ebelskivers

one of my favorite things to make for a "fancy" breakfast are ebelskivers,  light, puffy pancakes filled with jam, curd, fruit or cheese. i bought this cool pan about a year and a half ago and we use it all the time!

we LOVE the lemon-mascarpone filled pancakes!  the pancakes contain a creamy filling of sweet-tart meyer lemon curd blended with mascarpone, a soft fresh italian cheese made from cream.

here's how you can make your own!  recipe adapted from williams-sonoma.

in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the flat beater, beat together the 1/4 cup mascarpone cheese and 1/4 cup meyer lemon curd (surprise, surprise...! we buy ours at trader joe's and it is DELICIOUS!!!) until fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes.  cover the filling and refrigerate until ready to use.

in a bowl, whisk together 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, 3/4 teaspoon baking soda, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1 1/2 tablespoons granulated sugar, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and the zest of 1/2 a lemon.  in a small bowl, lightly whisk 3 egg yolks, then whisk in 1 3/4 cups buttermilk.  whisk the yolk mixture into the flour mixture until well combined; the batter will be lumpy.

in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat 3 egg whites on high speed until stiff but not dry peaks form, 2 to 3 minutes. Using a rubber spatula, gently stir the egg whites into the batter in 2 additions.

put 1/2 tsp. butter in each well of a filled-pancake pan.  set over medium heat and heat until the butter begins to bubble.  pour 1 Tbs. batter into each well.  put 1/2 tsp. lemon-mascarpone filling into the center of each pancake and top with 1 Tbs. batter.  cook until the bottoms are golden and crispy, 3 to 5 minutes.  using 2 skewers, flip the pancakes over and cook until golden and crispy, about 3 minutes more.  transfer the pancakes to a plate.  repeat with the remaining batter.

dust the pancakes with confectioners' sugar and serve warm.  makes about 40.

but i also want to try this recipe soon for jalapeno-cheddar corn cakes!  YUM!