About the Recipe
This recipe is adapted from one we found in a book we got from Leif's mother. Since our son is allergic to milk, we replaced the milk and butter in the original with adjusted amounts of soy milk and margarine. It's wonderfully light and tasty, and complements the preserves well.
Ingredients
2 (3) eggs, separated
1 cup (1½ cup) flour
2 tsp (3 tsp) baking powder
¼ tsp (⅜ tsp) salt
1¼ cup (1⅞ cup) soy milk
margarine
jam, preserves, or syrup
Use plain amounts for 6 servings, amounts in (parentheses) for 9 servings.
Preparation
Sift together dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, and salt). Separate eggs, and add egg yolks and soy milk to flour mixture. Beat until smooth.
Beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. Fold into flour mixture until once again smooth.
Heat the æbleskiver pan on medium-high heat on the stove. Put about one teaspoon margarine in the bottom of each well in the æbleskiver pan and let it melt. Fill each well nearly full of batter and let cook for a minute or two. When the edges are firm, turn the æbleskiver a quarter turn so that the half-round ball becomes a three-quarters-round ball.
The traditional tool for turning is a long knitting needle, but I've found that chopsticks (spisepind) work quite well. Keep turning the æbleskiver every minute or so, making sure the whole surface is cooked to a nice golden brown. It's possible to check that the æbleskiver is done with a needle; it should come out clean when inserted to the center. I just let it get a nice brown mottled surface.
Traditionally, these are served with powdered sugar and strawberry jam. We don't think it needs the sugar, and prefer mixed berry or apricot preserves. Other people serve it with fruit, maple syrup, simple syrup, fruit syrups, fruit jams, fruit compotes, or pretty much any sweet or sweet-and-tart flavoring.
The name is reputed to come from an old custom of putting a slice of apple in the center of each æbleskiver as the first side cooked, trapping it in the center of the finished ball. I've never had one prepared this way, but it sounds like it might be delicious.