How To Prepare Æbleskiver Leftovers…

 

We made too many…it’s a curse, really, when you’re making Danish pancakes, or æbleskiver (that’s the plural, not æbleskivers…). In our house, we make as many as we can, make them until the batter runs out. The good and bad about æbleskiver is that they look so small that you could eat dozens. After a while, you realize…

It’s not meant to be.

So, we gathered the uneaten balls of deliciousness and put them in the fridge.

Last year our son bought us an air fryer…a good air fryer. We were air fryer virgins before that, didn’t know what they were good at making. After the gift was given, we went out and bought all sorts of food, frozen French fires (of course…), egg rolls, hash browns. Some things the air fryer worked swimmingly, but, as with most things, it wasn’t perfect for all occasions.

After the æbleskiver had sat in the fridge for a few days, I decided to see if the air fryer was the right appliance to bring the chilled Danish pancakes back to life. I threw in half a dozen, hit four minutes on high heat and hit the button, hoping for the best.

The best is what I got.

They tasted great, almost a great as when they were freshly baked. Again, not perfect, but pretty darn close.

So, if you “accidentally” make too many æbleskiver the next time you find yourself making æbleskiver, throw the extra in the fridge and pull out the air fryer. Serve them up with your favorite toppings and you’re in for a good æbleskiver any time.

Værsgo!

Can You Say...Rød Grød Med Fløde På?

It's been over thirty-three years since I stepped foot on Danish soil. Even though I had studied and taken classes about Denmark, the people, their customs, their food, I had so much to learn as a young American teenager leaving the boarders of my home country for the first time.

And one of the first things I learned was how to say:

Rød Grød Med Fløde På

There's a support system for young LDS missionaries when they arrive in the area where they'll spend the next eighteen months to two years. Other missionaries and members who live in the area take the newbies under their wings and show them the ropes. It was the same for me. I was taught about some of the customs they didn't teach in the classes, what's considered rude and unacceptable in social situations. I learned about how different the food is. Now, considering Denmark is in Europe, their diets are pretty much the same as ours (unlike my brother who went to Japan...). 

There was one dish, however, that was not only distinctively Danish, but it was also used as a test on just how well us non-Danes spoke their language. The dish--red berry pudding with cream. And to hear a native Dane say those words--Rød Grød Med Fløde På--it's as foreign and complicated (to pronounce correctly...) as some of the toughest languages on earth.

I found a video on the Embassy of Denmark in the United States Facebook site. You can access the site: HERE. The video shows you how to make it, but doesn't give you a recipe with specifics. You can click: HERE for a recipe. I've had it with both strawberries and rhubarb. It's how I came to love rhubarb desserts.

It's been decades since I spoke Danish for any length of time. I'm rusty with the language. I've been told if I returned, I could get back into speaking it fluently. I hope that's true--I'd like to think that's true. I wasn't the best Danish-speaking missionary, but I did okay. I can say, however, that I did master this one phrase, the one thing Danes asked us Americans to say to see if we really could speak Danish without that American accent.

So, if you read this and you know me and you see me and you remember that I once wrote about my ability to say, "rød grød med fløde på," ask me to repeat it. I'll be glad to do it. Better yet, if you are brave and try and make the dessert yourself, I'll be more than happy to taste test it to see how you did. Because if you made it like the Danes do, I'm sure you'll love it, too.