Viking Balls

« Danish aebleskivers served with apple marmalade and whipped cream. »

In one of those half-dazed moments of information overload while lazily surfing the web, I somewhere ran across a Nordic Ware pan that had 7 semi-circular depressions in it called an ebleskiver pan. Curious and bored, I started hunting around for what an ebleskiver was and found that it is aebleskiver and a sort of Danish pancake ball.

One website proclaimed that they are "the newest Scandinavian party food sweeping the country (US, of course)." Perhaps I missed that memo. :) Hell, no one but the Norwegian guy at work knew what I was talking about and even the guy at customs looked at the pan I ordered and asked me what it was. Someone should remind Scandinavia of its own food sometime. The Norwegian at work also mentioned that they are popular for birthdays, aside from the holidays, and that the namesake of the pancake, apple slice, isn't really added to the pancake anymore.

I poked around at a few recipes since they seem to come in two different strains; yeast vs. no yeast and buttermilk vs. milk or water. Another popular technique is to add egg foam to the batter for lift which I suspect would just make them dry. I figure that since they are an older tradition, that yeast would be a bit more traditional and would be a bit better than chemical leavening. Yeast can be a bit overzealous and, even if you make the batter in a large bowl, be sure to set it on a rimmed plate or pan when placing it in the refrigerator overnight.

I tried various sorts of apple marmalade and jam in the pancakes and found that it tended to make the ball flat and gooey. The empty plastic catsup bottle, which made squirting batter into the divots dead easy and quick, is highly recommended as I tried one round with a large spoon but the pancakes cook quickly and I felt rushed to get them all filled before starting to turn them. Putting butter in the pan also tended to make them too greasy. Cooking the pancake just enough to develop a crust before turning it also seemed to work the best. Knitting needles are said to be old Danish grandmothers' tool of choice, but I used a wooden set of chopsticks from chinese take-away. Flipping them takes a little practice, but it comes along quickly.

These suckers are so good, I ate every one off the plate as soon as I took the above photo. They'll be a regular feature of Sunday mornings henceforth as the last few Sundays have started with them and I think I'm addicted now. :)

Yeasted Æbleskivers

Makes: about 64 æbleskivers
Special equipment: æbleskiver pan, empty plastic catsup bottle
Time: prep: 15 minutes, plan 12-24 hours ahead
Source: CI

• 1 3/4 cups or 4,25 dl whole milk
• 8 tablespoons or 113g unsalted butter , cut into 8 pieces
• 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (10 ounces)
• 1 tablespoon granulated sugar 
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon table salt 
• 1 1/2 teaspoons instant yeast 
• 2 large eggs 
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or 2 tablespoons vanilla sugar

1. Heat milk and butter in small saucepan over medium-low heat until butter is melted, 3 to 5 minutes. Cool milk/butter mixture until it is about 43C/109F. Meanwhile, whisk flour, sugar, salt, cinnamon and yeast in large bowl to combine. Gradually whisk warm milk/butter mixture into flour mixture; continue to whisk until batter is smooth. In small bowl, whisk eggs and vanilla until combined, then add egg mixture to batter and whisk until incorporated. Scrape down sides of bowl with rubber spatula, cover bowl with plastic wrap, and refrigerate at least 12 and up to 24 hours. Be sure to place the bowl on a plate with a rim as the yeast will likely cause the batter to overflow the bowl.
2. Set oven to 95C/200F. Heat aebleskiver pan over a medium-high heat until a few drops of water thrown on the pan sizzle. Transfer batter to an old plastic catsup bottle to make dispensing it into the divots easy and quick or use a large rounded tablespoon to drop the batter into the pan. Allow the batter to cook for about 30 seconds, then grab a wooden take-away chinese chopstick, insert it near the top rim of the cooking batter and flip the pancake over in one quick motion. Let them cook for another 45 seconds or so and flip over again until the outside is a nice golden brown colour.
3. Place finished aebleskivers in the warm oven in a single layer on a baking sheet while you are making others to keep them warm and non-soggy. Serve with apple marmalade, apple butter or jam and whipped cream.