By Dennis Weaver
Aebleskiver are Danish puff pastries. They’re as versatile as donuts; they can
be as sweet as donuts but you make them on the stovetop rather than deep
frying them or baking them as you do donuts.
It takes a special pan, an aebleskiver pan to make these puffed pastries. An aebleskiver pan is a
heavy pan, usually cast iron, with a set of rounded cavities larger than a golf ball but smaller than
a tennis ball. The pan is heated on the stovetop and each cavity is filled with batter. They cook
as pancakes do but when they cook on one side, instead of flipping them with spatula as you
would pancakes, you poke them with a skewer and roll them onto the other side. (My neighbor
uses a hairpin.) It’s simple but it’s easier to show than to explain. Catch the link below to the
video.
They are nearly always filled. Traditionally, they were filled with applesauce or sliced, sautéed
apples. They are often filled with jam. We most often fill them with pastry filling and sometimes
chocolate. One of our favorites is chocolate aebleskiver filled with chocolate plus cherry jam.
But you can fill them with anything, even savory fillings. We make corn aebleskivers—like
cornbread—with cheese in the center.
There are two basic ways to fill them:
1. Fill the cavities two-thirds full with batter, add the
filling—jam, chocolate, or whatever—and then add
the rest of the batter. They are cooked with the
filling inside. This is the traditional way of making
them.
2. The other way is to cook them and then add the
filling. You can use a pastry bag or decorator and a
narrow tip. Insert the tip into each pastry and
squeeze and fill as you would jelly donuts. A quick
and easy way is to use tube of prepared pastry filling
, clip the tip of the pointed end, insert the end of the
bag and squeeze. (Once you see the pastry bag and envision it, it’s easy. It’s the same
method we use to fill cupcakes—see how to fill cupcakes.)
See the video: How to Make Aebleskiver >>
What About the Batter?
You can make your batter from scratch but most folks use
either a pancake mix or an aebleskiver mix. If you use a
pancake mix, add a little extra sugar to sweeten the batter
and whip one or two egg whites as if you were making
meringue and fold them into the finished batter. The egg
whites will make the aebleskiver lighter and crispier.
With aebleskiver mixes, you won’t need to add the whipped
egg whites. We produce and sell three different aebleskiver
mixes: Classic aebleskiver, chocolate aebleskiver and jalapeño corn aebleskiver mixes. Don’t overlook the jalapeño corn aebleskiver.
Suggestions for Aebleskiver
These are more of our favorite aebleskivers:
- Chocolate aebleskiver with cherry jam or seedless raspberry jam and a chocolate wafer or kiss
- Chocolate aebleskiver with peanut butter centers
- Jalapeno corn aebleskiver with cheddar cheese centers
- Jalapeno corn aebleskiver with cream cheese centers
- Jalapeno corn aebleskiver with bacon and cheese
- Aebleskiver with blueberry and/or lemon pastry filling
- Aebleskiver or chocolate aebleskiver with Bavarian cream pastry filling
- Aebleskiver with orange marmalade filling and orange cloud whipped cream
- Aebleskiver or chocolate aebleskiver with commercial or homemade vanilla marshmallow cream
More Suggestions
We thought we knew aebleskiver—till we bought this book by Kevin Crafts. He’s taken
aebleskiver to a whole new level with recipes like pumpkin pie aebleskivers, strawberry shortcake
aebleskivers, and molten chocolate lava aebleskivers.
What You’ll Need
- You’ll need an aebleskiver pan. You can purchase pans in cast iron or nonstick. We prefer the cast iron because of the heat dispersion and retention qualities.
- You’ll probably want either pancake mixes or aebleskiver mixes to make your batter.
- With pancake mixes, you will want to fold in whipped egg whites. With aebleskiver mixes, you won’t need to.
- You’ll probably want pastry fillings. We sell pastry fillings in eight varieties. Bavarian cream is the most popular but don’t overlook the fruit fillings.
- You may want a decorator set or pastry bags. You’ll find those in the decorating section on our web site.
- You may want good chocolate for drizzling or filling.
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