As Good as Donuts, as Sweet
as Donuts — Just Easier
Kitchen tools, gourmet foods, baking mixes, and hard-to-find baking ingredients mentioned in this article are available at The Prepared Pantry.
by 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. A Danish Aebleskiver (Ebleskiver) Pancake Puff Cast Iron 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 + 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 a tube of Professional Chocolate Bavarian Cream Pastry and Dessert 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.
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 Mix - Puff Pancake (2 pound mix), and Jalapeno Corn Aebleskiver Mix--Puff Pancake (2 pound mix). Don't overlook the jalapeño corn 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
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 a Danish Aebleskiver (Ebleskiver) Pancake Puff Cast Iron Pan + a FREE Classic mix. 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 Smart Buy! Buttermilk Pancake Mix (large 2 pound mix) or Classic Aebleskiver Mix - Puff Pancake (2 pound mix) 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 Professional Chocolate Bavarian Cream Pastry and Dessert Filling. 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 cake decorating section at The Prepared Pantry.
• You may want Imported Dark Chocolate Wafers - -Large 30 ounce package for drizzling or filling.
Dennis Weaver is the founder of The Prepared Pantry, a full line kitchen store in Rigby, Idaho. The Prepared Pantry sells kitchen tools, gourmet foods, and baking ingredients including hundreds of hard-to-find ingredients.
