Susan Jung's recipes for Danish pancakes and waffles

These recipes use the same ingredients (although in varying proportions) and similar mixing methods but result in two very different dishes. The first recipe is for ball-shaped 'pancakes', which are fairly unknown outside Denmark and communities with large Danish populations (such as Solvang, California, where I first tasted them); the second is for a treat that seems to be universally loved.

Aebleskivers (pictured)

To make these, you need a special pan with half-sphere indentations. I've never seen an aebleskiver pan in Hong Kong so I use an inexpensive cast-iron pan made for takoyaki - Japanese octopus balls; they are cooked in a similar way to aebleskivers, although takoyaki are slightly smaller. You can buy the pan at shops specialising in Japanese household products, such as Apita in Taikoo Shing and Sogo in Causeway Bay.

The cooking technique described below sounds much more difficult than it is; while your first attempts might not yield perfectly round balls (although the aebleskivers will still be edible) they will improve quickly with practice. It might take a little time to figure out how your stovetop heats the pan - on mine, the batter browns much more quickly in the centre indentations, so once the aebleskivers become firm, I move the ones in the middle to the outside indentations and vice versa so they all brown and cook evenly.

This recipe is based on one from the eGullet website.

250 grams plain (all-purpose) flour 1/2tsp ground cardamom (optional) 25 grams sugar 1/2tsp fine sea salt 3 large eggs, at room temperature 450ml whole milk 8 grams dry yeast 30 grams unsalted butter, melted and cooled to lukewarm Cooking oil, for greasing the pan Icing sugar, for dusting Fruit preserves, for serving (I use strawberry or raspberry jam)