These soft and fluffy donut-like buns are originally from Denmark and used to be made with a piece of apple inside the bun. In Ayoe’s family this dish is always made for Christmas Eve dinner and one of the aebleskiver will have one whole almond inside. Whoever gets the almond and can present it in one whole piece will get a present. The so-called “almond present”!
Ingredients:
250 g (2 cups) flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda (natron)
25 g (2 tablespoons) sugar
4 dl (1 3/4 cups) buttermilk
3 eggs, yolk and white separated
1 teaspoon lemon zest
2 crushed pods of cardamom, shells removed.
butter
Directions:
Mix flour, baking soda and sugar. Add the buttermilk 1 dl at the time and mix with a hand mixer on low setting. You will get a very thick batter. Add the egg yolks, lemon zest and cardamom and mix till the batter is smooth. Let it rest for about 1/2-1 hour.
Whip the egg whites till they are so stiff that you can turn the bowl up side down without the egg whites falling out. Try holding it over your head if you dare 🙂
Gently fold half the egg whites into the batter till evenly distributed. Then add the rest and gently fold it to keep the air in the batter.
Heat up your aebleskive pan and add a tiny piece of butter in each hole. When the butter is melted and done bubbling, pour in the batter till it is 3/4 full.
With a fork, a thin knitting needle, a wooden skewer, or anything similar to that, flip the aebleskiver while the batter is still soft so it runs down and creates the other half of the round bun. Keep flipping them till they have a nice golden brown colour all the way around. Take them out of the pan and repeat with butter and batter till you have used up all the batter. You can put the finished aebleskiver in an oven pan and cover with aluminum foil and keep them warm in the oven.
If you want to put one whole almond inside of of the aebleskiver, this should be done right before you flip it the first time. That way the almond will be covered with batter and you can’t tell which aebleskive has the almond.
You can do the same with small pieces of apple.
You can pre-cook the aebleskiver and then reheat them in the oven covered with the foil.
Serve the aebleskiver with powdered sugar and jam made from blackberries, strawberries or raspberries.
-Enjoy!