We be Jammin’ – the Vegan Aebleskiver Edition

It’s very late on a Somer Saturday and sometimes life gives you strawberries instead of lemons. In those times, one must make freezer jam.

I have always used a low sugar pectin recipe in the past, and had no idea I could make freezer jam without sugar. Now I knew that some people made it using Splenda, but why on earth would I want to make jam out of something that is scientifically formulated by combining chlorine bleach particles with sugar particles? Ew!

Then one day Jinji over at jinjisfoodlove.wordpress.com set me straight. She told me freezer jam could indeed be made without sugar and that she has had success making it with just apple juice?!? Intriguing you say? Well I thought it was a fantastic idea.

I couldn’t immediately locate the pectin she directed me to use, so I had to improvise. I also wasn’t brave enough to use apple juice in its un-concentrated form, mostly because I didn’t have the said ‘magic’ pectin and was horribly afraid of  set failures. Now I understand that apple juice concentrate is just sugar in another form, but it’s significantly less sugar then I have used in previous recipes, and that makes me happy!

Apple Juice Sweetened Strawberry Freezer Jam

1 2/3 C. Mashed Strawberries

2/3 C. Apple Juice Concentrate

2-3 T. Ball Real Fruit Pectin

Combine above ingredients in a bowl and stir for a couple of minutes until pectin is completely dissolved. I used 3 T. of pectin because I like a firm set jam, but 2 would also work nicely.

I made several batches (making a bigger batch all at once can cause set failures with this particular pectin). They all turned out fabulous.

As luck would have it, Erika brought me some of the magic Pamona’s Pectin from Whole Foods, so I shall let you know how I like it when I next make jam. Amanda has all ready used it and was able to make a quadruple batch of strawberry freezer jam with 2 1/2 c of honey to 16 cups of mashed berries. A girl after my own heart. Can you tell we really love freezer jam?

Now when you have lots of strawberry freezer jam, you must make Aebleskivers (Danish pancake balls).

When I was a teenager, I visited Solvang California while on vacation with my family. We ate Aebleskivers at a restaurant there and we haven’t been able to stop eating them since. They have become a Holiday or special occasion breakfast tradition. They take a little practice to learn to make properly and in my previous omnivore life, I was quite the little aebleskiver maker. Sadly, when I went plant-based, I thought that I would never eat another aebleskiver again. They rely on white flour, egg whites beaten stiff, melted butter and buttermilk for their fluffy tenderness. I thought they couldn’t be veganized. Thankfully, I thought wrong. That darling restaurant in Solvang gave my mom their aebleskiver recipe (sorry, don’t know how to give them proper credit, It’s been too many years and a Google search reveals there are many little such restaurants in Solvang). I have a copy of it in my heavily abused used family cookbook, it just needed a little modification 😉 Note to self: these are a special treat, and because they use oil and earth balance, remember not to make them every day or Dr. Esselstyn won’t be your friend anymore.

Vegan Aebleskivers

2 C. plain soymilk + 4 T. lemon juice, mixed and set aside (vegan buttermilk)

2 c. white whole wheat flour or whole wheat pastry flour. I processed the measured flour in my blendtec for a minute or so to get it as fine as possible to mimic the tenderness of white flour

3 t. enerG egg replacer mixed with 4 T. water

2 t. baking powder

1/2 t. baking soda

1/2 t. salt

2 T. pure maple syrup

4 T. Earth Balance, melted

1 T. vanilla

vegetable oil of your choice for aebleskiver pan

Method: preheat aebleskiver pan over medium heat before mixing all ingredients, if it’s not hot, your aebleskivers will be  a disaster. In a large bowl, combine all the dry ingredients with a wire whisk. Add the wet ingredients and stir just until combined.  Put 1/2 t. vegetable oil in the bottom of each aebleskiver pan cup. Pour 2 T. (I use an 1/8 cup measuring cup) of batter into each cup.

After about 30 seconds, Turn the aebleskiver halfway out of the cup using a knitting needle, crochet hook or chopstick. The batter will pour out of the cooked portion and start to form a ball. Cook 30 more seconds and turn another quarter turn. Cook 30 more seconds. The final turn should have the cooked side facing entirely out and the batter forming the last bit of the ball in the bottom of the cup. Place cooked aebleskivers in a warm oven to keep them crisp while cooking the next batch, you will need to add more oil to each cup in between batches to keep the batter from sticking. Split open and serve hot with a dab of earth balance (if you must) strawberry freezer jam and a sprinkling of powdered sugar. Laugh at guests who ask for maple syrup.

 Try not to eat the whole batch by yourself