Aebleskivers

Who would have thought that pancakes could be so much fun? Aebleskivers (apple slices) are a Danish version made in a special pan that forms little rounded mounds of tasty cakes. The can be filled, and are sometimes topped with powdered sugar. The trick comes in turning them over, and toothpicks, skewers or knitting needles seem to be the tools of choice.

These were the dessert of the hour for New Year's Eve (see Sausage Fest '06, below). Against my better judgment, and paying no mind to the presence of not only the sausage-laden pasta dinner, but also about a pound of cheese in my belly from a fondue dinner the night before, I packed away at least a dozen of these babies. If you go by the power eating done on this night, one recipe serves four.

The recipe came with the pan, but the filling was all Matt. He took two apples cut into bits, sprinkled a spoon of brown sugar and some spices over them, and sauteed them in butter until they softened up a little. We teamed up to make the pancakes, I with the batter and he with the filling in a mad dash to prevent uneven cooking or worse. The cast iron was seasoned to perfection, though, and all went smooth as butta.

Great Grandma's Danish Aebleskiver
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups buttermilk
3 eggs-separated
Optional: Apple slices or other fruit filling

Sift together flour, salt and baking soda. Add buttermilk and egg
yolks. Beat egg whites until light and fluffy forming soft peaks.
Gently fold egg whites into batter.

Cook in Aebleskiver pan over medium heat. Grease each cup and use
toothpick to flip after 1 to 1.5 minutes. Fill 2/3 full for plain or
1/3 add fruit and 1/3 more.

Optional: Sprinkle with confectioner's sugar.

Makes about 40-45.