Æbleskiver
Ingredients
- 50 g butter, melted, plus butter for the pan
- 250 g flour
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 2½ tsp ground cardamom
- 2 tbsp sugar
- ½ tsp salt
- Zest of ½ lemon (optional)
- 2 eggs, separated
- 400 ml (1.7 cups) buttermilk
- Icing sugar and jam, to serve
Æbleskiver — the name means apple slices, from the apple pieces they were once filled with — are cooked in a cast-iron pan with seven round hollows. The batter is a buttermilk pancake mix scented with a generous dose of cardamom and lemon zest, made airy by folding in stiffly whipped egg whites and rested briefly in the fridge. Each hollow gets a knob of butter and is filled three-quarters full; once a crust forms the puff is turned with a fork or knitting needle a few times so it cooks into a sphere. They are served warm with icing sugar and jam.
Method
Melt the butter and set aside to cool a little. Combine the flour, baking soda, cardamom, sugar, salt and lemon zest in a bowl.
Add the egg yolks, buttermilk and melted butter to the dry ingredients and mix to a smooth batter.
Whip the egg whites until stiff and fold them gently into the batter to keep it fluffy. Rest the batter in the fridge for 20 minutes.
Pour the batter into a jug or piping bag. Heat the æbleskiver pan over medium heat and put a little butter in each dimple.
Fill each dimple three-quarters full. When a crust has formed underneath, add a little more batter if needed and turn each puff over with a fork or skewer.
Keep turning a few times while they cook so they become round and golden all over — about 5 minutes in total per batch.
Keep the cooked æbleskiver warm under a tea towel or in a 50°C oven, and serve dusted with icing sugar with jam for dipping.
