In California there is a super cute town called Solvang. Located in the heart of the Santa Barbara's wine country near the Santa Ynez Mountains, the Danish Village of Solvang is 132 miles north of Los Angeles. Solvang was founded in 1911, by a group of Danes who traveled west to establish a Danish colony far from the midwestern winters. The city is home to a number of bakeries, restaurants, and merchants offering a taste of Denmark in California.
My husband and I were blessed to visit Solvang back in 2006. We went there to tour many nearby wineries that were featured in the wine cult movie Sideways.
Those arrows are for wineries. Truly a wine lovers delight!
I fell in love with a little restaurant in Solvang called "The Solvang Restaurant". Randy snapped this picture of me because each morning I couldn't wait to go there and order their Danish Aebleskiver.
I had never had a Danish Aebleskiver before. They are little round pancakes traditionally topped or filled with fruit, but you can top them or fill them with whatever you fancy. You have to have a Danish Aebleskiver pan to make them. They had them for sale at the restaurant, but I didn't get one. I was too busy spending money on wine to drop $29.95 on a pan. Then I sadly regretted not buying one for several years.
My sadness faded on a sunny day in San Diego, when a friend and I decided to go thrift shopping. Something I rarely ever do, but I was feeling adventurous. As my friend hit the dress rack, I went straight to the kitchen section. I almost fell over when I saw this Danish Aebleskiver pan!
I snatched it up immediately not even looking at the price. Remembering my regret, and knowing I was at a thrift store, I didn't really care how much it was. Thankfully I got to the checkout and it was only $4.00!!!
I was so so so excited!
So I set out to make the perfect Danish Aebleskiver... gluten-free.
These taste just as good as the traditional Danish Aebleskiver I was served in Solvang. If you are not gluten free, simply use regular all purpose flour.
A lot of times traditional Aebleskiver is stuffed with fruit, but the ones I had were only topped with a fruit syrup. I wanted it that way and decided to find a gourmet sauce to go well. Enter terra verde farms again. Their Blackberry Lavender Sauce is made from Seedless black-berries blended into a sauce with Riesling wine, ginger, and lavender. Perfect.
Gluten-free Danish Aebleskiver
adapted from The Prepared Pantry
2 cups gluten-free all purpose flour
if your flour blend doesn't have xanthan gum, add 1 tsp (only for gluten-free)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 tsp vanilla
3 large eggs
2 cups buttermilk
Mix together the flour, salt, and baking soda.
Separate the eggs, the yolks from the whites. Set the yolks aside. Beat the egg whites until light and fluffy and soft peaks form.
Add the egg yolks, vanilla, and the buttermilk to the flour mixture (and xanthan gum if needed) and stir until combined.
Gently fold the egg whites into the batter.
Your batter will look like this when done.
Grease your aebleskiver pan with organic cooking spray or with butter (spray your pan again as needed). Heat the pan over medium heat. When hot, fill each cup two-thirds full with batter. They will puff up like this:
Cook for one to one and one-half minutes before turning. (You can turn your aebleskiver with a toothpick or skewer.)
Cook for another minute or until done. Remove to a plate and sprinkle with powdered sugar.
Serve warm, topped with your favorite topping. (fruit, syrup, preserves)
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