Apple-Filled Brown Butter Æbleskiver

Method

1. Peel and core the apples and cut them into tiny 7 mm dice. Melt a third of the butter in a 18 cm pan, add the apples, brown sugar and the juice of half the lemon, and cook over medium heat for 5 min, until soft but still holding their shape and lightly syrupy. Spread on a plate to cool; hot filling melts the batter.

   Add in this stepFirm, tart apples 1Butter 7.5 gLight brown sugar 2 tspLemon (zest and juice) ¼

   medium heat

2. Put the rest of the butter in a small pan over medium heat and cook for 3 min, stirring, until the foam subsides, it smells nutty and brown specks form on the bottom. Pour it straight into a bowl to stop the cooking and cool for 5 minutes.

   Add in this stepButter 18 g

   medium heat

3. In a large bowl, mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, three-quarters of the cardamom, the salt and the finely grated zest of the remaining lemon.

   Add in this stepPlain (all-purpose) flour 125 gSugar 2 tspBaking powder 1 tspGround cardamom (freshly ground is best) 0.6 tspSalt 1 pinchLemon (zest and juice) ¼

4. Separate the eggs. Whisk the yolks with the buttermilk and the brown butter, specks and all, pour into the dry mix and stir just until no lumps remain. Whisk the whites to stiff peaks, fold them in gently in two additions and let the batter rest for 10 min so the baking powder can get to work.

   Add in this stepEggs 1Buttermilk 175 ml

5. Heat the æbleskive pan over medium heat for 3 min, then put ½ teaspoon of clarified butter into each hole. It doesn't burn easily, so the shells brown evenly. Add a little more before every round.

   Add in this stepClarified butter (ghee) 25 g

   medium heat

6. Turn the heat down to medium-low heat. Fill each hole two-thirds full, set 2–3 pieces of apple in the middle and cover with a teaspoon of batter. Cook for 1 min 30 sec until golden underneath, then turn a quarter at a time to shape the balls, and keep rolling for another 3 min 30 sec, until a skewer comes out clean. You'll make ≈14 · 2× (pieces · rounds).

   medium-low heat

7. Mix the icing sugar with the remaining cardamom, sift it over the warm æbleskiver and serve with raspberry jam.

   Add in this stepIcing (powdered) sugar 2 tbspGround cardamom (freshly ground is best) ¼ tspRaspberry jam 2 tbsp