Aebleskivers (Danish Pancakes)

Make these delicious Aebleskivers (Ebelskivers) or Danish Pancakes which are lightly scented with cardamom. A classic Danish recipe with step-by-step photos.

Aebleskivers

On a recent trip to Copenhagen, I spent a quiet morning on my lonesome cycling around the city, visiting various kitchenware stores where I filled up my bike basket with fragile Scandinavian-designed teacups, Nordic bundt pans, and chunky crochet dish cloths.

One item I was determined to return home with was a cast-iron aebleskiver pan, even if it meant tipping the scale on the flight home.

What are Aebleskivers?

If you are not familiar with aebleskivers (also spelt ebelskivers), pronounced “eh-bull-skewers“, they are often described as Danish pancake balls or Danish doughnuts.

Aebleskivers are traditionally made from a yeasted dough, which makes them lovely and chewy, so they have a texture very similar to fried doughnuts.

But unlike fried doughnuts, aebleskivers are cooked in a special cast-iron pan with round indents. Which means that aebleskivers are healthier than doughnuts because they are not deep-fried!

There are also many aebleskiver recipes which use baking powder instead of yeast as the raising agent. These aebleskivers have a taste and texture more similar to American pancakes, but they are quicker to prepare and taste just as delicious.

Aebleskiver Pan

Traditional aebleskiver pans are made from heavy cast-iron with seven round indents.

You can also find non-stick aebleskiver pans, and even electric versions.

Aebleskiver pans vary in size, meaning that some produce larger aebleskivers than others. For example, my aebleskiver pan is made by Le Creuset and it produces slightly larger aebleskivers than other pans I have seen.

You may have also seen similar pans in some Asian cuisines. The Japanese make takoyaki using a very similar pan, and the Vietnamese make mini savoury pancakes called Banh Khot. The Dutch also use the same pan to make Poffertjes. So from one pan, so many options!

Aebleskiver Recipe

This aebleskiver recipe is adapted from Scandinavian Baking by Trine Hahnemann.

Trine Hahnemann is an authority on Danish cuisine, and her books can be found in many Danish homes. In fact, when my Danish neighbour invited me over to show me how she makes aebleskivers at home, she was using the very same recipe from her own battered copy of Trine Hahnemann’s cookbook.

But I was particularly grateful to have a Dane show me in person how to make aebleskivers because most recipes don’t go into detail about how to form the aebleskivers as perfectly round balls.

Low Sugar Dessert

What surprised me about this aebleskiver recipe is that it contains very little sugar.

This recipe makes about 40 aebleskivers with only 3 tablespoons of sugar. You can add more sugar to suit your taste, but aebleskivers are commonly served with icing sugar (powdered sugar), and with something sweet on the side, such as jam or even Nutella.

My kids happen to love them plain with just a light dusting of icing sugar (powdered sugar), which means they are great for lunch boxes 🙂

When to Eat Aebleskivers

In Denmark, aebleskivers are traditionally eaten at Christmas time, and which is generally why most aebleskiver recipes make such large quantities.

Outside of Denmark, it is not uncommon to see stands at food markets or food festivals throughout the year serving a wide variety of aebleskivers as a dessert or snack. Here, you are likely to find aebleskivers filled with Nutella, apple, raspberry jam … my Danish friend shudders at the thought of such non-pure aebleskivers but I can confirm that they are very delicious!

For any Dane, eating aebleskivers in summer is a bit like eating Christmas pudding in July, but I think these are too delicious to eat just once a year!

How to Make Aebleskivers

Step 1

This recipe uses fresh yeast which needs to be activated with some milk at room temperature.

Step 2

While the yeast is activating, measure the dry ingredients into a large mixing bowl – the bowl should be large enough to take all of the ingredients later, with room for the batter to rise.

You can sift the dry ingredients into the bowl, but I prefer to simply whisk the ingredients together to aerate them gently (sifting takes too long!).

Step 3

Separate the eggs – place the egg whites into the bowl of an electric stand-mixer, and place the egg yolks into the milk mixture with the vanilla extract.

Whisk the egg whites until they have tripled in volume and stiff peaks form.

Step 4

Using a whisk, slowly mix the milk mixture into the dry ingredients. Keep whisking until you have a smooth batter.

Then fold through the beaten egg whites, one-third at a time. You should have a fairly liquid batter.

Step 5

Cover the mixing bowl with a clean tea towel, and leave the bowl in a warm place for about 40-60 minutes for the batter to rise. After this time, the batter should have risen by about one-quarter, and there should be lots of air bubbles.

Step 6

To start cooking, preheat the oven to 100°C (212°F) and place a large roasting tray in the oven. I like to serve my aebleskivers warm, so I recommend placing the aebleskivers in the oven while you are cooking them in batches.

Heat the aebleskiver pan on medium-high heat. Once you are ready to cook, dot a small amount of butter into each indent of the aebleskiver pan.

Once the pan is ready, fill each indent with some batter. Depending on the size of your pan, you may have to play around with the quantities. For my aebleskiver pan, I use an ice-cream scoop with 60 ml (1/4 cup) capacity, but you could also use a measuring jug or ladle.

Step 7

Once you have filled each cavity, it is usually time to start turning the aebleskivers. Use a toothpick to check if the ebelskivers have browned nicely and if they are ready to turn.

Use two toothpicks to gently pull the aebleskivers up, and turn each aebleskiver 90°. As you do so, the uncooked batter will slide to the bottom of the pan to start forming the round ball shape.

Step 8

Once all of the aebleskivers have been turned 90°, top up with a little extra batter. This step ensures that your aebleskivers will be perfectly round in shape.

For this task, I use an ice-cream scoop with a 15 ml (1 tablespoon) capacity, but you could also use a plastic squeeze bottle which has been filled with some of the batter.

Step 9

Next, it is time to turn the aebleskivers again. Again, using two toothpicks, turn each aebleskiver 180°, tucking in any excess batter as you do so. At this point, the open seam should be on the bottom so that the remaining raw batter can cook through.

Once the aebleskivers have browned nicely, test with a clean toothpick to see if the centre of the aebleskivers are cooked. If they are slightly undercooked, they will continue to cook a little as they warm in the oven while you carry on with the rest of the batter.

More Scandinavian Recipes

If you are looking for more Scandinavian recipes, you might also like:

Chocolate Coconut Cake

Swedish Chocolate Cookies

Swedish Meatballs with Creamy Sauce and Homemade Lingonberry Jam

Print

#eatlittlebird

Update

This recipe was first published on 7 May 2019. It has been updated with more comprehensive recipe notes.