“Not quite a doughnut and not quite a popover, an ebelskiver ( pronounced “able-skeever”) is a light, puffy, filled pancake cooked in a special pan on the stovetop.” http://www.sj-r.com/article/20130424/News/304249903 And, I might add, no oven is necessary and no frying is involved!
Aebelskivers (the more common spelling) are Danish pancakes cooked in a special pan with deep, round cavities so that they emerge as small “puffs”, or “balls”, which are traditionally filled with an apple slice, or, more recently,applesauce or jam, and dusted with confectioner’s sugar. The round shape is achieved by a special method of rotating the cooked dough to the top of the pan (explained in the recipe– and not as hard as it sounds!).This makes a novel treat for children and adults alike. It would be fun to experiment with all sorts of sweet and savory fillings– vegan cheese or thick cheesey sauce, for instance, or fruit butters and curds, vegan caramel sauce, vegan chocolate sauce or hazelnut/chocolate spread (a vegan version of “Nutella”) or whatever you fancy.
I developed this vegan batter about 10 years ago and somehow it never made it to this blog! I was reminded to post it by an old friend who originally sent me the special pan from California. I hope you’ll give it a try– if you have children in your life, they will love them!
Note: This vegan batter is thicker than the traditional egg-y aebelskiver batter. I tried thinner batters and they resulted in soggy centers.
Cooking Tip #1: Corn flour is not the same as cornstarch (confusingly, what we call “cornstarch” in North America is referred to as “corn flour” in the UK) — it is very finely-ground yellow cornmeal. You may find it in the Asian or Indian section of large supermarkets, but also look for it in Indian (South Asian) markets and health food stores (Bob’s Red Mill brand, widely available in North America, has it). If you can’t find corn flour, or if you prefer to use organic products, grind the finest yellow cornmeal you can find in a clean coffee/spice mill until it is powdery, or grind yellow cornmeal on the finest setting of your electric grain mill (I had to run it through mine twice).
Cooking Tip #2: To avoid competing tastes and odors, deodorize your coffee or spice mill by grinding several tablespoons of white rice to a powder in your mill and then discarding it. The rice powder will absorb the residue and oils, which contain flavors and odors.
There are several models of aebelskiver pans and they are, surprisingly, not hard to find online!
Printable Copy
BRYANNA’S VEGAN AEBELSKIVERS (DANISH PANCAKE BALLS)
Serves 4
3/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons plain soy, hemp, coconut milk beverage or homemade nut milk
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Dry Ingredients:
1/2 cup unbleached white flour
1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour
3 tablespoons corn flour (see text above)
1 tablespoon brown rice flour
1/2 tablespoon granulated organic sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
Egg Replacer:
1/4 cup water
1 tablespoon golden flaxseeds, ground in a dry electric coffee or spice mill (see Cooking Tip #2 above about deodorizing the mill before grinding)
1 teaspoon Ener-G or Orgran egg replacer powder
Other:
1 tablespoon cooking oil
2 tablespoons nondairy milk of choice
Vegan butter or oil for greasing the aebelskiver pan
Mix the soy, hemp or nut milk with the lemon juice to make vegan “buttermilk”, and set aside.
Mix together the Dry Ingredients in a medium bowl with a whisk. Set aside.
For the Egg Replacer, mix together the water, ground golden flaxseed, and egg replacer powder with a hand immersion blender or electric egg beater until like a thick, frothy egg white. Add the oil and 2 tablespoons nondairy milk and mix briefly.
Pour the “buttermilk” and the flaxseed mixture, into the dry ingredients and whisk briefly just until no dry flour is visible– it will be lumpy and quite thick.
Place the aebelskiver pan over medium to medium-low heat. When the pan is hot, brush the depressions (cups) in the pan with melted vegan margarine or spray them generously with oil from a pump sprayer (even if your pan is nonstick!). Fill each cup to slightly below the top with batter.
My pan comes with a small dome lid, which I place on top during the first half of cooking. If your pan did not come with a lid, you can improvise with other lids you have around.
The cooking time will vary with your pan (the size and what it is made of), and your stove, but it may take about 5 minutes per side.
To rotate the aebelskivers: Let one side of the batter cook, covered with the lid, until the bottom is golden brown and crisp, then pierce the crust gently with a bamboo skewer and carefully pull the pancake all the way around so that the golden brown part is on top. Cook, uncovered, until the second half is golden and crisp, then carefully remove the balls from the pan with the skewer and eat hot.
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| (Photo from Williams-Sonoma) |
To make filled aebelskivers, fill each cup of the aebelskiver pan only halfway, using half of the batter. Place one level teaspoon of whatever filling you want into the center of the batter in each cup. Spoon the remaining batter over each cup to cover the jam. (See photo above.) Proceed as directed above.
To serve, sift confectioner’s sugar over the hot aebelskivers (unless they are savory ones). If you did not fill them before baking, split them with the tines of a fork and fill them with jam, applesauce, or sautéed apples.
Nutrition Facts
Nutrition (per serving): 225.76calories; 25{ae720e0b436026f867bfa0c31185c2252a138f27e85f5f152ec5acc1c10a8cc9} calories from fat; 6.43g total fat; 0.0mg cholesterol; 315.93mg sodium; 239.44mg potassium; 35.72g carbohydrates; 4.83g fiber; 2.09g sugar; 7.90g protein; MyPoints 5.9 (calculation does not count powdered sugar, jam, etc.)
