Saturday, December 15, 2007

Vegan Aebleskiver


So.... I was flipping channels this week and came on a travel show about Solvang, California. I love Solvang! Its a recreated Danish town, so all the buildings are in Danish style, most of the restaurants sell Danish food, gift shops sell Danish imports.... yes, its a tourist trap, but a fun one just the same. Years ago, I visited there for a couple of days and toured a folkcraft museum and an artist's home that I still remember fondly, as well as a beautiful, rustic Danish church.


Then there was the food..... yummy food. I loved the frikadeller which is meatballs served with lingonberry jam. Oh yummy! They also have stuffed cabbage, and a delicious sausage, but what I remember most is the Aebleskiver! They are small, perfectly round pancakes which are served with powdered sugar or jam. They are heavenly! I have a habit of buying a Christmas ornament and something food related everywhere I travel, and Solvang was no different. I bought a delft ornament which still hangs on my Christmas tree every year, and you guessed it, an aebleskiver pan!


I don't think I ever used that pan.... I can't remember a single time, and when I moved from California to Georgia, I sold it at a yardsale. A couple of years ago, my pastor gave me one that had been given to him, and its been gathering dust in my pantry ever since.


Well, this morning, DD was sleeping off the excitement of her father's arrival for his annual Christmas visit last night, and he was snoring away in the guest room, and I thought that I would make pancakes for breakfast as a treat. I had such success with the vegan pear pancakes last month, that I decided to make them again, but using an apple instead of a pear. As I was grating the apple, I remembered the pan and thought, well, why not give it a try?


They were fun! Fun to make and fun to eat! They were really no trouble at all, especially since you cook seven at a time. All in all, I think I cooked all the batter in less time than I did back in November, and ended up with 17 little round pancakes.




We all agreed that pancakes in this shape would be perfect for taking to school. My mind is buzzing with a million variations, both sweet and savoury........


Imagine breaking one open and finding melted cheese? Or some jam? Or a slice of vegan breakfast sausage? Or some curried beans? Or some melted chocolate and marshmallow?


The possibilities are endless.....

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Mm..love aebleskivers! I'm going to make some the traditional way..with apple stuffing. Thanks! Do you know of the Indian appey, which are savory semolina cakes made in an aebleskiver pan! Here's the link if you'd like to try.

http://onehotstove.blogspot.com/2007/06/jhatpat-appey.html

Anonymous said...

I am posting way way way too late so not sure I will get a response - but - - did these aebleskivers puff up even though you did not use any egg? I am vegan and want to make these puff pancakes for my friends, but thought the egg had to be in the recipe for it to puff up so I had given up on the idea - - - did you literally use that same pear pancake recipe (for regular, flat pancakes) to create these puffy ones? if so, that is brilliant... thanks for any more info...

Anonymous said...

As a vegan who's beginning to explore her Danish heritage, I was especially excited to come across this post. The aebleskiver look fantastic! They don't look like they suffered a bit for the lack of eggs.

A quick finnicky note about the fillings though - if you're in the midst of a fast and are wishing to avoid food made of animals, I'm afraid you may want to cross marshmallows off the list. The gelatin in marshmallows (well, the gelatin everywhere, really) is derived from cow, horse or pig hooves & ligaments. Blegh!