Æbleskiver
A Danish Advent treat served with mulled gløgg and jam. The name means apple slices — once there was a piece of apple inside, today usually not. They need a special cast-iron pan with round wells and one movement to master: turning with a knitting needle halfway through, so the raw batter runs down and closes the sphere. Without it you get hemispheres.
Your own work in that: 0 min.
- Batter 10 min
- Whisked whites 5 min
- Cooking 30 min
Step by step
0 / 8 doneMix the batter with the yolks
Mix the flour, sugar, soda, cardamom, zest and salt, add the buttermilk, yolks and melted butter and whisk smooth. Buttermilk with soda makes the bubbles that keep æbleskiver fluffy inside.
Ingredients: 250 g plain flour · 400 ml buttermilk · 3 pcs eggs · 2 tbsp sugar · 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda · ½ tsp cardamom · 1 pcs lemon · 1 pinch salt · 40 g butter
Fold in the stiff whites
Whisk the whites stiff and fold them into the batter in two additions with a spatula, gently. The foam is the second source of lightness — without it the balls are heavier and denser.
Ingredients: 250 g plain flour · 400 ml buttermilk · 3 pcs eggs · 2 tbsp sugar · 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda · ½ tsp cardamom · 1 pcs lemon · 1 pinch salt · 40 g butter
Whites in two additions — that is what makes them fluffy.Heat the pan and butter the wells
Heat the æbleskiver pan over medium heat for 5 minutes and drop a piece of butter into each well. The iron must be evenly hot — a cold well gives a pale ball that sticks.
Ingredients: 50 g butter · 1 pcs apple
Fill the wells nearly to the brim
Pour batter into each well almost to the brim. If adding apple, press a cube into the centre and cover with a teaspoon of batter. Too little batter and the ball will not close when turned.
Ingredients: 250 g plain flour · 400 ml buttermilk · 3 pcs eggs · 2 tbsp sugar · 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda · ½ tsp cardamom · 1 pcs lemon · 1 pinch salt · 40 g butter
Turn a quarter with the needle
When the edges set and the base is golden — about a minute — lift the ball with a knitting needle and turn it a quarter. The raw batter from the centre runs down into the well and begins forming the other half.
Ingredients: 250 g plain flour · 400 ml buttermilk · 3 pcs eggs · 2 tbsp sugar · 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda · ½ tsp cardamom · 1 pcs lemon · 1 pinch salt · 40 g butter
A quarter turn — the raw batter runs down.Keep turning until the ball closes
After another minute turn again, closing the sphere, and keep turning every 30 seconds until evenly golden all over. It takes 4–5 minutes a batch; with a 7-well pan that is 4 batches, about 20–25 minutes in all. A skewer pushed in should come out dry.
Ingredients: 250 g plain flour · 400 ml buttermilk · 3 pcs eggs · 2 tbsp sugar · 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda · ½ tsp cardamom · 1 pcs lemon · 1 pinch salt · 40 g butter
Lift out and keep warm
Lift the finished balls onto a plate with the needle and keep them in a 90°C oven while you cook more. Before each batch add fresh butter to the wells — it gives the crisp skin.
Ingredients: 50 g butter · 1 pcs apple
Golden all over — then into a warm oven.Dust with sugar and serve with jam
Dust the balls thickly with icing sugar and serve hot with raspberry jam for dipping. In Denmark they are often eaten with the fingers, each ball dipped first in jam, then in sugar.
Ingredients: 3 tbsp icing sugar · 150 g raspberry jam
Before you start
The pan is essential
Æbleskiver cannot be made without a pan with deep, hemispherical wells — it forms the sphere. A similar pan with smaller wells is used for takoyaki in Japan; a Dutch poffertjes pan has wells that are too shallow. Cast iron gives the best results.
The knitting needle is no joke
Danes traditionally turn æbleskiver with a knitting needle, and it really is the handiest tool — thin, smooth, it does not tear the batter. A skewer or toothpick also works.
They freeze well
Cooked balls freeze very well. Reheat them straight from frozen for 8 minutes in a 180°C oven — the skin crisps again and the centre stays fluffy.
