When we were growing up in Santa Clara, California, we would often drive down to see our maternal Grandma and all of our cousins in Southern California. We would always stop on the way in Solvang, a Danish community near Santa Barbara. At that time, it was just a small town with some wonderful shops and fantastic bakeries and restaurants. Now it has a Convention Center and has grown quite a lot. First stop was generally one of the bakeries, either Danish Mill or Petersen's, to get butter cookies and Sarah Bernhardts and pastries for my Dad. Then we would visit the needlework shops and I always had to visit the Equine Art store. Then we would stop to eat at one of the little restaurants with a Smorgasbord and have frikadeller, which are meatballs, with gravy and mashed potatoes and Rod Kaal (red cabbage); or little open faced sandwiches with all kinds of meats, cheeses and toppings. But my favorite thing was Aebelskiver. They are little round pancake balls served with jam and powdered sugar. You need a special Monk Ball/Aebelskiver pan to make them properly, but my mother has been known to just cook the batter on a skillet and make what she calls Flatabels. LOL
Aebelskiver are our special breakfast for birthdays and holidays or when family comes to visit. Matt and I demonstrated how to make them for two of his school classes. We've made them for friends and family, for missionaries and neighbors, for Seminary students and who knows who else. There have been several times when I've made more than 100 at a time when we've had guests. They aren't difficult once you've got the hang of turning them. The restaurants usually use a knitting needle, but I just use a fork and keep paper towels handy to keep it clean.
I hope you have an opportunity to make Aebelskiver one day. It's definitely one of my most requested recipes. If you can't make them, then please come by sometime and I'll make them for you!
Aebelskiver from the Danish Cook Book from Solvang
I double this recipe for our family holiday breakfasts and rarely have leftovers
2 cups buttermilk
2 cups flour
2 eggs, divided
2 Tbsp sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
4 Tbsp melted butter
(I also add about 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg to mine)
Canola or Corn oil for cooking
Strawberry or Lingonberry jam for topping
Powdered sugar in a sifter
Separate the eggs and beat the egg whites in a mixer (preferably with a whip attachment) until stiff (or wait until the batter has set for a while, then whip them.) Mix all other ingredients in a large bowl and beat until smooth. Allow batter to set for 30 minutes to let the baking powder work. Gently fold in egg whites until all combined.
Put Aebelskiver pan on medium heat and let it get completely heated through - I usually let it heat at least five minutes before adding oil. Fill the center hole of the pan about 3/4 full of oil or just add a Tablespoon of oil to each cup. (I find it much less messy to fill just the center cup, then add batter to it, which causes oil to go into each of the other cups. The center cup takes the longest to cook, too, so this gives that one a little extra time to cook.)
Put a couple of tablespoonfuls of batter into each hole in the pan. If you've filled the middle one with oil, start with that one, allowing oil to flow into each of the other cups. Make sure there is oil in each of the cups. The batter should almost come to the top of the cup. Let it cook until the edges start to get bubbly, then using a knitting needle or fork, poke the top edge and quickly lift and turn the cooked aebelskiver about a 1/4 turn. If it flips all the way over, that's fine, too. Continue turning the aebelskiver until a skewer or knitting needle comes out clean and it's nicely browned all over. Watch the heat on the pan and adjust as needed to keep them from getting burnt.
Serve several with jam and powdered sugar on top.
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