Nearly a year ago I made my first aebleskiver, thanks to the good folks at Aunt Else’s who introduced me to this fabulous culinary orb at the Mill City Farmer’s Market. They gave me a pan and a package of their mix and off I went. Now I make them with my sons on a regular basis. The boys love the process of cooking them almost as much as eating them. We’ve tried stuffing just about everything but the kitchen sink in the centers. Sometimes sweet, sometimes savory. Seriously, if you cook anything in the shape of a sphere my kids will eat anything at all. Although I don’t always stick to the Aunt Else’s mix, I have to say it is better than any of the batters I’ve come up with so far. It is made with local, organic, whole grain ingredients so I can’t feel too guilty about using it on occasion. I’m still looking for the perfect recipe.
Last night was the threat of our first frost, which means winter is on its way and my garden is seeing its final days. Stefan came over to do a big harvest, which was bittersweet. I got such a gorgeous bounty, but it was one of the last. I will miss picking fresh veggies from my backyard farm. I dread going to the grocery store to buy things that I have picked for myself all summer. One of the plants in grave danger of being destroyed by the cold was the basil. I have LOTS of basil and in one cold snap it could all die. That was the inspiration for my pesto and mozzarella stuffed aebleskivers. Not exactly traditional, but a match made in heaven!
Pesto from one of my most used cookbooks How to Eat Supper:
1 large garlic clove
1/8 teaspoon salt
2/3 tight-packed cup fresh young basil leaves
2 heaping tablespoons pine nuts
1/4 cup grated Fiore Sardo sheep cheese or American Stella Fontinella: or 3 tablespoons fresh grated Locatelli Romano
1/2 cup fresh grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 cup Fresh Mozzerella, cut into 1/4-inch cubes
Pasta sauce for dipping (optional) – although the Country-Style Ragu from The Splendid Table will change your life.
Aebleskiver recipe: Aunt Else’s Mix or this one that I found on the LA Times Website (not whole grain)
To make the pesto:
In a mortar & pestle
Heat your seasoned pan over medium heat. Add 1/2 teaspoon of vegetable oil.
Fill the wells about 3/4 full, not too much or they will overflow when you add the filling.
Let them cook for about 2 minutes and then give them a turn, about 1/3 of the way around.
Quickly toss together the chunks of cheese with about 2 tablespoons of the pesto. Put in about a 1/2 teaspoon of the filling. make sure that the filling is poked down into the batter so that the cheese doesn’t end up sticking to the pan.
Complete the turns. To do this without burning your fingers or poking too many holes in the aebleskivers I use a pair of tongs to help. I discovered this because my young sons like to flip them all by themselves and I was afraid they’d burn their fingers. It works like a charm.
I served these with a salad from the tomatoes and basil in my garden, along with the fresh mozzarella.
We split the aebleskivers open and filled it with the Country-Style Ragu.
fill with chilli flavoured chocolate and dusted with powdered sugar for something sweet and spicy!!
or a mixtured of grated coconut cooked in a little sugar with saffron and cardamom…
I have never made any of those in my life and did not know they existed. I have a feeling I would try them with a sweet filling. Nutella, Dulce de Leche or some dried fruits and apple cider syrup…
Apple filling with a pancake type batter.
Those look absolutely delicious! Now I’m inspired to try some savory fillings. I usually make them filled them with cherries. My Cherry Aebleskiver recipe appears on
http://www.hungrycravings.com/2008/07/cherry-picking.html.
Broccoli & feta. Yum! Maybe some with kalamatas, too. For sweet I’d have to go with apple & pecan seeing as it is apple season.
I’d make some maple peanut butter filling for them. Yum!
Cream cheese and strawberry jam. Yummers!!
Wow, I hadn’t heard of aebleskivers until your post–where have I been?! They look and sound great. I’m a fan of savory, so I’d probably take your pesto recipe and add sun-dried tomatoes. mmm mmm
I fill mine with Lemon curd. That has been my favorite so far…but look at all the choices!! I will have to put them on the menu more regularly. 🙂
I’d probably make cherry with some of my homemade cherry jam. NOM!
How about jalapenos and cream cheese, or even jalapenos with cheddar and bacon? Of course you can’t go wrong with chocolate!
I think I would LOVE chutney and brie or goat cheese and quince paste!!
Oh yum! For sweet I would go with homemade huckleberry preserves and for sweet/ savory fig jam with roasted walnuts and goat cheese. For pure savory- well I can’t think of anything that beats your fresh mozzarella with pesto.
Nutella is the first one that comes to mind-however with truffle season soon approaching wild mushroom or truffle aableskivers sound rather tasty too.
I’d be filling it with all sorts of things like duexelles and goat cheese, this feta salsa from smitten kitchen http://smittenkitchen.com/2008/12/feta-salsa/ , and I’d be working on seeing what happened if I dropped a hersheys kiss in there before the last turn. Oh the possibilities.
So many options! I’d opt for traditional with cinnamon spiced chopped apples, but the Nutella filled ones sound divine! Savory would be chopped ham, chopped swiss cheese, and a touch of dijon mustard.
apple and smoked gouda…delish!
Oh yum, those look heavenly, and I will try that Ragu! If I were to have a pan to make aableskivers – savory would be carmelized onion and sausage or prosciutto and olives. Sweet would be peach with fresh ginger for a nice kick, or my fave crepe filling – lemon curd, goat cheese and the lignonberry sauce for dipping!
Your pesto mozzarella combinations sounds like a winner! I would try mozzarella with roasted red peppers and maybe some olivada.
I have never made these but I would love to give it a whirl. I think I would try something with chocolate chips, marshmallows, and maybe some teddy grahms. You know, a smore. 🙂
Ohhhh so clever you!!
wow ive never seen anything like this, you never cease to amaze me Zoe! xx 🙂
Oh YUM! Please enter me. I can see caramelized pears and goat cheese in the centers…
Well, the first thing that came to mind was Nutella, but since so many people said that I had to think of something else. A farm by my house makes a fabulous fig and honey goat cheese that would be good to use – both sweet and savory at the same time!
I’ve never made an aebleskiver, or ever had one come to think of it, but surely it would have to include oh…pears with maytag blue cheese, or ham & swiss cheese dipped into my famous mustard sauce…come to think of it, wouldn’t anything be great?