheel Restaurant in Mariposa, as a "cook's helper". Part of her duties included making aebleskivers, because it's a job that requires full-time attention and thus couldn't be handled by the regular cook. That was the beginning of our family's introduction to aebleskivers. Mom acquired a pan of her own and started making them for us at home. Once I was on my own, I acquired my own pan and began the aebleskiver tradition we enjoy today, which is usually for "special occasion" breakfasts like when company is in town or for Christmas brunch.
Aebleskivers are a Danish tradition, and the word literally means "apple slices" in Danish. Although apples are not included in the pastry, they are sometimes served with applesauce. More commonly at our house they are served with homemade jam, whipped cream, and syrup for certain individuals. They are not sweet on their own, although we sprinkle them with powdered sugar after cooking them.
The owner of the Wagon Wheel restaurant was a woman named Marge, and she was Danish which is why this dish was included at a restaurant in the tiny town of Mariposa. Much could be said about Marge, but we'll leave that for another time and just say that Mom learned to cook several new dishes while on this job, which we all enjoyed (beef stew and bran muffins to name a couple). Aebleskivers were definitely at the top of this list. While in college in San Luis Obispo I had the opportunity to visit the town of Solvang, a town known for it's Danish heritage. If you don't want to make your own, danish pastries and aebleskivers are on the "top 10" list of things to experience while in Solvang.
If you do want to make your own, I include Mom's recipe below, along with lots of tips about making them. They are definitely a job that you can master with experience, so don't be intimidated! For our recent Christmas holiday Brian and Anujin elected to stay home on Christmas and travel to SoCal the following day, and I think aebleskivers played into that decision!
While Mom didn't have ready access to conveniences like aebleskiver mix, my first confession is that I use a mix vs. make the recipe from scratch. I know, shocker, right? I usually prefer to make baked goods from scratch but this mix from William-Sonoma actually makes better aebleskivers, so who am I to argue??? We will actually make special trips to the original Williams-Sonoma store in the town of Sonoma to buy this mix. I know we could mail-order it, but when you have the original store only a town away why waste the opportunity?
There is actually a chocolate version of this mix and I was woo'd into buying it once. I don't recommend it, although it was good I just think pancakes weren't meant to be chocolate. But if you're a chocolate lover you might want to try it!
Funny story about mixes, we now keep TWO cans on hand so we don't run out. Once when Katelyn was in jr. high she had a class project which included cooking with a group of kids. She volunteered our house and decided the kids would make aebleskivers. Demonstrating her early leadership skills, she delegated who would bring jam, whipped cream, etc. and we provided the mix and pan and kitchen. They made the aebleskivers and documented the process with photos, but at the end all the kids were STARVING (after all, it was afternoon after school) so they ATE ALL THE AEBLESKIVERS. They were supposed to bring them to class the next day, so Katelyn and I got up early the next day to make a fresh batch. But we were OUT OF MIX so had to make them from scratch, so I don't think they were as good. Lesson learned - if you're going to have kids over after school be prepared to feed them!
Once you have the mix in hand, or have made the recipe below, it's helpful to gather all the other supplies you need before you start cooking. I use a tiny pat of butter in each pocket as I begin to cook each batch, so I use a cold stick of butter and cut the pieces before I begin. Since your hands get buttery handling it I grab a few paper towels and have them close by.
Of course you need something to turn the aebleskivers with, this is a critical piece of the process. My Mom used knitting needles, but since I don't knit, I use metal skewers. I think anything sharp and sanitary would do.
The pan itself is cast iron, so if yours is new you'll need to season it as you usually would cast iron. I once tried adding jam to the middle of the skiver once it was cooking and upon turning the warm jam got all over the pan. The jam burned into a crisp and was VERY DIFFICULT to remove so I don't recommend it. I barely got it off without ruining the finish on my pan. Perhaps I need once of those syringes like you use for jelly donuts in my future? Or just dip the outside in jam, perfectly acceptable!
I highly recommend you use a measuring cup to dip the necessary amount of batter into each pocket. It's really important to fill them level but no higher as then they are difficult to turn. I use 1/4 cup but the important thing is "level but not fuller".
Last but not least, prepare your powdered sugar in a sifter on a plate, so that you can sift it over each batch as they come out of the pan. Each recipe makes approximately 21 pancakes, 7 at a time, so I sift sugar over each batch as it comes off the stove.
Don't try to make aebleskivers and do any other breakfast prep at the same time, so either do the rest ahead of time or have a sous chef working with you on the meat, eggs, etc. You need to pay constant attention to the aebleskivers once you start cooking them.
Here is the recipe from Mom. The mix only requires milk and eggs, so you can see why it's lots easier (and who has buttermilk on hand readily?)
Aebleskivers
Ingredients:
· 1 c flour
· ¼ tsp salt
· 1 tsp sugar
· ½ tsp baking soda
· 2 eggs, separated
· 1-1/4 to 1-1/2 c buttermilk
· 1 tsp vanilla
Directions:
Combine all ingredients except egg whites and whisk thoroughly. Beat egg whites to stiff peaks. Fold eggs whites gently into batter just until mixed. Cook immediately.
Put a small amount of oil (I use butter) in each depression in your pan. When hot, fill ½ full with batter (I fill all the way to the top but no higher). As it cooks, turn with metal knitting needle, keep turning until evenly browned all over.
THIS IS THE IMPORTANT PART. Wait until the edges just begin to crisp, then turn ¼ turn. The liquid batter flows down to start making the “round” pancake. By the time you’ve turned all 7, you’re ready to do it again. Repeat a 3rd time for the final side. Tip: I leave a tiny amount of the final edge open (or gently poke a hole with my skewers) and point that end down to “steam” the inside. The WORST thing is to bite into an uncooked aebleskiver, so I actually open one gently and check to make sure each batch is done before removing them from the pan. Here's a video of the turning process. You can see why overfilling the pan is a problem!
Getting the heat right is tricky. If too high, they burn before being done. Keep turning them, and make sure the inside is done before removing them from the heat. I use medium to medium low heat, but I remove the pan from the heat while I remove the completed pancakes and sift the powdered sugar over them. Otherwise, the next batch of butter pats brown too quickly before I can get batter in the pan.
Enjoy your aebleskivers as part of a complete breakfast!
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