2 cups (8.5 oz.) flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cardamom (optional)
2 cups buttermilk
3 egg yolks
3 egg whites beaten to soft peaks
Whisk together the flour, salt, baking soda and cardamom until well mixed.
Mix in the buttermilk and egg yolks and mix until smooth.
Fold in the egg whites.
Grease or spray an æbleskiver pan and heat over medium heat. When water sizzles, the pan is hot.
Fill each cup 2/3s full and cook for approximately 3 minutes until it expands slightly above the rim of the pan.
Using a skewer, turn them so the cooked side is on top and cook the other side about 3 minutes.
When an inserted skewer comes out clean, they’re done, transfer to a wire sheet to cool.
Eat however you’d like pancakes. Cut them open, stuff them with butter and jam, sprinkle powdered sugar on top, syrup, whatever floats your boat.
Batter says it makes 35 to 40, I’m 21 in and there’s still a LOT of batter left. edit Cooking #36 to 42 now and it looks like we’ll get about 50(!) - Final count - 44(!)
Alternate recipe:
Fill each cup 1/3 full, add whatever filling you’d like, then the remaining 1/3 of batter. Turn and cook as normal.
Cardamom is not part of the orginal recipe, it’s my secret ingredient for Swedish pancakes. ;)
I saw these on GBBO 🧐 They look yummy!
I should say too, this is a cast iron æbleskiver pan and new cast iron needs seasoning before use to make it non-stick.
I took vegetable oil and rubbed the pan all over with paper towels, top and bottom, the put it upside down on a 1/4 sheet baking pan and baked it in the oven at 450° for an hour, rotating it 1/2 way through.
Let cool for 15 minutes and repeat 2 more times. Hardcore cast iron fans will do this as many as SIX times, but 3 looked good enough. ;)
That took the bare silver cast iron and turned it this lovely bronze color. It will continue to darken through use.
The pancakes popped right out, all I used was a cooking spray.
Thank you for mentioning this. I tried making these years and years ago, using a pan from a gift set. It was supposed to be preseasoned. It just made a mess.
I put it away and thought of it from time to time followed by remorse at what a pain in the ass it would be to use it.
Note that I have experience stripping and re-seasoning heirloom cast iron skillets, griddles, etc. Reconditioning them and saving them from a rusty fate. But I never registered in my head that although the gifted æbleskiver pan was cast iron, that maybe I failed with it because I hadn’t seasoned it. So today I spent a few hot smoky hours with it. It may need another full treatment, but I can already tell a difference in the surface. I’m looking forward to trying your recipe!
Apparently the more saturated an oil is, the better it works - it makes for a denser, harder layer.
Cooks Country/America’s Test Kitchen did a bunch of testing years ago, and determined flaxseed produced the best results. I’ve done many layers on some cookware because I needed to do a new piece anyway, may as well add a few others to the oven (since it’s a smelly job!). It’s amazing how nearly non-stick my cast is now.
Though any cooking oil will work.
I could see that for a more general purpose pan, this one will only be doing pancakes. ;)
My family tradition is to cook these on Christmas morning and hide random stuff inside them; candy, fruit, bacon, etc. It’s a fun tradition.
Need some glögg to go with them! ;)
Those poffertjes are too big!
NGL, I’m digging that pan though! Making 19 at a time is crazy though!
I keep seeing these pans in second hand stores, but so far I’ve avoided picking one up as I had no idea how to use it. So thanks for sharing! Next time I might pick one up.
Would you say there’s a big quality difference between homemade ones and the frozen pre-made ones my freezer is currently full of?
Difference in quality? Hmm, probably not.
But with the homemade ones, you can add fillings. Put the æble (apple) back in æbleskiver.
Just before the final turn to make the sphere complete, you can add
- A piece of apple
- A little applesauce
- A piece of chocolate
- Nutella (can also be injected into store bought æbleskiver)
- Other fruits
- …
Sometimes I use the method to make dinner instead of dessert, inspired by takoyaki (Japanese squid balls)
I make the batter with less sugar, slip seasoning you don’t think belongs in dinner. Maybe use broth for liquid. Here the fillings aren’t a bit in the middle, more of a 50/50 mix. I can fill the hole in the pan with fillings, then add batter. I like 2-3 different kinds of filling.
- Bits of ham or other meat
- Cheese, for example cheddar or feta
- Leafy greens like cabbage or spinache
- Sweet vegetables like corn or peas
Look for “madæbleskiver”, there’s so many fillings and dips.
Thanks! It does seem like a fun format to experiment with. I’m sold!
The heads-up about madæbleskiver is super useful — my Danish comprehension is good enough to read the recipes with no problem, but I wouldn’t have known what to search for.
There’s absolutely nothing wrong with the frozen ones, I used to buy them all the time, but there’s something satisfying about doing it yourself. :)
It’s the difference between making your own waffles vs. buying Eggos. ;)
Yeah, the only reason I’m on the fence is honestly the accumulation of highly specific cookware - I move around a bit and get into food, so I am already looking for two different types of waffle irons as well as a crepe pan.
Then again, whenever I end up leaving Denmark it will be hard to find the frozen ones, and maybe impossible to find a pan. So I guess I should go for it - I can justify it by considering it a souvernur rather than a kitchen utensil. ;)
Yeah, I used to get the frozen ones from Trader Joe’s here in the US, but they stopped carrying them. :( Glad I can do them myself now!
If having a unitasker bugs you though, I think you could also cook eggs in it. :)
https://food52.com/hotline/11927-what-else-can-you-use-an-aebleskiver-pan-for
Sounds like it might be ideal for some take on Korean pancakes, which are absolutely delicious (but challenging to make, I’ve heard). Thanks for the link!
