The ingredients in aebleskiver are simple: milk, eggs, flour, sugar and Danish magic.
Writer: Jane Burns
There’s this round object that frequently pops up in Jan Jensen’s dreams. And despite the fact that she coaches the University of Iowa’s women’s basketball team, the round object isn’t orange or made of leather. It’s made of milk, eggs, flour and sugar. And the more of them, the better.
Jensen, a fourth-generation Dane from the Danish community of Kimballton, dreams about aebleskiver (pronounced “able-skeever”). The small, sphere-shaped Danish pancakes are a treat to many who might eat them with sugar, jam or other options.
“When I was a kid, I’d have a half a bowl of sugar and about 30 of them, and I’d eat every bit,” Jensen said.
The treats, made by the boatload and snarfed down in contests during Elk Horn’s Tivoli Days each May, are also a favorite for many families at Christmas. Schoolkids on field trips to Elk Horn make a stop at The Kringle Man bakery and cafe to learn about aebleskiver, which translates to “apple slices” in Danish.
“I tell the kids they’re better than pancakes,” said Jo Block, who works at The Kringle Man.
While theoretically simple — a batter made of just a few ingredients — aebleskiver can be tricky to make. For starters, you need the right equipment. Traditional pans are made of cast iron and designed for the stovetop, with seven round wells for the batter. Newer versions are non-stick. (Curious bakers can check out a pan from the Des Moines Public Library’s Library of Things.)
“What we always got for wedding presents were the cast iron pans,” said Block, who uses an electric one at The Kringle Man.
Then there’s the matter of turning them over. You must choose the precise moment and find the right tiny but efficient tool, one sturdy enough to turn the aebleskiver without puncturing them.
At The Kringle Man, Block uses a nut pick. Jensen uses a hat pin that belonged to one of her grandmothers. Jensen has made aebleskiver on occasion, but says it’s her sister, Melodi Jenkins, who has mastered them. “Mine are a little flat,” Jensen said. “I can’t get them quite as fluffy.”
Contemporary cookbooks suggest all sorts of new ways to eat the treats, from filling them with fruit or even turning them into crab cakes. Jensen said she’ll stick with tradition.
“Just dipped in sugar, hands down,” she said. “I’ll die on that hill.”
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