Denmark: vegan æbleskiver

From foul medames in the deserts of Egypt to the desserts of Denmark, this week we travel to Northern Europe and Scandinavia and cook vegan æbleskiver. These Danish spherical pancakes are usually enjoyed around Christmas but delicious year round. Read on to learn more about their origin and how they are made today or jump straight to the recipe.

Danish cuisine

I grew up in the south of Sweden, less than 40 km from Copenhagen as the crow flies. We watched Danish TV, visited the country quite often and learned about their cuisine and strange counting system (e.g. the word for seventy roughly translates “half a score less than four scores”). The close proximity and intertwined history between the South of Sweden and Denmark has resulted in a large cultural exchange (and many wars; my province changed hands several times over the centuries, up until 1658 when the Swedes captured Scania for the last time). As such, writing about Denmark here feels a bit special.

The Danish cuisine is very meat oriented with dishes like pølser (hot dogs), frikkadeller (meat balls) and flæskesteg (roasted pork) being famous “must tries” for visitors ​[1]–[3]​. In the English speaking world “The Danish” is a famous pastry but in Denmark it is named after Vienna. One origin story has it that Austrian pastry chefs who moved to Denmark brought an Austrian pastry recipe with them which evolved into the Danish, an international success. Maybe the pastry should count as Austrian or maybe as Danish, regardless a nice vegan Danish is a great find.

While mulling over what to make for this visit to Denmark, for a long time I thought about smørrebrød, the Danish open faced sandwich with so many toppings that the rye bread at the bottom is barely visible. But in the end, I decided to invest in a new kitchen toy, an æbleskiver pan, and use it to make the Danish Christmas classic, æbleskiver.

Vegan æbleskiver

Æbleskiver, ableskiver, or aebleskiver, pronounced “ebb-leh skee-ver”, are a traditional Danish, spherical pancake made from a fluffy batter. The name literally means apple slices but the apples are long gone, in favour of more batter. The pancakes are usually solid inside but some variations with different fillings, such as jam or applesauce, are made on occasion.

Æbleskiver are eaten year-round as a mid-afternoon snack but are especially popular around Christmas time, where street vendors all over Denmark will surface to entice the shopping crowds with the mouth-watering smell of freshly baked æbleskiver.

In wintertime, the æbleskiver are served alongside glögg, the Scandinavian version of mulled wine, spiced with cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, and ginger. Year-round, æbleskiver are served with powdered sugar or a berry jam such as raspberry.

Origin of æbleskiver

Æbleskiver have been made or hundreds of years in Denmark and their true origin is a mystery. Some people theorize that the Vikings might have invented the spherical pancakes by improvising and using their helmets and shields as cookware when making pancakes after a battle, thus creating these spherical treats ​[4], [5]​. But as far as I can tell, this theory does not seem backed up by evidence and is likely fabricated ​[6]​.

The first written Danish recipe for æbleskiver dates back to 1703 ​[7]​. The special æbleskiver pan with its hemispherical little cups was also introduced in the early 18th century ​[8]​. In the early days, the æbleskiver did contain slices of apples, possibly as a way to finish the last of the fall apples around Christmas before they went bad. Æbleskiver has evolved over the centuries and today, they no longer contain apple slices ​[7], [9]​.

How to make vegan æbleskiver

To make vegan æbleskiver, you make a fairly standard pancake batter with baking powder or yeast. The traditional recipe calls for beating egg whites to create an extra level of fluffiness but most vegan recipes omit this step and simply replace eggs in the batter with some vegan replacement, such as aqua faba ​[10]​, flax egg ​[11]​, commercial egg replacer ​[12], [13]​, banana ​[14]​, or nothing ​[15]​. Some vegan recipes do beat the aqua faba alone until stiff peaks are emerging before folding it in ​[16]​, which I tried for this recipe but abandoned in the final version. The omnivore version often uses buttermilk ​[7], [8]​ in the batter, giving the æbleskiver a slight acidity or tanginess. For vegans, a little bit of lemon juice ​[10], [16]​ or plant yoghurt ​[15]​ can do the trick.

The batter is poured into a special æbleskiver pan with small pit-like indentations. The pits in my pan are 45 mm across and 25 mm deep, to give you an appreciation of the size. The pits should be almost filled with batter, leaving some room for the batter to rise but not too much room, because we have to turn the pancake while it is still liquid in the centre ​[6], [17]​. Using a BBQ skewer, knitting needle or other utensil, turn the pancake 90 degrees while it is cooking. This lets the still liquid batter run out and meet the hot surface and start cooking. Another 90 degree turn followed by a third turn finishes the sphere and seals the pancake.

The tricky part I find is that the pan has to have a good temperature; the batter should cook fast so it starts to solidify and finish cooking at the edges while the centre is still liquid. You have to find the perfect balance between the heat transfer from pan to the batter, heat conduction within the batter, and the temperature and duration needed to cook the batter. In other words, the trick is to transfer enough heat to the surface of the pancake so this cooks before the heat has a chance to penetrate deep into the batter. It sounds harder than it is. You just have to try a few times at a fairly high temperature.

Æbleskiver fillings

While the most common way to eat æbleskiver is without a filling, many home cooks cannot resist adding something during cooking. While frying the æbleskiver, you can simply add a small volume of something before you start turning your creations. Popular fillings include jam ​[18]​, prunes ​[7]​, and apples ​[19], [20]​. Many recipes also include spices such as cardamom ​[8], [15]​ or citrus peel ​[16]​ in the batter itself.

Other spherical pancakes

We don’t eat æbleskiver in Sweden (or if we do, it is as a cultural exchange with Denmark) but they are enjoyed in Norway during Christmas where they go by the name munker (“monks”, due to monks bringing the Danish treat to Norway) ​[6], [21]​. In Germany, the same type of pan is used to create Futjes or Pfütten ​[22]​, in the Netherlands you can enjoy poffertjes ​[23]​ and in Indonesia, you will find kue cubits ​[24]​.

The same special pan can be used with other batters and shapes as well. Thai khanom krok – small coconut and rice flour desserts with corn and scallions, and neyyappam, an Indonesian dessert with coconut milk, fried coconut and sometimes banana ​[25]​ are good examples.

The pan is not only used for desserts. In India, you can find a savory dish made in a hollowed-out pan: paniyaram are little puffs made from a rice and lentils batter (leftover from making dosa or idli), stuffed with onion and chilies ​[26]​. In Japan, you can find the street food takoyaki where a wheat batter is filled with octopus and pickled ginger and fried into balls in an æbleskiver pan ​[27]​. Or maybe it is æbleskiver that are made in a takoyaki pan.

Conclusion

It took a few tries to get decent æbleskiver but it was worth the effort. Overall, I tried around 5 different batters, continuously tweaking the viscosity and practicing my cooking technique before arriving at the recipe below for these vegan æbleskiver. Maybe not worth buying a special pan just to make a single batch of pancakes so make many batches! Or try some other sweet or savory dishes made in the same pan.

The final æbleskiver turned out really well and the experiments along the way were also very enjoyable. After a few attempts, it became quite fun to make the little spherical pancakes as well. This is a recipe I will be sure t bust out again.

Danish vegan æbleskiver

Print

Vegan æbleskiver

Danish æbleskiver or ableskiver are traditionally served during Christmas celebrations but are equally delicious year round.

Course Dessert, Snack

Cuisine Danish, Northern Europe, Scandinavian

Keyword aqua faba, Pancake, Spherical

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes minutes

Servings 12 æbleskiver

Equipment

• 1 æbleskiver pan
• 2 BBQ skewers or knitting needles

Ingredients

• 250 mL all purpose flour
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 375 mL soy milk
• 4 tbsp vegan margarine, butter, or canola for cooking
• ½ tsp salt
• vegan margarine or canola oil for cooking

Serving

• Berry jam , e.g. raspberry
• Icing sugar

Instructions

• Combine dry ingredients.
• Melt margarine and add to the dry ingredients.
• Stir in the plantbased milk and whisk to form a loose batter.
• Preheat the æbleskiver pan on medium to high heat until it is hot. Test the temperature by flicking a few drops of water onto the pan. They should dance and evaporate fast.
• Use a brush to spread margarine or canola oil in the pits. If this is you r first time using the pan, you might want to try jsut one or two æbleskiver in the first batch.
• Pour in batter, almost to the brim. The baking powder will cause the batter to raise but you want plenty of batter to fill the interior.
• Cook for a minute or two until you can see the edge starting to solidify.
• To turn the æbleskive, run a wooden skewer around the perimeter to loosen and detach the æbleskive. Now carefully but decisively use your skewer to pin the bottom and turn the æbleskive 90 degress, to create a bowl standing on its edge. The still loose batter should now run out and refill the pit.
• Wait another minute or two until the batter has solidified again. Then turn the æbleskive 90 degrees again, along another axis, see pictures below. This turn is usually easier, as you can use the skewer to "grip" a corner instead.

  This turn should leave a small opening (1/8 of a sphere).
• Wait another minute or two before performing the third turn, where the small opening is turned back down into the pit. If you have enough runny batter left, the hole will be sealed.
• Continue turning the æbleskiver while allowing them to develop nice colour. You can also move the æbleskiver between the pits, as these will likely have different temperatures.
• When the batch is finished, remove the æbleskiver from the pan and start the next batch. Continue until you are out of batter.
• Serve warm with powdered sugar and berry jam.

References