Holiday Ebleskiver

Years ago my daughters bought me an ebleskiver pan for my birthday and I was thrilled. They know I love gadgets and different shapes and sizes of baking dishes. Trust me, I had big plans to use this fancy pan on every holiday.

By the way, I’ve also seen the spelling as ebelskiver and aebleskiver. But however the spelling, ebleskiver are round, filled pancakes that are Danish in origin. And they’re fabulous. Although I’ve only made them once.

The following Christmas I decided to make ebleskiver for the family on Christmas morning. The recipe I used came from a Williams-Sonoma catalog. This photo is from the W-S website.

The pancakes I made were filled with a dried cherry filling. The recipes for the batter and the filling are easy. But I had no idea what I was in for…

Two hours after starting these pancakes, I was finally done. They were stunning and delicious. And I think I’m the only one who ate any of them. One hates carbs, one just wanted a protein shake, one decided they didn’t pair well with bloody marys, and one is a vegetarian. (There is no meat in ebleskiver.)

So I think I learned my lesson. Making these is truly a lot of work, only because they are time consuming, and you really have to park yourself at the stove for a long time. Plus, the pan only makes 7 pancakes at a time.

So take my advice and don’t make these on a busy holiday, when you’d rather be hanging out with your family.

But this year, I wisely decided to make these ebleskiver the Sunday before Christmas, and freeze them. That way, I can thaw and heat a few at a time, and any non carb-haters who want a delicious pancake bite can enjoy them, which might just be me. I know for a fact that they will pair perfectly with a mimosa.

So here’s the somewhat adapted recipe from Williams-Sonoma. The filling I used was leftover cranberry jam mixed with dried cranberries. Any kind of jam, jelly, cranberry sauce, or cooked fresh or dried fruit can be used as the filling.

Ebleskiver
Makes 3 dozen

1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
Pinch of salt
3 egg yolks, lightly whisked
1 1/3 cup buttermilk
3/4 cup ricotta cheese or yogurt cheese
1/2 teaspoon orange oil, or orange zest
5 egg whites in a large bowl
Unsalted butter
Cranberry filling, make sure it’s quite thick

Begin by sieving the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into a medium bowl; set aside.

In another bowl, combine the egg yolks, buttermilk, ricotta cheese, and orange oil. Whisk well and set aside.

Using an electric mixer, whisk the egg whites until stiff.

Using the same beaters, whisk the buttermilk mixture until smooth, if it’s lumpy.

Have the ebleskiver pan on the stove heating over low to medium heat. Have butter on hand, and the filling with a teaspoon. Also have a platter for the finished ebleskiver.

Begin making the batter by incorporating the flour into the buttermilk mixture. It will almost look like biscuit dough.

Then gently but forcibly fold the egg whites into the batter. Place a spoon in the batter and set the bowl near the stove.

Add about 1/2 teaspoon of butter to the indentations in the pan. Notice I just did a few to start. I really couldn’t remember how challenging the whole process was, and I didn’t want to ruin any.

Add approximately no more than 1 tablespoon of batter into each indentation. Add a very small amount of filling – about 1/2 teaspoon – on to the top of the batter. Then top with a scant tablespoon of batter.

Let them cook for about 3 minutes. They should not brown more than a golden color, but they might burn slightly if the sweet filling sneaks out.

Now here’s the fun part. The recipe says to use two forks to turn these guys over. Good luck with that. I ended up mostly using my fingers, because I must not have good fork coordination. I even tried with two wooden tools that you can see being used in the top photo, but still no luck. But somehow get them turned over and continue cooking them for another 3 minutes.

I did figure out that instead of worrying about turning them completely over at one time, it can be done gently in baby steps.

So now you can see I’ve become a little braver, and making all seven at one time!

Turn them out to the platter, and continue with the rest of the batter, unless you decided enough is enough and toss the batter and eat your 7 ebleskiver.

Open one up to make sure it’s properly cooked. They should be fluffy – not doughy or dry and tough.

I purposely omitted putting sugar in the batter, which was in the original recipe, and instead sprinkled a little powdered sugar over the ebleskiver. It just makes them prettier!

I decided to try them with real maple syrup as well. Really yummy!

Ebleskiver really are amazing, and the cranberry filling makes them holiday perfect!!!

And if you decide to buy one of these pans, don’t forget to try them with cheese for a fabulous savory treat! That’s next on my list!!!

Happy Holidays!