Aebleskiver and How to Make Them (With Basic Recipe)

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What's an Aebleskiver?

Danish aebleskiver (sometimes called "ebleskiver") are one of the few pastries that you can make on the stovetopthat doesn't require bakingand that you don't have to fry. They are made with a simple batter, are often filled, and usually dusted with sugar. They are easy to make and the varieties are endless.

You can fill your aebleskivers with jam, cream cheese, marshmallow cream, whipped cream, or savory fillings like cheese and sausage.

An Aebleskiver Pan Makes it Easy!

Spoon the batter into the cavities in the pan and turn them with a toothpick or skewer. We'll tell you how below.

Aebleskiver pans come in two varietiescast iron and cast aluminum. In order to cook properly, an aebleskiver pan must be heavy to hold heat. Nothing holds the heat better than cast iron. The disadvantage to cast iron is that it has to be seasoned and kept dry to keep from rusting.

The cast aluminum aebleskiver pans that we have tested for our store are still heavy enough to hold heat and cook properly but are easier to care for than cast iron pans. Aluminum pans can be purchased with tough, nonstick surfaces to make cooking your aebleskivers easy.

You will be happy with either type of pan. The dedicated cook might appreciate the cooking qualities of the cast iron pan while the hurried, more casual cook might appreciate the carefree qualities and attractive good looks of an aluminum pan.

How to Make Aebleskiver

A holiday in Denmark often begins with a breakfast of these puffy little pastries. Traditionally, they are made with an apple filling or served with applesauce (hence their name). Like other great pastries, wonderful variations have evolved. You'll love aebleskiver with jam fillings and cream cheese fillings.

Grease your aebleskiver pan with a spray dispenser or with butter. (Spray your pan again as needed or put a dab of butter in each cavity occasionally.) Heat the pan over medium heat. When hot, fill each cup one-third full with batter. Add a small amount of filling to each. Cover with an additional one-third batter. A larger cookie scoop works well to cleanly drop the batter into the cups.

Cook for one to one and one-half minutes before turning. (You can turn your aebleskiver with a toothpick or skewer.) Cook for another minute or until done. Remove your aebleskiver to a plate and sprinkle with powdered sugar. Serve them warm.

The easiest way to learn how to make aebleskiver is to do it so let's turn to a recipe:

Classic Aebleskiver Recipe

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose or cake flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
3 large eggs
2 cups buttermilk
filling of your choice
powdered sugar

Directions

1. Mix together the flour, salt, and baking soda.
2. Separate the eggs, the yolks from the whites. Set the yolks aside. Beat the egg whites until light and fluffy and soft peaks form.
3. Add the egg yolks and the buttermilk to the flour mixture and stir until combined. Gently fold the egg whites into the batter.
4. Grease your aebleskiver pan with oil or butter and again as needed. Heat the pan over medium heat. When hot, fill each cup one-third full with batter. Add a small amount of filling to each. Cover with additional batter.
5. Cook for one to one and one-half minutes before turning. (You can turn your aebleskiver with a toothpick or skewer.) Cook for another minute or until done. Remove to a plate and sprinkle with powdered sugar. Serve warm.

What do I fill my aebleskivers with?

Almost anything. Fill your aebleskivers with jam or jelly, whipped cream, pastry, cream, applesauce, and much more. Some people fill their aebleskivers with savoring fillings like bacon and cheese or pepperoni, cheese, and marinara. One of our favorites is a corn bread aebleskiver (made with a mix) with a cube of melted cheddar cheese in the center and served with raspberry jalapeo jam. The cornbread and cheese is a great combination and jam packs a little heat.

If you would like to fill your aebleskiver with pastry cream, whipped cream, or marshmallow cream, do it after they are cooked. Fill a pastry bag or decorator set with your cream filling. Use a star tip or long tip to inject filling into the center of your aebleskiver. You'll be able to feel the aebleskiver puff as they fill.

Adventures in Cake Decorating

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I am no baker.That is I'd by no means put myself forward as a cook at all, unless you'd call making spaghetti and browning minced-meat for bolognaise sauce culinary achievements.However, there's something about special occasions that brings the frustrated pastry chef out of me and sends me galoping into the kitchen, my head jammed with intricate cake decorating ideas.

It all started when my wife was approaching her thirtieth birthday. I decided to mark her entry into her fourth decade by baking her an amazing cake.I imagined her admiring gaze as she watched me pull this monstrous cake from the hidden depths of our under-used oven.By this time I was so keen to get started that I had to force myself to calm down, sit down, and get my ideas down on paper.I began to sketch a few decorating schemes in red pen on the back of an envelope in time-honored tradition, and eventually decided on a colossal triple-layer chocolate gateau with an enormous suspension bridge spanning a river of blue icing and a little plastic model of our family car perched in safety on top.

I'd like to be able to say that my cake decorating ideas usually come out as gorgeous as I imagine them, but I'm just not so good at being economical with the truth.In this case, the lovely triple-layer chocolate supension bridge cake decorating fantasy turned out as three limp, amorphous layers, crisp at the edges and doughy in the middle, featuring a delightful San Andreas fault running through the centre, as if there had been an earthquake in the oven.It tasted alright but it looked like something that had been salvaged from its own private earthquake.

So when my son's birthday came around, I resolved to try again.On this occasion I decided to plumb for a less imposing single layer cake swearing that I would sit tight and wait for the cake to cool before even thinking about decorating it.I reckoned that by waiting I would avoid the fault lines that had swallowed up the bridge and family car in the adventure on top of my wife's cake.Instead of cooking up intricate cake decorating ideas on the back of an envelope like a power-possessed architect, I resorted to a basic design that would be difficult for even me to make a hash of. Really, it's one thing being able to come up with tons of great decorating ideas, but quite another to pull them off.

I made the body of the cake and let it cool down according to the promise I'd made to myself (and according tothe instructions on the box).It took all my will-power not to dive in brandishing my trusty icing spatula.

This time, I'd chosen to frost with chocolate fudge icing and top it off with my own sketch of a lamb in the centre, which was meant to resemble the cuddly toy my son sleeps with at night, ringed with 5 candles.I figured if I held my natural cake decorating flamboyance in check, the cake would come out okay.And it did.Until I attempted to transfer my creation from the kitchen counter to the fancy plate I'd prepared, lost my balance and dropped it.The result resembled the aftermath of an earthquake, including fires and distraught wildlife.My wife commented on the 'natural disaster theme' that ran through my cake decorating repertoire, which was funny, I guess. At least they both had a good laugh.

I rescued the candles, but the lamb was badly singed and, sadly, did not survive.

Advantages of Hard Anodized Aluminum

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Anodized aluminum is lighter weight and non conductivity. Anodize means that aluminum is immersed in sulfuric acid known as electrolyte. Then it runs through a low voltage electric current through the acid solution. When the electric current increases significantly and the acid solution is freezed it is called as hard anodizing. Hard anodized aluminum is 30% harder than stainless steel. They have a extremely long life span. Its surfaces do not chip or peel and non toxic. It is chemically stable and does not decompose. Even in high heat level the anodized finish will not be damaged because it has a melting point of 1,221degree F.

Hard anodizing is mostly used for industrial purposes. Non stick coating is processed through regular anodized aluminum but aluminum cookware is processed through hard anodized aluminum. Hard anodizing aluminum has a thick coating than regular anodize.

Aluminum sheets passing through hard anodizing has a dark brown or black surface. The benefits of hard anodizing are it has lower cost and weight. The aluminum cookware would resist harsh climate and salt sprays because it is processed through hard aluminum. Automobile industry and commercial cookware have benefited from hard anodizing. Even automobile parts have benefited from it. It has also benefited the medical field. In prosthetic joints also hard anodizing aluminum is used because it can resist blood. Hard anodizing and sulfuric anodizing may have certain things in common but their process will give a different result. The hard anodize is little more expensive than regular anodized aluminum.

While buying a new aluminum cookware see whether it is a anodized aluminum or hard anodized. The surfaces are stick resistant. Aluminum is present in many products like in cookware and utensils, baking powder, toothpastes, sunscreens, cosmetics, vaccines, cake mix and in many more things. Anodized aluminum is used in grills, coolers etc. The cookware surface does not have pores because it has a hard anodize finish. If there are pores in the cookware the food gets stuck while cooking but if it does not have pores the food does not stick. Black is the most famous color in anodizing. This color gets the highest price. Other colors can be easily achieved. These colors are also used in different aluminum utensils. Anodizing can be done at home also with the help of sulfuric acid.

People used to worry if this type of cookware will cause a lot of difference in the taste of their food. But it is considered a super durable cookware. Since it is made of electro chemical process the aluminum is considered to be extra hard. People are using hard anodized aluminum because it has non toxic finish. It can be easily cleaned in the dishwasher. The non stick coating does not wear off easily. Most of the cooks in the world are using this type of cookware for making there food because they think that the flavor of the food is sealed. When a person starts using this type of cookware a lot of difference is seen in their cooking.

About Writing Your Heart Out

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About Writing: Trying to make sense of why anyone would want to earn a living as writer is the same as comparing why you want to eat food and why of necessity you have to.

One is because you feel like eating and the second is that you have to, or you will literally die if you do not. Let me put it another way. Do you want to eat or are you kidding yourself into thinking you should be eating because its a tasty thought in your mind?

Let me ask you a question and this applies to many subjects. Do you want to write or do you have to write to release the demons that keep telling you, this is what you were meant to do.?

Writing is a passion that grows and grows with each word you write, whether your subject is fact or fiction, about others or about yourself. The first word is always the hardest and it rambles on from there. It does not have to make sense, you will have time to correct that later.

A burning passion to write will drive you forward until you master the technique of either telling a story or maybe describing in picturesque detail how to bake a cake. It is not as simple as putting pen to paper, writing is a skilled craft and needs study and discipline to succeed.

When writing a page of text you could end up editing over half of the words out before you are finally satisfied. And then when someone else reads what is left, you could be in for a shock. What you thought was brilliant piece of the written word will be rejected for many reasons you do not agreed with. Your pride will take a fall and you will have to recover from this, or face never getting into print.

You have to give other people credit for seeing your piece of writing for what it is, especially if they are professionals i.e.: authors journalists or editors. Many new writers do not take criticism kindly and instead of taking these peoples comments on board and using them to improve their work they consider it as an attack on themselves.

We all like to think we know best, but writers need all the help they can get to move forward and keep improving. Writing a story is about painting a picture in words and the skills to do this need to be sharpened and honed until it becomes second nature to paint a compelling story that anyone wants to read.

It takes discipline and drive to keep writing and improving. Write about your thoughts, your anger, your pet hates virtually anything where emotions are involved. Read it out aloud and see if it makes any kind of sense. Print it off and read it aloud again. Leave it a week and then go back and read it again. Do not ask family or friends to read it they will be too kind.

Try this simple exercise: Get your partner or friend to close their eyes then place a piece of fruit or other object on a table and now try and describe the object to your friend using your powers of fiction without actually telling them what the object is. Then ask them what they thought about your description and what was lacking when they discover the answer. You may be surprised.

A Short History of Twix and Snickers Chocolate Bar

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Twix and Snickers are both famous chocolate bars around the world. Twix is a butter cookie topped with a thick layer of caramel and the whole bar covered in dairy milk chocolate while Snickers is a chocolate bar with peanut butter and topping of caramel covered in dairy milk chocolate.

Twix was created by Mars Limited in the UK back in 1967 while Snickers is a product of US based Private Corporation - Mars, Incorporated which is also one of the world's largest food and confectionary manufacturers.

Twix chocolate bar was available in 1979 in the US wrapped in a gold colored wrapper with orange text and it was branded as the Twix Cookie Bar. Before Snickers was created, there was a very successful chocolate bar called Milky Way in the early 1920s in America. This brand allowed the creators - Ethel Mars and Frank to expand and improve new recipes for chocolate bars.

A period of continuing sales of Twix through the early 1980s suggested Mars, Inc were happy with the performance of their, in fact the chocolate bar was not performing quite as well at retail and the hunt was on for a replacement or improvement which in 1983 came about with the peanut butter Twix. There was very little changed in the Snickers brand during its first forty years of production except in 1968 when Mars were inspired to produce the Snickers mini candy bar sold in bags of a dozen labeled with 'fun size'.

Snickers brand sparked a controversy in recent years with advertisements perceived to be homophobic, when two mechanics are seen sharing a Snickers and accidentally kiss when reaching the middle. The last major controversy related to Twix brand occurred in 2007 when Mars, Inc in Europe started replacing the whey used in their candy bars with animal rennet. This resulted in large protests and negative press publicity against Mars, Inc by vegetarians who were previously loyal to Mars candy because it was vegetarian.

Twix brands was also revised to compete in the ice cream space with frozen Twix bars making their way into supermarket and mall ice cream vendor ice boxes. Snickers had also introduced their branded products including the Snickers Ice Cream Bar. All of these products were well received at that time and either continued in production or withdrawn after the promo ended.

The sales Twix and Snickers chocolate brand have increased outside their traditional markets and they have been very positively received in every part of the world.

Twix and Snickers chocolate bars have been a successful products throughout their history and their sales have continued to increase and they have become popular brands for their manufacturers.

A Recipe Collection--Top 3 Most Requested Delicious Desserts

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When you are thinking about serving dessert at your next party, consider offering your guests one of these delicious, homemade desserts. I have found that of all the desserts I have served, these are my "Top 3 Most Requested Delicious Desserts" (in no particular order). Enjoy!

Number One Most Requested Delicious Dessert--Raspberry White Chocolate Dream Bars

1 box white cake mix
1/3 cup evaporated milk
1-1/2 sticks melted butter
1 cup chopped nuts
1/2 cup seedless raspberry jam
12 oz. white chocolate chips

Combine cake mix, milk, butter and nuts. Makes a very gooey dough. Spray a 9 x 13 pan and spread half of the dough into the bottom of the pan. Bake for 10 minutes at 350 degrees.

Melt the jam in the microwave (about a minute) and spread on top of hot crust. Immediately sprinkle chocolate chips over jam. Crumble remaining dough on top and bake an additional 20-25 minutes. Cool completely before cutting.

For bigger parties, this recipe easily doubles and can be made in a 15 x 10 pan.

Once you get the hang of this technique, you can think of all sorts of combinations. How about using chocolate cake with mint chips? Or lemon cake with white chocolate?

Number Two Most Requested Delicious Dessert--Chocolate Amaretto Bundt Cake

1 pkg. chocolate devil's food cake mix
1 small pkg. instant chocolate pudding mix
4 eggs
1 cup milk
1-1/2 oz. Amaretto liqueur
1/2 cup vegetable or canola oil
1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
1 cup fresh raspberries (optional)
1/2 cup seedless raspberry jam (optional)
Whipped cream (optional)

Glaze

1 stick butter
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup Amaretto

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Combine first 6 ingredients and blend well. Stir in chips. Grease and flour a bundt pan. Pour batter into the prepared pan.

Bake for 1 hour or until toothpick comes out clean.

Melt glaze ingredients in a saucepan or microwave. Pour 2/3 of glaze over top of cake while cake is hot from oven and still in pan. Allow cake to remain in pan for 25 minutes. Remove cake from pan and drizzle with remaining glaze.

When I make this cake dessert, I fill the middle with fresh raspberries and present it on my grandmother's crystal pedestal cake stand which is very dramatic.

Just before serving, I make a raspberry sauce by melting the jam in the microwave.

Each lucky guest gets a plate with some of the sauce, a slice of cake, a few berries and some whipped cream. Yum!

Number Three Most Requested Delicious Dessert--Mystic Mint Cookies

These are melt-in-your-mouth heaven!

Dough
1 cup sugar
1 stick (1/2 cup) butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
2 squares (1 oz. each) unsweetened chocolate, melted and cooled
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
Heat oven to 375 degrees.

Mix sugar, butter, vanilla, egg and unsweetened chocolate. Stir in flour and salt.

Drop dough by rounded teaspoonfuls about 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheet. Flatten each cookie with fingertips. Bake until set, about 8 minutes. Remove to cooling racks and cool completely.

Peppermint Frosting
2-1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 stick (1/4 cup) butter, softened
3 tablespoons milk
1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract

Mix all frosting ingredients until smooth and of spreading consistency.

Chocolate Drizzle
1/2 stick (1/4 cup) butter, softened
2 tablespoons corn syrup
1-6 oz. package semisweet chocolate chips

Simmer all drizzle ingredients over low heat. Stir constantly until butter and chocolate are melted.

Spread peppermint frosting over cooled cookies then drizzle each with chocolate mixture. Leave on counter for 2-3 hours until frosting is set.

If you serve any of these homemade desserts, you can count on your guests being very happy. And I will bet that you will be handing out recipes, just like I do at my house.

A Must Read Legendary Fruitcake Story

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Make a list of your favorite things about Christmas and I would be willing to bet your list doesn't include fruitcake. Christmas fruitcake has never made the list unless you are a Randisi. My mother-in-law Rose Randisi made the best Christmas fruitcake bar none. People who have tasted her fruitcake unanimously agree, hers is nothing like the customary fruitcake misfortune everyone dreads. And that is because Roses fruitcake is flat out delicious. We normally fight over the last piece, it is that good.

Years ago when we lived in Pennsylvania, part of our Christmas holiday involved visiting Pete and Rose Randisi, my in-laws. Every year we enjoyed Roses Famous Christmas fruitcake. It was her gift to us, her family. One batch made a dozen mini loafs or three regular sized loaves so it is quite possible Rose took one day to shop for the ingredients and another two for making, baking and wrapping. I know the amount of time and effort it takes to make these scrumptious treats is substantial. Rose didnt treat it as if it were a chore. Instead, she joyfully poured herself into the project each and every year. A lot of love went into Roses fruitcakes and we loved her for it.

For years we hounded her for the recipe, even before but especially after we moved several states away. Mom, you dont have to make us fruitcake every year. Its a lot of work, my husband Joe would tell her. If you could just give us the recipe, well take over.

He knew she was growing older and with age everything take a bit longer. We feared she had lost the recipe, or like her husband Pete, had entered the phase of life wherein everything done in the kitchen is accomplished on autopilot, no recipes necessary. She promised she would get around to giving us the recipe, but she never did. Each year we had to trust she would send us fruitcakes.

Here's where the mind blowing twist happens. Get ready to have your sneaker blown off.

On December 15th of 2003, we received a phone call from Joes sister. Rose had passed away peacefully in her sleep. The paramedics said theyve never seen such a tranquil look on a dead persons face. Roses last thoughts were happy ones. She left this earth in harmony with her faith. She was now absent from her aging body and present with the Lord. For Rose Randisi, December 15th 2003 was homecoming day, a cause for great rejoicing and celebration. She left this world to be with Jesus, her glorious Lord and Savior. My mother-in-law spoke of Jesus so often and so openly it was as if they were best of friends. It was hard not to be happy for her.

We were shocked when we learned of her unexpected departure, but we were even more stunned later that day we got our mail. Among some Christmas cards and bills, we found a handwritten letter from Rose that also included her Christmas fruitcake recipe. You could tell this was a labor of love. Her letter appeared painstakingly written and the recipe was written over the span of three over-sized index cards. The cards were filled front and back with thorough instructions. Rose had not merely copied the recipe from a cookbook. She sat down at her dining room table and composed the list of ingredients and carefully outlined each step so that her instructions would be as complete as possible. We quickly realized our fruitcake coach must have gone through several attempts to get this recipe in perfect shape.

So you understand, my husband received the news of his mothers death on the same day he received her prized fruitcake recipe in the mail. How does God do that? A friend of mine experienced a coincidence of the same magnitude and put it this way.

If you think that is all a series of tidy coincidences, you are folks that believe a tornado passing through a paint store in Italy might touch-up the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. Marc Sablow

But wait, there's more! The story continues.

Christmas, 2008 - I attended a party that also served as a reunion of some of dear girlfriends. Twenty of us been on a fall retreat together and it was time to celebrate the birth of Christ. Our hostess asked us to share a Christmas prayer request followed by a special Christmas memory. It was also one of those ornament exchanges where the participants pick a number and then choose a wrapped gift in that order. I was number twelve so I had plenty of time to think about which Christmas story I would share with my sisters in Christ.

I actually had something else in mind when all of a sudden I felt compelled to switch to Roses Fruitcake story. Unquestionably, Christmas 2003 was very unusual and surely everyone at this party would be awed by Gods providence. While the highlight might have been receiving Roses recipe the way we did, the rest of that Christmas was also very tender.

My family and I went to Pennsylvania to minister grace to Joes grieving father and his siblings. For example, while we were there, my children and I made fruitcake for everyone and we, of course, included a copy of the recipe. Joes family, touched by our gesture and Roses pre-emptive gift, felt loved from beyond. I wanted to share with my girlfriends how that Christmas the Randisis became a family with purpose and how everything we did, Im pretty sure, brought glory to God. Rose Randisi had set that trend in motion with her daily devotion to the Lord and her early departure.

Girlfriend number ten was speaking when my cell phone began ringing. I have a very distinct ring. Its a Steve Wonder song, I just called to say I love you I politely excused myself to turn my phone off and saw that it was a text message from our oldest daughter Robin. I MADE FRUITCAKE! Apparently, she was thrilled that she had successful made Grandma Roses fruitcake for the first time and she wanted me to know, so she text messaged me -- two minutes before I was to tell my Christmas fruitcake story. Once again, how does God do that?

The master planner does not slumber. Again and again and again He amazes me with his steadfast interest in my life, in the least interesting details of my life. And apparently there are ring tones for that.

I just called to say I love you