Pumpkin Pie Ebelskivers filled with Vanilla Whipped Cream Cheese

Just in time for the decadent food-laden Thanksgiving Holiday, here you have a delicious recipe for Pumpkin Pie Ebelskivers filled with Vanilla Whipped Cream Cheese. “Ebelskivers?” you may ask. Ebelskivers are round pancakes which originated in Denmark and are perfect for breakfast, appetizers or snacks. You will of coarse need one special piece of equipment to make these goodies-namely the Ebelskiver Pan. My husband received one for his birthday a couple of years ago. The ebelskiver turners, long, carved wooden sticks, are great to have, but you could possibly get by with chopsticks, wooden skewers or even knitting needles in a pinch.

Ebelskivers are incredibly versatile. The batter can be savory or sweet and the sky is the limit as far as what you would like to stuff inside the little guys. I have made Nutella & Banana filled Peanut Butter Ebelskivers as well as Cadbury Egg Stuffed Easter Ebelskivers in the past. For Thanksgiving, I wanted to work pumpkin into the mix so I made a pumpkin / graham cracker batter (for those of you in Ireland and the UK you could substitute digestive biscuit crumbs for the graham cracker crumbs if graham crackers are difficult to come by) and decided to stuff each wonderful morsel with a dollop of vanilla whipped cream cheese.

But I wasn’t finished there. Oh no. Then I dusted confectioners’ sugar over the tops of these gorgeous stuffed pancakes. The results were wonderful, a sweet pumpkiny taste followed by the soft, creamy tangy cream cheese filling. Mmmmm….Perfection!

If you didn’t want to bother stuffing the ebelskivers with the cream cheese mixture, you could add a bit of superfine sugar to the cream cheese vanilla mixture and maybe thin it down a bit with some milk and then drizzle it over the top of the ebelskivers as a frosting. I dare say, maple syrup would also be quite tasty over these little gems. Surprize folks over the Thanksgiving holiday with this tasty treat!

Pumpkin Pie Ebelskivers filled with Vanilla Whipped Cream Cheese

Yield: 20 Ebelskivers

Ingredients:

For the pancakes:

• 1/2 Cup ( 1 1/2 oz./45 g) Graham cracker crumbs
• 1/4 Cup ( 1 1/2 oz/45 g) All-purpose flour
• 1/4 Cup ( 2 oz/60 g) firmly packed light brown sugar
• 1 Tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 large eggs, separated
• 1 can (14 oz/440g) sweetened condensed milk
• 3 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted  and slightly cooled
• 1 can ( 15 oz/470g) pumpkin purée
• Confectioners’ sugar for dusting

For the filling:

• 1 Cup whipped cream cheese
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 200°F (95°C).

In a large bowl, whisk together the graham cracker crumbs, flour, brown sugar, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder, and salt.

In a small bowl, lightly whisk the egg yolks, then whisk in the condensed milk and 2 tablespoons of the melted butter. Add the yolk mixture to the flour mixture and , using a wooden spoon, stir until well blended. The batter will be lumpy.

In a clean bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff, but not dry, peaks form. Fold the egg whites into the batter alternately with the pumpkin purée in 2 additions, just until well blended and no white streaks remain.

In a separate bowl, mix the whipped cream cheese and the vanilla extract together until well blended.

Brush the wells of the ebelskiver pan with some of the melted butter and place over medium heat. When the butter starts to bubble, add 1 tablespoons batter to each well.

Spoon about 1/2 teaspoon of cream cheese mixture into center of each ebelskiver.

Add 1 Tablespoon of the batter to each well, covering the dollop of cream cheese completely.

Cook until the bottoms of the pancakes are lightly browned and crisp, 3-5 minutes. Use 2 short wooden skewers to turn all the pancakes and cook until lightly browned on the other side, about 3 minutes longer.

Transfer the finished pancakes to a platter and keep warm in the oven while you repeat to make 2 more batches. Dust the warm ebelskivers with confectioners’ sugar and serve right away.

Recipe from “Ebelskivers” by Kevin Crafts