Dennis Weaver
We moved from Minnesota to Idaho. On our way out of town—not knowing what we would find in Idaho—we stopped at a Krispie Kreme donut store to stock up. I would like to say that it was the kids that needed the donuts in order to cross the Dakotas but the adults were driving the car. Since then, our kids have grown up and our tastes have changed. Sure, we occasionally make donuts but we make aebleskivers more often.
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:
- 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.
- 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 centers
- 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.
