Quick and Easy Lemon-Filled Ebelskivers

I just made myself a marvelous breakfast this morning.  It was quick, easy, and delicious, and you can make it too.  What did I make?  Lemon-filled Ebelskivers, the Danish pancakes, thanks to my much used, much beloved Ebelskiver Pan.  If you don’t have one of these pans, you need to buy one.  Now.  You simply cannot be without one because there are so many wonderful varieties of these tasty little puffs, both sweet and savory, that you are going to want to make these all of the time.  They are so easy, so novel, and so delicious.

The secret to making these so fast is to use Bisquick.  I halved the pancake recipe on the side of the box, adding a few extra ingredients of my own.  Sure, I could have made the authentic Ebelskiver recipe by measuring out the dry ingredients, then the wet, separating eggs, beating the egg whites to soft peaks, and folding everything together, but honestly, who has the time?

Quick and Easy Lemon-Filled Ebelskivers

1 cup Bisquick

½ cup 2% milk

1 large egg

2 teaspoons sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

Few gratings of fresh nutmeg

Lemon Curd

Whisk first six ingredients together in a batter bowl, or transfer to anything with a spout.  Put a little butter in each well of the Ebelskiver pan and heat over a medium flame.  When butter is melted (I swish mine around with a silicone brush to make sure the well is evenly coated), pour batter into each well, then dot each with about ½ teaspoon of lemon curd, jarred or homemade.  When batter is set, using a chopstick (no need for one of those expensive Ebelskiver flipping tools) flip it over and brown on the other side, 2-3 minutes.  Turn out onto plate and repeat with remaining batter and lemon curd.  Dust with powdered sugar and enjoy.

For more delicious Ebelskiver recipes, this book is a must have:

This post is linked to:

Foodie Friday

Sweets for a Saturday

Cinnamon-Bun Filled Pancakes

In case you haven't noticed it, there is a little widget in the right-hand column of my blog that features new recipes every day from Williams-Sonoma.  Scroll down and take a look.  Go ahead, I'll wait.  I'd like to encourage you to view them every time that you very kindly visit my blog because these recipes are delicious!  To prove it to you, I made one the other morning with wonderful results. Pictured above are the Cinnamon Bun Ebelskivers that were featured last week.  What is an ebelskiver you say?  It's a light, puffy, filled, Danish pancake easily (and I am talking seriously easy) made with the use of a special pan.  The recipe can be found on their site here but for the sake of convenience, it is included below.

Now, about the pan.  I was lucky enough to get mine on sale at Williams-Sonoma during the holiday season last year.  Let this be a tip for you to keep an eye out for a sale this coming season, or put it on your wish list. You must get one!  It is one heck of a lot of fun to use and is so easy you won't believe it.  I first made them jelly-filled and dusted with powdered sugar.  Have a look here.  I have since filled them with mini chocolate chips, sweetened cream cheese, and lemon curd -- also delicious -- so when I saw this recipe I knew I wanted to give it a try.  In my opinion it is worth buying the pan just to be able to make this recipe. If you become addicted, as I have, you'll be pleased to know that there is also a wonderful book full of loads of recipes for ebelskivers both sweet and savory; I can't wait to dive into this one.  If this whole process seems a bit daunting to you, here's a little tip, just between you and me, make pancake batter as directed on the Bisquik box, pour it into the pan, fill as desired, and they'll still make you appear to be the most accomplished of pastry chefs.  Have fun, experiment, invite ladies for brunch or tea, dazzle the scout troop, buy the pan!  You'll love it, and clean up is a breeze. 

Cinnamon-Bun Filled Pancakes

For the cinnamon filling:
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 Tbs. all-purpose flour
1 1/2 Tbs. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt
4 Tbs. (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes,
  at room temperature
For the cream cheese frosting:
3 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
4 Tbs. (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
3 to 4 Tbs. milk
For the pancakes:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 Tbs. granulated sugar
4 eggs, separated
2 cups milk
4 Tbs. (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted, plus more for cooking

Directions:
To make the cinnamon filling, in a bowl, still together the granulated sugar, flour, cinnamon and salt. Add the butter and, using the back of a spoon, mash the butter into the flour mixture until all of it is absorbed into the butter, forming a paste. Set the cinnamon filling aside.

To make the cream cheese frosting, in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the flat beater, beat together the cream cheese and butter on medium speed until light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the confectioners' sugar, reduce the speed to low and beat until combined, 1 to 2 minutes, stopping the mixer occasionally to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add 3 Tbs. of the milk and beat until combined, about 1 minute. The frosting should be thick but still pourable; add more milk if needed to thin it. Transfer the frosting to a small bowl; set aside.

To make the pancakes, in a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt and granulated sugar. In another bowl, lightly whisk the egg yolks, then whisk in the milk and the 4 Tbs. melted butter. Whisk the egg yolk mixture into the flour mixture until well combined; the batter will be lumpy. Using an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites on high speed until stiff but not dry peaks form, 2 to 3 minutes. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold the whites into the batter in two additions.

Put 1/8 tsp. melted butter in each well of a filled-pancake pan. Set over medium heat and heat until the butter begins to bubble. Pour 1 Tbs. batter into each well. Spoon 1/2 tsp. of the cinnamon filling into the center of each pancake and top with 1 Tbs. batter. Cook until the bottoms are golden brown and crispy, about 3 minutes. Using 2 skewers, flip the pancakes over and cook until golden and crispy, about 3 minutes more. Transfer the pancakes to a plate. Repeat with the remaining batter and filling.

Drizzle the pancakes with the frosting and serve immediately. Makes 35 to 40.

Williams-Sonoma Kitchen

I couldn't decide how to decorate mine, so tried a variety of designs.

Click the image above for more info or to buy the pan.  You won't regret it!

This is the book I have.  It's wonderful.  Click the image for more info.

This post is linked to: 

My Meatless Mondays,

Passionately Artistic, Homemaker Mondays

Saturday Breakfast - Ebelskivers!

I will be the first person to tell you that kitchen gadgets are unnecessary.  That the only two pieces of equipment you'll ever need are a good, sharp knife, and a Microplane grater.  That's it. These two items will allow you to perform almost any task needed in today's kitchen.  But, heaven help me, I love gadgets, from donut machines to the latest little appliance that makes four pies all at once, I find them simply irresistible.

 I christened my newest acquisition this morning -- an Ebelskiver pan for making Danish filled pancakes.  I was pretty chuffed when I picked this up a month or so ago at Williams-Sonoma  for 15% off, then was intensely annoyed when, closer to the holidays it was reduced to 50% off before I'd been able to use it.  At any rate, I've now put it into service, and can't wait to use it again.

There's a bit of a learning curve involved, so don't be surprised if you burn a couple in the first batch, or add too much filling (jelly, say) and have it bubble over and burn on the pan, setting off the smoke alarm, and then raising a huge blister on the thumb of your left hand when you try to rid the pan of the offending pastry, but I digress.  The process is simple if a bit messy, but they go from pan to table in just minutes.  Pressed for time, I decided to use the pancake recipe on the Bisquick box, adding a bit more milk to thin the batter, along with a tablespoon of a granulated sugar, a teaspoon of vanilla, and some gratings of orange peel.  For fillings I chose what was easiest to grab - milk chocolate chips from the cabinet above the stove, and blackberry jam because it just happened to be in the front of the refrigerator.

I melted butter in a small dish and brushed each well with an ample amount using a silicone pastry brush.  I poured about a tablespoon of batter into each well and working quickly added various fillings.  It wasn't as easy to center the fillings as I thought it would be, but my skills improved with batch number 2.

Flipping them over was a breeze.  I used a chopstick rather than the official Ebelskiver flipping tool, and it worked great. I just pushed down on the one side and when the opposite side crept up out of the pan, I flipped it over to brown.

A dusting of powdered sugar later, some warm syrup drizzled on top, and I had a tasty breakfast unlike any I've had before.

I'll be trying these again, and soon!  I was delighted to learn that books of recipes are available, so I'll be adding one or two to my bulging cookbook collection and will try recipes from sweet to savory and give you the skinny.  In the meantime, grab yourself a pan and try them for yourself.  I'll be waiting to hear of your success.