Cherry-Almond Ebelskivers

I know I said that when I won this pan I wouldn't relegate it to the back of the cupboard. But it's only been a year. And I have way more gadgets collecting dust for a much longer length of time. Trust me, a year is nothing in Moogie time.

Actually if it wasn't for my darling daughter buying me this book, the ebelskiver pan probably wouldn't have seen the light of day for some time. But the book came with a stipulation that I had to make something special for Pap. I could easily have picked out what I damn well pleased and just told him to eat it and quite complaining. But I was the "Good Wife" last night and gave him the cookbook and told him to pick out whatever he wanted.

The combination of almond extract and ground almonds lends deep notes of nutty flavor and crunch texture to these pancakes. And the thick juicy cherries created pure perfection.

Ingredients for batter:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 & 1/2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs, separated
1 cup whole milk
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
1/2 teaspoon almond extract

Directions:
1. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. In a small bowl, lightly whisk the egg yolks, then whisk in the milk, melted butter, and almond extract. Add the yolk mixture to the flour mixture and , using a wooden spoon, stir until well blended. The batter will be lumpy.

2. In a clean bowl, using an electric mixer on high speed, beat the egg whites until stiff, but not dry, peaks form. Using a rubber spatula, fold about one-third the egg whites into the batter to lighten it, then fold in the rest just until no white streaks remain. Use the batter right away.

Ingredients:
1 cup slivered blanched almonds
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
1/2 cup good-quality cherry preserves

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees. In a dry frying pan over medium heat, toast the almonds, stirring often, until lightly browned and fragrant, about 3 minutes. Transfer the nuts to a food processor, let cool slightly, and pulse just until coarse crumbs form. Be careful not to overprocess or the nuts will get buttery. Make the batter as directed, adding half of the ground almonds with the dry ingredients.

2. Brush the wells of the ebelskiver pan with some of the melted butter and place over medium heat. Divide the remaining ground almonds into 3 equal portions. Working with 1 portion, sprinkle half of the nuts evenly over the bottom and sides of the buttered wells. When the butter start to bubble, add about 1 tablespoon batter to each well. Working quickly, carefully spoon about 1 teaspoon of the cherry preserves into the center of each pancake. Top each with another 1 tablespoon batter. Sprinkle the tops with the remaining half-portion of ground nuts, dividing evenly.

3. Cook until the bottom of the pancakes are lightly crowned and crisp, 3-5 minutes. Use 2 short wooden skewers to turn all the pancakes and cook until lightly brown don the second side, about 3 minutes longer.

4. Transfer the finished pancakes to a platter and keep warm in the oven while you repeat to make 2 more batches. Serve warm.

5. Makes 21 pancakes.