Originally from Denmark, now gaining popularity around the world, the Danish pancake spheres æbleskiver can make pancake mornings more fun. In Denmark æbleskiver are a part of the festive preparation before Christmas, but why not enjoy them anytime! You can fill these donut-like pancakes with apples, jam, marzipan – whatever you feel like. In the below recipe we have highlighted the version with apples as it felt fitting with the direct translation from Danish being ‘apple slices’.
Ingredients
- 2 apples, peeled and cored then chopped into ½” pieces
- 2 eggs
- 2 tbsp butter plus extra to grease the æbleskiver pan
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 270 g plain flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 350 ml buttermilk
- Icing sugar for dusting
Method
Place the æbleskiver pan over a medium-high burner to bring it up to temperature (add a little butter to the pan and if the butter sizzles, then the pan has reached the desired temperature).
In a separate pan, lightly sauté the apple pieces in butter until slightly softened, then sprinkle with cinnamon.
Separate the eggs and beat the whites in to stiff peaks. In a small bowl, whisk the egg yolks and sugar together until creamy. Sift together flour and baking powder, and gradually mix the flour mixture and buttermilk into the egg yolk and sugar mix. Add ½ a cup at a time alternating between the flour and buttermilk as you go. Finally gently fold the beaten egg whites into the batter.
Reduce the æbleskiver pan heat to a medium setting. Using a pastry brush, use a little butter and grease the surface of the wells until coated. Spoon a tsp of batter into each well, filling about half-way. Place an apple chunk on top of the batter and then spoon enough additional batter over the apple to cover and fill to the top. Allow to cook until the edges of each “pancake” begin to brown and pull away from the sides of the wells. Lightly run a knife tip or wooden skewer around the edge of each ball to loosen, and then flip over to cook through. This will take around 2 minutes. Remove the æbleskiver to a plate and sprinkle with powdered sugar to serve.
These pancake spheres can also be made hollow inside, without using any filling. To do this, fill the pan wells up to 3/4 full. After a couple of minutes, once the bottom of the pancake has begun to brown, turn the dough carefully in the well. Continue all the way round until the pancake is brown. The easiest way to do this is by using wooden skewers.
