yep. that is right. yesterday was æbleskiver day! what is æbleskiver you ask? well, let me take a page from aunt else’s website to clarify this strange term…
you may remember seeing me sample æbleskivers at the foodbuzz festival last month. i sampled both sweet and savory varieties of æbleskivers.
recently, the president of æbleskiver contacted me and asked me if i would like an æbleskiver starter kit to try out. i eagerly accepted chad’s offer and in no time i had my very own æbleskiver pan & mix~
the most ironic part about this whole situation is that i was reading my sister in law lindsay’s blog post the other day and she was recapping her trip to california. she mentioned that izzy (my niece) was able to enjoy her favorite breakfast~æbleskivers dipped in butter and powdered sugar! i had NO idea she knew what these were. come to find out, she has an æbleskiver pan on her christmas list this year! how random. i decided to make my first batch of æbleskivers with lindsay and izzy since they already love them. marshall also came along for the ride.
the first thing i had to do was season the cast iron pan. this took about an hour~i washed the pan with soapy water, dried it, sprayed it with olive oil and then baked the pan upside-down for just shy of an hour.
while the pan was seasoning, i got all my different fillings ready for the æbleskivers. for simplicity’s sake, i am going to refer to them as balls from here on out.
apple+cheddar balls
ground beef+bleu cheese balls
bacon & laughing cow balls
and i also had plain, unfilled balls on the menu.
once the freshly seasoned cast iron pan had cooled down, i whipped up a batch of the batter. check out the organic ingredient list:
i heated the pan to low-medium heat and filled each ball hole with a dime sized amount of olive oil~
and then filled each cavity almost all the way full~
then the fun part.. fillings!
i put a small piece of each filling in the batter~
and then the difficult part.. the first quarter turn. the balls stuck a lot more than i thought they would and it was a tad difficult to turn them.
once i turned them the first quarter turn (using the wand that is included in the starter kit) i filled each cavity with more batter.
a few more quarter turns and i eventually had actual balls.
these were a little on the burnt side~ so i did whip up one more batch. to my surprise the second batch didn’t stick at all! i think the more i use the pan the easier this will get.
batch numero dos:
ah yes~much better! no sign of blackened balls ;)
plating time!
plain balls with powdered sugar
kid tested, mother approved. kix ain’t got nothin on these balls.
ground beef+bleu cheese balls served with sautéed mushrooms
the bleu cheese is what made these balls dy-no-mite! it was like a bleu cheese mushroom burger.. but mini sized!
apple & cheddar balls
gooey cheddar cheese? yes please.
and i have saved my favorite for last. i went back for more of this combo..
bacon & laughing cow balls + sunny side up egg + maple syrup
drool.
so there you have it! my æbleskiver experience.
not only were the æbleskivers delicious, it was a fun experience in the kitchen. i look forward to making these next time because i feel like i will have a better hang of things and will be able to make them faster! i definitely recommend pairing the æbleskivers with eggs & maple syrup. i cannot wait to try new, different combinations!
i would like to thank chad and aunt else’s for sending me the æbleskiver starter kit to try out! i appreciate the fun opportunity :)
NOW.. the best part!!
would you like to own an æbleskiver pan of your own?! well aunt else’s has generously offered to give one æbleskiver starter kit away to one lucky reader!!
to enter:
- leave a comment telling me what you would like to fill your æbleskivers with!
for an additional entry:
- link back to this post (don’t worry about leaving an additional comment, your link will pingback automatically!)
- OR if you don’t have a blog, spread the word to someone you know about this giveaway and email me (janethabenson AT gmail DOT com) and let me know you did so!
giveaway will end wednesday, december 16th at midnight.
good luck!
i have lots of stuff to recap about the weekend~but i will save that for another post. hope you all had a great weekend and are enjoying your sunday!!
xo. janetha b.
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{ 101 comments… read them below or add one }
I think I would go for a sweet filling… maybe tiny diced apples cooked the microwave for a minute with cinnamon and brown sugar. Or some raspberry jam to make them like a donut! Or lemon curd would be nice too.
hahaha! these are awesome :)
i’d fill my balls with love.
hahaha i couldn’t help it.
OHHHHHHH MYYYY GOSH!!
this could be one of the most exciting giveaways ive ever seen. so many options! oh man im getting excited thinking about it..maybe fill them with apples and PB? or savory fill them with greek yogurt and sausage/bacon!?!? AHhhh! linking it right now!
oooh that would be so cool! i would fill it with chocoooocolate!
These sound so fun! Love the idea of having them with maple syrup and eggs – I think I’d do that too! Maybe filled with bacon and cheddar :)
yum! I’m bummed I didn’t taste test these babies at the Foodbuzz festival.
I would have loved all of your flavor combos. apple and cheddar cheese? YES please!!!
Oh, drool is right, what a great idea! I love your different combinations.
I would probably go the dessert route and fill mine with some chocolate and nut butter. Sprinkled with powdered sugar? I die.
Ooh. I’d love to do an aged cheddar and maybe chive filled ball. Or maybe one with spinach and feta or ricotta.
I remember seeing this on Sophias blog and being completely amazed!! I want to try these so bad! Just think of the possibilities. Well, actually, I believe they’re endless ;) My first batch would definitely include peanut butter and jam. Then a batch of smoked salmon and cream cheese. And obviously, a fluffernutter one ;)
I think peanut butter would be good.
How do you type that ae letter?
Oh my! I need a new pan b/c someone put my old one in the dishwasher and ruined it! I would fill mine with chocolate chips and walnuts. :)
I would totally fill mine with almond butter or peanut butter and jelly… yum yum yum.. nom nom nom.. that would be delish!!!
I’ve always wanted one of those pans! I’d want to make a batch of sweet apples ones for me, and a batch of apple-cheddar ones for my husband :)
I would have to try my two favorite things. Peanut butter and banana!
I have been dying to try these because I have a Danish friend who always talks about how good they are and I LOVE pancakes! I would probably fill some with berries and some with Nutella!
Probably something sweet because that’s how I roll! :)
Yummm, I loved the runny egg one, but if I could mine would be filled with chocolate, double yummm!!! xoxo
What, not snowboarding???!! We have about 2 feet here in B-town!!
They sound so good! I think pb + J would be delish!
xo
K
THIS IS SOOOOO COOL!!!!! LOVE THIS!!!!! HMMMM NOW WHAT TO FILL THOSE BALLS OF JOY WITH!!! HEHEHE!!!!
Maybe some Pumpkin and then sprinkling them with cinnamon and some sugar free maple syrup!!
Some yummy chocolate chips and mini marshmallows!!!!
Thanks for this awesome giveaway!!!!
So many things you can create!!!!
How about some PB and J ones?? I would be all ova that. Mmmm
In the spirit of giving, I would like to win so I can give it to a friend who would them have me over for brunch and make either raspberry jam filled “balls” or ham and swiss “balls.”
I had no idea you had to do a half turn – that looks hard!
Such a cute video though – you should definitely do more. We haven’t seen the pets on video ever (except for maybe when Penny was a puppy).
Oh what a messy fun experiment! They sound so delicious. Kind of remind me of when my mom makes Yorshire Pudding every year for New Years. They are one big doughy popover that are extremely messy and elaborate to make, but taste freaking amazing!!!
I would probably fill my balls with feta and spinach! Yummm!!! Greek Yogurt for dipping please! ;)
Ooooh, these look awesome! I’d try pumpkin and chocolate, sausage and peppers and maybe even some silken chocolate tofu!
I’d fill mine with sauteed mushrooms and gorgonzola. Yuuum
I think I’d fill ‘em with peanut butter and jelly :-) Cheese would be good too!
I blogged, but I’m not sure that it will ping back to you :-)
Those are adorable! And look amazingly delicious. :D I would go with a peanut butter, dark chocolate chip combo, with a drizzle of honey once they were all done. Drool! :D
Hey Janetha! So you’re the second blog in about 2 weeks I have seen æbleskivers on. I honestly cannot remember the other one. Possibly Susan in Canada? Gosh I have no idea. Anyway the ones next to the eggs with the drool caption. Yes. They look sooo good! I would love to get in on this action, enter me :)
Wow, I’m not sure I’d have the skills to make those! Turning and I don’t work well. :)
My first thought was to fill them with pb&j!! Then maybe try pb & chocolate.
oh-my those look delish!!!
i am a HUGE bacon fan so I think I would fill them with bacon & cheese :D
Neat! I’ve never heard of these before. My first attempt would be dark chocolate.
oooh you are such a natural at making the giant kix balls!! ;) hehehe I would love to enter this giveaway so i can fill my balls with nutella!! Ohhh yum. It would be that or pb and jelly filled balls. :)
Wow – your combinations sounds amazing! I think I’d keep it simple and add some banana and a few chocolate chips!
wow this is such a great giveaway!…
I’m gonna have to go for pb and banana…or like you did…light laughing cow cream cheese and bacon! Holy yum!
I love aebleskivers. I like to fill ‘em with blueberries, jam, or applesauce. Yum!
Those things look fantastic!! I’ve never heard of them, but they remind me of popovers. I think I would LOVE them sweet, so I would try filing them with fruit or jam. Mmmm, with powdered sugar! :-)
Peanut butter and chocolate!
Hi, I discovered your blog by a giveaway link!
I heard about aebleskivers and am intrigued!
I will fill them with…
-Red bean paste (you know, like mochis?)
-Ice cream (in a imaginary world where ice cream doesn’t melt, of course) ;p
-Banana + Maraschino cherry + Carob chips (banana split!)
Thanks for the giveaway!
I linked you back:
http://mealsandmoves.wordpress.com/2009/12/13/eb-el-sku-wyr/
Wow!! I have never heard of these but now want to make them! I would want to try sunbutter filling with cream cheese and then a dusting of cocoa powder…..tons of possibilities though, sweet and savory! Thanks for sharing the fun! I so hope I win the giveaway! I linked to get another entry too!
i want one! i want one! i’d fill mine with pb and j. or applesauce. just b/c i have a lot of that stuff in my fridge now.
Dang!! ALL of those balls looks so awesome.
I think I’d like mine sweet.. pb maybe? ;)
for some reason, i wasnt able to access your blog for the longest time :( SO sorry for el no commento’s
Oh wow these look so fun! I think I would fill mine with chocolate chips :-) or apples? Or for savory ones, I’m thinking Mexican-style with avocado, jalapeños, onions, etc.
ah i love these! but have never made my own! sounds like fun and looks delicious! hmm id probably do some sort of peanut butter, apple cinnamon mix! and for a savory one- carmelized onion and goat cheese :)
That is so neat!! I think i’d fill mine with pumpkin and peanut butter!! mmm!
Oooh me me I want to try! I’m so impressed with yours! I would probably fill mine with cheese, since it’s my favorite thing ever.
I immediately thought of crabmeat and cream cheese as a filling…I would love to try this nifty little kit!
I would do peanut butter and/or nutella and banana
oh my! those look amazing. i sampled some in williams-sonoma once and fell in love. i would definitely fill mine with nutella.
I must say girl, your balls look decadent. HAHAHAHA!
I bet they would be really good with sweetened cream cheese and cinnamon, then rolled in cinnamon sugar. Or stuffed with a mix of fresh berries maybe mixed with some preserves. The sweet combos sound tasty. Reminds me of a Hungarian dish I grew up on. Gomboc, which were potato dough balls stuffed with sugared and cinnamon covered prune plums. OH MY!
Definitely something sweet !! Pancake mix probably!
Definitely apples with cinnamon, yum!
mm a broccoli cheese combo? it’d be like a hot pocket… er, hot ball ;)
I’ve always wanted to try these. I picture them with some sort of sweet fruity filling maybe some fresh raspberries and cream cheese. Do you need an email address? hkfallstrom@gmailcom
b-fast: chocolate chips and banana slices
or
lunch: PB and J.
or
dinner: bbq sauce and pork
I would love to try this. please enter me I’m in!
These look so fabulous! I’d love to enter if you’d accept international entries as well ;).
Apple and cheddar sounds droolworthy!!
ohh the possibilities!! for sweet I was thining about banana & PB or cinnamon and apples
for savory for sure I would do ground turkey and cheeseeee
OMG they look so fun to make! yay :)
These look so fun! I think I would fill mine with PB2 & blueberries yum! Thanks for the great giveaway…and merry christmas!
Oh sa-weet! I saw these on Sophia’s blog a while back and thought they were odd and cool–I didn’t remember you guys had had them at the Foodbuzz fest. I think cranberries , blue cheese and chopped pecans would be awesome. Maybe peanut butter and chocolate chips? And you know I”d had to put cottage cheese in there somewhere! xoxo
Probably something sweet! I think a little Nutella would be an awesome filling.
Hmmmm….pumpkin, cranberries and goat cheese.
those remind me a bit of beignets!! yum!!!
i would fill mine with chococlate chips & peanut butter :) im such a sweets person!
I would probably just use whatever I had in my house at the time. But I definitely think it would involve bacon and shredded cheddar chesse, and maybe som diced jalapenos. Mmmm.
I had ebelskivers every christmas growing up. I would LOVE my own pan! I love your creative use of toppings; we usually have them for breakfast, so we just fill them with applesauce or jam.
this is perhaps the funnest giveaway ever. yes, i am journalism major and believe funnest is a word.
i would fill mine with brown sugar, walnuts and dried fruit. gah…DELISH!
or PB+J!
or perhaps some candy canes + chocolate for a christmas variety.
i can keep going…
this giveaway is awesome! i’ve never tried these before but i LOVE to bake, so this would be so much fun.
i would fill them with all sorts of stuff.
jalapeno/cheddar/bacon
pesto/mozzarella
chocolate/peanut butter
berry/cream cheese
maple peanut butter/cinnamon
figs/goat cheese/walnuts
sage/pecan
brie/pear/almond
cardamom/orange
oh myyyyyyyyyyy goodness. drool.
Oh æbleskivers bring back memories. We used to have neighbors from Denmark, and they would make them for us once in a while…
I would love playing around with them. Maybe some sweet fillings like apple, cinnamon & walnuts, or cranberries & orange. But savory fillings sound great too. How about bacon, green onions, & cheddar cheese? Oh, the possibilities are endless… :)
I’ve seen pans like that at Williams-Sonoma and, frankly, they scare me – I am afraid I’d ruin them, but I’m willing to try!
I’d love to fill some with spinach, feta and mushroom – my fave combo!
Must.have.balls.now.
Holy yum. The innuendo is just too much for me to handle. Plus those powdered sugar balls look so delicious and fun!
I think I would go the sweet route first…then anything with bleu cheese sounds like a winner as welL!
OK I need this starter kit!! I would love to try all different kinds of concoctions including some kind of peanut butter filling with chocolate chips!
Great post!!! These call out for my favorite fall flavors: pumpkin and pumpkin pie spices or apple, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, brown sugar, and walnuts. I wonder how they would be with a glaze drizzled over them.
omg, I love this! I’ve never seen anything like it before. Linking back- now. And combo to try? peanut butter and honey sound pretty good. but also maple+bacon. gahhh?! hello yum.
I WANT BACON BALLS.
couldn’t resist.
i’d be into trying apple and cheese, or maybe spiced ground beef with lots of garlic and parsley….
i wonder if a hershey’s kiss would work? or pb+j???
(uhm, maybe for the sake of science–and sarah–you should try that last one. and let me know how it goes.)
Wow I’m super impressed by all your balls! They all look fantastic!
I’m thinking feta cheese and chives!
You totally kicked Allison’s butt on these! (Sorry Al, love you, mean it.)
Love the creativity!!!
Bacon cheese balls=AMAZING
Aebleskiver..yum yum
I’d try vegemite and cheese..that’s a popular combo here in Australia!!
I think strawberries and almond butter would be awesome….:)
Bacon and Sharp Cheddar…Yum!
those balls look great! i think some peanut butter and banana action in those balls would be to die for!
jenna
I would fill them with vegan cheesecake mousse!
I LOVEEEEEE THIS!!!! I was hooked with these little bowls when i tried it in the festival!!
I’d love to fill it with cheese, nut butter, aduki beans and bonito for salty combo!!! Hope I can win! I really love this! :D
omg after watching you and allison make these – i really need to try them! i will fill mine with ham and cheese!or peanut butter and banana!
oh wow, i was just wishing i could afford one of these! sweet, i would probably have to do nutella and banana, savory, i would go bacon, cheddar and apple :)
ohh, yum! I’d fill my aebleskivers with roasted veggies.
I’m into savory stuffings. How about
* pre-fried sausage coins and onion
* bruschetta type filling (olive tapenade)
* shrimp and bacon bits
* chicken with mole sauce
* roasted peppers, carmelized onions, and mozzarella cheese
* fried eggplant with fried shitake or button mushrooms
* cornbread aebleskiver with refried bean filling
* barbecued pork filling (chinese hoisin sauce for the barbecue sauce grilled onto lean pork, add finely chopped scallions just before cooking)
* Swedish meatball typed chopped meat filling
* leftover turkey, add tiny bit of sage to dough
i would fill mine with goat cheese and sun dried tomatoes and basil and maybe some eggplant? then sweet ones with something really ooey and gooey…cherry pie filling and chocolate perhaps? MMM!
That is the coolest little contraption!!
Although the sweet fillings sound wonderful, I would stuff those little balls with chicken and cheddar cheese!
thanks for letting us in on the testing. we loved it. next time lets fill em with peanut butter….yum.
i love it! my kids might start eating lunch, if i put ham and cheese in them!
Thanks so much for the opportunity! I’d fill mine with some chocolate chip pancake mix! I don’t have a blog, but I’m emailing you.
I’ve tried all sorts of the sweet varieties, so I’d like to try a salty version: maybe start with the ham and cheese and make my way into breakfast variations
I think these would be so much fun to make with the kiddos and somthing with cinnamon!! Yum
I’d love to fill mine with boysenberry jam!!
xoxo
Maggie
Hmmmm… we do a lot of sleepovers… houseful of teenage girls. I’m seeing:
- broccoli and cheese
- lox, onion and cream cheese
- mozzerella, sundried tomato, broccoli
- sauteed peppers, onions, mushrooms
- cottage cheese with cranberries
- ricotta, walnuts, cinnamon, craisins
- caviar
- dollop of fudge
- pitted cherries
- pitted prune
- dried apricot and smidge of brie
- creamed spinach
- asparagus and lox
- almond paste and something else
- jicama and…. not sure
- diced red pepper and leftovers from taco nite
- let the girls raid the fridge and cupboards and see what their imaginations lead to
I’d like to fill them with apples and top with powdered sugar.
Experimenting with this would be fun!
Nutella, definitely!
Apples and cinnamon/sugar
For savory, probably whatever leftovers there are in the fridge ;)
Ooh, how about brie and apricot jam! Yes please!
Oh!!! I have only tried these once, a long time ago – and they were filled with sweet fillings. I would love to try anything with meat…that would be a fun dinner :)
Yum, I’d fill with chocolate!
This is what I get for being 3 days without reliable internet- FAIL! So cute though- your niece’s smile KILLS me! :-)