Recipe of the week: Aebleskiver

I first made this as a Girl Scout back in the 50s. Can you believe that?

Anyway we didn’t have an aebleskiver pan and we made it just on a cast iron frying pan and it worked well. I hope you enjoy. I think they are a special treat topped with just a little maple syrup.

2 cup sifted flour

½ tsp salt

3 eggs, separated

2 T. sugar

2 cup milk

1 cup applesauce

confectioners sugar

½ cup melted butter

Combine and sift flour and salt. Beat egg yolks and add sugar. Add to sifted dry ingredients alternating with milk. Beat egg whites until stiff, but not dry, fold into mixture. Do not over mix. Place an aebleskiver pan over medium-low heat. When pan is hot enough to make a drop of water dance, lightly grease pancake cups with melted butter and fill each to slightly below the rim with batter add a tsp of applesauce and cover with more batter. Do not over fill. In about 1 1/2 minutes, thin crusts will form on bottoms of balls (centers will still be wet), pierce the crust with 2 slender wood skewers and gently pull shell to rotate the pancake ball until about half the cooked portion is above the cup rim and uncooked batter flows down into cup. Cook until crust on bottom of ball is again firm enough to pierce, about another minute, then rotate ball with skewers until the ridge formed as the pancake first cooked is on top. Cook, turning occasionally with skewer, until balls are evenly browned and no longer moist in the center, another 5 to 10 minutes. Check by piercing center of last pancake ball added to pan with skewer--it should come out clean--or by breaking the ball open slightly; if balls start to get too brown, turn heat to low until they are cooked in the center. Lift cooked balls from pan and serve hot. Repeat to cook remaining batter. Dust balls with confectioners sugar.

If you don’t have an aebleskiver pan you can make them the way we did when I as a Girl Scout. Drop from tsp. On hot. lightly greased griddle place ½ tsp applesauce on top of batter. Cover with ½ tsp batter. Cook until bubbly. Turn, finish browning. Serve hot, dusted with confectioner’s sugar, Yield: 8 doz 1 ½ cakes.

— Barbara Rexford