Ebleskivers, Anyone?

Opening my Mother's Day gift from Emily and Franz brought a fun new opportunity my way. I found a very strange-looking frying pan with seven round indentations. A poached egg pan? No. I was stumped. The box said "Ebleskiver pan". That didn't really help me understand what I was looking at either. So, in true Lana-style, I read the instructions and then Googled "Ebleskiver". Fascinating! Ebleskivers are round (meaning spherical) pancakes, originally a Danish delight. They are not really sweet, but can be made sweet with confectioner's sugar, jam, fruit, syrup, and other such treats. Some Ebleskivers are filled with a tasty confection. The Danes apparently often used a small apple slice as the filler. You can imagine what Americans have conjured up for treats...everything from Chocolate Balls" to "Whole Wheat Ebleskivers with raisins". I even found recipes for "Egg and Bacon Rounds". If you are interested, you can find recipes by looking up "filled pancakes", "Ebleskivers", and "puff pancakes". I found a Bed and Breakfast that served their version of apricot conserve-filled Ebleskivers seven on a plate garnished with powdered sugar, mint leaves, and Vermont maple syrup. Sounds delicious and beautiful to me!

Tonight Steve and I tried making Ebleskivers for the first time. We wish Lana, our pancake-lover, could have been here for the initial trial. We used the recipe that Emily included, "Lemon-Mascarpone Filled Pancakes", with a slight variation. Having never heard of mascarpone, I once again turned to Google. Mascarpone is a French cheese made from milk produced by cows who have been fed specific grasses. It is not extremely easy to find and can be rather expensive from what I read. Thankfully, there were some suggested substitutions. I chose the simplest-- straight up ricotta cheese. Easier than mixing cream cheese, whipping cream, and other ingredients to imitate Mascarpone!

If you happen to be in Francesville for the family reunion tomorrow, you may get to see what a filled pancake/Ebleskiver looks and tastes like. We aren't sure how well they keep, but we have refrigerated a few to see.

In case you cannot imagine what I am talking about, we photographed the cooking process for you.

Place a small amount of butter then batter in each indentation, a tiny amount of lemon-ricotta filler, and then some more batter.

Flip them carefully after they have browned on the bottom (notice we are novices...the middle one is deep brown/black, not golden brown as the directions recommended).

A few shakes of powdered sugar make them look and taste extra appetizing.

Danish delights: little pancake spheres with lemon zest and lemon curd-ricotta filling.

The final product: A tray of "Lemon-Mascarpone Filled Pancakes" or Ebleskivers with a twist!

Okay, Alaina, have you ever heard of Ebleskivers? Just think of what you could do with an Ebleskiver pan and your imagination! There is no limit to the tasty treats you could create!

Thank you, Emily, Franz, Madeline, and Katie. We had fun and are looking forward to trying some of the other recipes.