Æbleskiver (Danish meaning apple slices (singular: æbleskive)) are traditional Danish pancakes in a distinctive shape of a sphere. Somewhat similar in texture to American pancakes crossed with a popover, Æbleskiver are solid like a pancake but light and fluffy like a popover. The English language spelling is usually aebleskiver or ebleskiver.

In the United States, the most famous version of the aebelskiver is a commercial repackaging of the pan, called Pancake Puffs, which is treated as a new invention, with no mention of its heritage included.

Æbleskiver pan

Æbleskiver are cooked on the stove top by baking in a special pan wíth several hemi-spherical indentations in the bottom of the pan. The pan exists in versions for gas and electrical stoves (the latter with a plain bottom). Pans are usually made of cast iron, allowing good heat conduction. Traditional models in hammered copper plate exist but are today used exclusively for decoration. Æbleskiver pans can be purchased at some internet stores, and they are often found at antique shops mislabeled as pølser poaching pans.

Preparation

The batter for æbleskiver usually includes wheat flour, which is mixed with buttermilk, milk or cream, eggs, sugar and a pinch of salt. Some recipes also include fat (usually butter), cardamom and lemon zest to improve taste, and a leavening agent, most often baking powder, but sometimes yeast, to aerate the batter.

Batter is poured into the oiled indentations and as the æbleskiver begin to cook, they are turned with a knitting needle, skewer or fork to give the cakes their characteristic spherical shape. They were traditionally cooked with bits of apple (æble) or applesauce inside but these ingredients are very rarely included in modern Danish forms of the dish. Æbleskiver are not sweet themselves but are traditionally served dipped in raspberry, strawberry, lingonberry or blackberry jam and sprinkled with powdered sugar.

Æbleskiver can be bought fried and frozen at supermarkets, only needing heating in an oven.

Traditions

In Denmark, æbleskiver are common before Christmas. In December, they are often served with gløgg, Scandinavian mulled wine. In Norway, warm waffles have much of the same function as æbleskiver in Denmark.

They are also often sold at charity markets, scout arrangements, local sports gatherings and similar, or served at children's birthday parties, due to their popularity and easy preparation. Voluntary associations can gain a good profit from preparing them from the pre-fried, frozen stage and selling them, usually three at a time with the usual condiments. Unlike what is sometimes assumed in America, Danes don't eat æbleskiver for breakfast (at least not in modern times) .

In North America, there are several annual events that celebrate æbleskiver and Danish culture:

• Constitution Day, First Saturday in June, Sunset Villa, Puslinch, Ontario, Canada
• Scandinavian Festival, April, California Lutheran University, Thousand Oaks, California
• Aebleskiver Days, July, Dickson, Alberta, Canada, at the Danish Canadian National Museum
• Aebleskiver Days, fourth weekend in July, Tyler, Minnesota
• Scandinavian Festival, second weekend in August, Junction City, Oregon
• Danish Festival, third weekend in August, Greenville, Michigan
• Askov Fair & Rutabaga Festival, featuring an æbleskiver stand, last weekend in August, Askov, Minnesota (Old Danish colony town)
• Tivoli Fest, Memorial Day Weekend, Elk Horn, Iowa
• Danish Days, September, Solvang, California
• Æbleskiver Supper, September, Trinity Lutheran Church, Blooming Prairie, Minnesota
• Danish Smorgasbord, first Saturday in November, Immanuel Lutheran Church, Easton, California
• Julefest, Thanksgiving Weekend, Kimballton, Iowa
• The Christmas Bazaar, November, Danish Lutheran Church, Toronto, Ontario
• SVYM Christmas Brunch in Boulder Creek, California
• Yule Fest and Viking Days at the Nordic Heritage Museum in Seattle, Washington

See also

• Danish cuisine
• Popover
• Paniyaram, a similar dish from the south of India that comes in sweet and savoury varieties.
• Poffertjes, a similar Dutch dish that is sweet.
• Takoyaki, a similar Japanese dish that is savory.
• Gai daan jai, a Chinese dish like it.

Notes

External links

• The Story of Aebleskiver (Solvang Restaurant, Solvang, California)