It's not what you would call your typical church food for a fundraiser, but it filled up a Albert Lea church mighty quickly during the late afternoon this past Sunday.
It's pancake-like brown exterior and round appearance make people wonder how they are made - but those with the 'skiver' pans of cast iron know it takes a little practice. And once cooked and ready to serve, the lightness of the cake makes everyone eat at least four. Despite a 65-degree day outside the parking lot as full of hungry customers.
Aebleskivers may be a Danish food tradition, but it is also the oddest looking food I've ate in awhile! In Denmark, it is also called 'appleskives' and are traditional Danish pancakes in a distinctive shape of of a sphere. They are similar is texture to American pancakes crossed with a popover, and are light and fluffy.
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| Jack Waltman cleared the tables. |
Most people can't spell it and never heard of it, but for 27 years Ascension Lutheran Church has served up thousands of them. There were plenty of help, food and friends Sunday, April 6 at the Albert Lea church. Many treasured the coatless day outside, as well as the idea of many delicious round apple-skivers.
The new experience prompted me to watch and ask how you eat them, but there were plenty of choices on the tables with grape jelly, powdered sugar, brown sugar, butter, syrup, applesauce. Even though it was served in late afternoon, my new-found sources told me it's likely to be eaten at breakfast time, but the almost 300 people that showed up didn't blink an eyelash to a 'supper' of aebleskivers.When you go through the serving line, the heated roaster holds probably 50 aebelskivers, and you're asked how many you want. "What's customary?" I ask. "I'll start you off at four, but you can always get more where they came from." They weren't kidding - a look in the kitchen showed six people mixing, and six cooking them up!
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| Stan Jensen mans the cashier table. |
Add a slice of ham, applesauce, orange slices, the aebleskiver dinner was on. I wasn't alone at my table of what to eat them with, so I tried everything. I had six and although that sounds like a lot of three-inch diameter pastries, they were very light. At $6.50 a plate at the all-you-can-eat, it was a great meal at a great price with great company to visit with. At first I wanted to pick it up and eat it like an apple, then it crossed my mind to cut it in half and dunk it, but then I watched those around me and just added toppings - it looked like I knew what I was doing at least!
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Anna Waltman and Tammy Krowiorz turnaebleskivers.
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Ken Jensen was a pro at eating these things. " My daughter lives in San Diego and my wife, Bonnie, taught her how to make them," he said. "Now the in-laws love 'em out there." Ken's no piker, he remembered eating 49 aebleskivers when he was a youth - I heard the record was 53 at the church. Sounds like a bellyache to me!
Jan Hickman, Marilyn Danielson and Staci Waltman chair the event, which has been a highlight of the church schedule for almost three decades. "We make them with waffle batter, but whip the egg whites before we add it to the batter." They go through 22 quarts of buttermilk and it takes a quart and three eggs for each batch.
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Staci Waltman, Jan Hickman and Marilyn Danielsonchair the aebleskiver event
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The average person eats six aebelskivers, but there are hardier people than that in attendance. A guestimate of how many are made tops 1,500, and there aren't many left at the end of the day. When asked how many they ate, Jan and Marilyn chuckled and look at each other, "We don't know, we usually eat the mistakes!" We figured over 27 years over 250,000 skivers have been downed the hatch. Any leftovers after the supper were divided amongst the hard workers! Takeouts numbered six.
Marilyn makes the two gallons of syrup sitting on the tables with 20 pounds of sugar. And although over 50 people volunteer on the day of all ages, the kitchen is an organized work place with those who like the duty they are given, even though some have to work their way up the ranks to make the aebleskivers. Even the exchange student from Norway is busy serving up tasty morsels.
Anna Waltman is a 17-year-old high school student who is an old hand at making the round treats. "I just fill the (aebleskiver) pan with a little oil and batter, and from there you just check to see when it's time to rotate them." The art is in the rotation, as you rotate it 90 degrees after one side is cooked, then rotate it a couple more times - that's how it gets it roundness. Anna uses a bamboo skewer stick to turn the cakes. It's her second year making them, but Grandma Marilyn will cook them a couple times a year for the family. Her co-worker at their stove was Tammy Krowiorz. It gets a little warm working at the stove, but it's hard to pry the aebleskiver experts from their perch! It's an art, believe me.
Stan Jensen (with an 'e' at the end, which proud Danes make sure you know) works the cashier table for those entering. He's worked at every aebleskiver dinner, but because he was in the banking profession, found himself as expert money handler in recent years. "I worked at all capacities over the years," he said "and enjoyed every one of them."
This year's dinner is in honor of Jan's mom, Erma Petersen, and Erma Lovisen, who had a hand in starting the yearly supper three decades ago and worked until recently. The money raised goes to youth scholarships, Bible camp scholarships, but this year some money will buy banners for the church.
Ascension celebrated it's 50th anniversary last fall and Pastor Mark Borsma leads the church and has so for six years. IT's a vibrant church, which was evident as within 15 minutes of the 4 p.m. start, there were 50 people already eating their favorite aebleskiver - OK, eating many of their favorite aebleskiver. Another special dinner cooked by great people of the Lord!
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