Danish Aebelskiver

Full Aebelskiver pan and sugar dish waiting to receive them.

A close childhood friend introduced me to one of the best breakfast foods ever. We would have Friday night sleepovers at his house and in the morning while we watched cartoons his mom would make, what I called, ball pancakes. I couldn't stop talking about them when I went home and persuaded my mom to get the recipe from his mom.

Well, unfortunately making this treat requires more than just the recipe. The pan is one of a kind. Heavy cast iron with seven hemi-sphere wells or cavities. Long story short my mom bought one and started making them. They eventually ended up becoming a Christmas time regular at our home. My mom gave me an Aebelskiver pan this year and so for Christmas Eve I have instituted the Aebelskiver brunch, which I plan to make a running tradition. The recipe is below, and as I studied the recipe more closely, my childhood description holds true they are basically fancy pancakes. I added a few other seasonings to spruce them up a bit.

Ingredients:

• 2 Cups flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 Cups buttermilk (can be milk w/ lemon juice)
• 3 Eggs - Separated
• 1 teaspoon Cardamom (optional)
• 1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon (optional)
• 1/2 cup Powdered Sugar or White Sugar (Depends on what you prefer)

Steps & Notes:

1. Mix dry ingredients: Put together the flour, salt, baking soda, and seasonings
2. Add buttermilk & Yolks: Mix these together well. Keep the Egg whites out for next step.
3. Beat egg whites: Beat the egg whites until fluffy
4. Add whites: Gently mix in the fluffy egg whites into the rest of the batter.
5. Cook one side: Grease the pan however you like, butter, oil, spray. Fill each cavity 3/4 or mostly full. Let cook for a minute or two over a medium to low heat.
6. (Optional): Add some filling. You can put fruit, jam, or other items in the middle before flipping it over. If you are putting something runny in the middle to should only half fill the cavity, add the filling, then finish filling the pan. This way it get's baked in and won't spill when you roll it over.
7. Cook second side:Roll over with fork or other utensil ( I use chop sticks) and let it cook another minute or two.
8. Add sugar topping: Remove and sprinkle with sugar. 
9. Eat warm.

Good for all ages. My son really liked them, don't let the face fool you.

Result:

• 5 stars!
• Fairly easy and straight forward recipe. Like pancakes, waffles, and eggs, this one is hard to really screw up.
• My wife and I both prefer normal granulated sugar on the top over powdered sugar. And I would really recommend eating them warm.

Possible Improvements:

• Try blending cream cheese and sugar together and use that for a filling. (That was my wife's idea, but I really like it)
• Try a mix of other spices in the batter, could make it more seasonal with spices similar to what is used in pumpkin pie.