Poffertjes

Last week Cora emailed me that she has a abelskiver pan and asked me to share my favorite recipe. Abelskiver are traditional Danish pancakes in a distinctive shape of a sphere, but here in The Netherlands we have something similar called Poffertjes.

Poffertjes look like fluffy pancake pillows, they are often made with a raising agent and the batter is usually of a more runny consistency. In contrast with pancakes, poffertjes are small yet much thicker and have a light, spongey texture. Typically, poffertjes are served with confectioners sugar and butter.

Poffertjes are another great Dutch treat that I've been eating my whole live but never actually made from scratch. I mean, why should I when supermarkets sell mixes and I only have to add eggs and milk? And when I'm feeling really lazy I just buy a package of Poffertjes that have already been baked and I only have to pop them in a microwave for a minute or two!

Poffertjes are not hard to prepare but a special pan is needed. This is a special cast-iron or copper pan also available in aluminium with teflon-coating with several shallow indentations in the bottom.

So ofcourse I wanted to send Cora a yummy recipe to try, but in order to do that I had to testdrive the recipe myself first!!! Basically what I found out is that there are two ways to make Poffertjes: with yeast (like in this recipe at Smulweb, beware: it's in Dutch!! If you need translation, feel free to contact me!) or without yeast (like in this recipe from Gel's Kitchen), those without being quicker to make but some would say not as nice to eat.. I tried an adaptation of both of these recipes today and did a side-by-side comparison with my mom and dad. All three of us actually preffered the taste of the second recipe, another bonus point was that it was quicker to prepare!

Poffertjes - serving 4 persons

250 gram self-raising flour
1 large egg
400 ml milk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
a pinch of salt
melted butter for brushing the pan

Preheat the oven to 100 degrees Celsius / 212 degrees Fahrenheit.

Sift flour in a large bowl.

Combine milk, eggs and vanilla extract in a bowl an mix lightly. Add the wet mixture to the flour and beat well for 3-5 minutes until the batter is light and fluffy. Cover and leave batter for an hour (I skipped this step and went straight on to using the batter).

Pour batter into a squeeze bottle. Place Poffertjespan on the cooker at medium heat. Brush the pan with a liberal dose of the melted butter. When the butter is hot, squeeze the batter into each hole, filling it just below the rim. When bubbles start appearing in the batter after 2-3 minutes (and the top looks like in the picture above) flip over each poffertje gently in its hole with a small fork or a butter knife. Cook this side for 2-3 minutes and slide the Poffertjes onto an ovensafe plate. Place the plate into the oven to keep the Poffertjes warm while you're baking the rest.

Serve the Poffertjes in the original Dutch way with knobs of butter and confectioners sugar. Poffertjes are also nice with strawberries, ice cream, nuts or whipped cream. Another great way to serve the poffertjes is with a little bit of coarse sugar sprinkled over them, topped with freshly squeezed lemon juice.

Please also check out my last post on online dating and a recipe for Dulce de Leche Coffee! I've tried out a more personal approach to blogging and would love to hear what you think: too much info??? Or would you like more posts like that?