Comments on: Unitasker Wednesday: The pancake puff

By: Jill

Jill — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 04:14:54 +0000

What a silly commercial lol, I’ve seen all sorts of infomercials because I used to be hooked on watching them late at night…but not for this product, they make those pancake balls look so yummy!

By: spriteyone

spriteyone — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 02:31:07 +0000

An even odder and more entertaining way to make waffles might show up the pancake balls. I always use my George Foreman Grill….yup that’s right… just mix as directed and cook till golden brown. The non-stick surface is a dream come true and they come out fluffy and delicious.
Give it a try!

By: Jenn

Jenn — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 03:27:34 +0000

@Alexandra – you’re right, but I think the point was to show that they are not absolutely vital, and also that if you don’t need or use them, removing them from your kitchen may save space and help unclutter your home

By: Jenn

Jenn — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 03:25:53 +0000

oddly enough, that looks vaguely similar to a tool we have in our kitchen that makes a variety of Indian foods (family is Indian) so it’s somewhat of a multitasker for us…. never tried the pancake puffs in it before!!

By: sean

sean — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 16:11:52 +0000

I love my pancake puff maker. My two little ones love making these with me. I did cornbread ones last night stuffed with Jalapeno cream cheese. they turned out real good. I just bought it a week ago, and have had much fun with my little girls. Gets them into the kitchen cooking with their dad, so not a bad thing.

By: Alexandra

Alexandra — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 00:13:00 +0000

I think I might just not read your Unitasker Wednesday posts… I think I respectfully disagree with the whole point. Sometimes a tool that does only one thing is okay, such as, say, a lamp. It doesn’t hold flowers, too (at least, not usually), but it serves an important purpose. Similarly, food molds or poffertje pans serve definite purposes, even if it’s only once a year or less. I live in a very small apartment myself (about 400 sq ft, me, husband, two cats, and a lot of books) and we’re very much aware of clutter. But sometimes just the basics aren’t enough to make existence feel like life.

Just my thoughts.

By: maria silva

maria silva — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 18:42:17 +0000

Hey since i have this greate pan i have made my oun littel cake store. Every body loves it I have made lots with this crazy pan to bad for thoes that dont like it.

By: Erika

Erika — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 20:17:09 +0000

I never saw the commercials, but I have seen this before. Unfortunatly it was in person, when my husband unwrapped this gift from my mother-in-law. Gee thanks!

By: Stacy

Stacy — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 09:26:31 +0000

Great! Now I want an aebelskiver pan! haha. No, seriously I will eat any fried puffy dough (sans octopus, yuk) you put in front of me. I smell a trip to Denmark coming.

By: Laura

Laura — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 21:53:41 +0000

My five year old desparately wants this – the ad is on pbs sprouts every 10″ or so. I haven’t figured out how to talk to her about clutter, consumerism and taking care of our planet in an age-appropriate way, so I always say, yes that would be fun. my comments to myself aren’t as nice.

By: Sophia

Sophia — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 00:20:46 +0000

It looks like a takoyaki maker to me, lol!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Takoyaki

By: Jenn

Jenn — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 18:22:57 +0000

Years ago, some Danish friends made these for us and we were hooked. We use our aebelskiver pan a couple of times a month at least and my children love making these with me. I don’t know why you’d need any of that other stuff — I use two forks to turn them.

By: verily

verily — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 17:56:33 +0000

Never had a pan like an aebleskiver, but I doubt I’d use it anyway. Wouldn’t a muffin pan do the same job, but less…round?

By: Bethany

Bethany — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 16:26:47 +0000

What’s with all the kitchen unitaskers? Clearly, there are many kitchen unitaskers, but what about other types of items?

By: esteele

esteele — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 15:59:52 +0000

I inherited my aebleskiver pan as well. Gah! Now that’s all I can think of… I’ll have to pick up some apple butter on the way home and whip up a batch of these tonight.

By: chef

chef — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 11:06:58 +0000

Pshaw – I can see this being used as a takoyaki grill or fritter maker as well as pancake or donut balls. As for the addon stuff, the handle thing is dumb, as are the “flippin’ sticks”. I wouldn’t class everything else as a unitasker though.

By: ah

ah — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 03:07:49 +0000

Carolyn,

“Dutch” in that case is probably “Deutsch,” which means German before being anglicized. As in the Pennsylvania Dutch who were (IIRC from high school history) American immigrants from German

By: Carolyn

Carolyn — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 00:29:50 +0000

Ah! Thanks, Anna. I’m part Danish in ancestry (great-grandparents came over from Denmark) so I’m interested in that stuff. I’ve been there, but never lived there.

I’m just going to add to the pancake factoids:
The Dutch regular pancakes are eggier than American ones, and sometimes they cook the bacon right in (pannekoeken met spek). And their syrup is molasses-like sugar syrup (after all, not a lot of sugar maples in the Netherlands).
Bill Clinton had poffertjes with whipped cream and strawberries in a restaurant in Delft when he visited. It is proudly noted on the menu there. Mostly, though, you just eat them with powdered sugar and some butter.
You can just buy packs of pre-made poffertjes at the grocery stores in the Netherlands. But they also sell a box of mix for it, so I reckon some people keep the pans around.

Also, those “Dutch Baby” giant puffy things? Not Dutch. German or something.

By: Anna

Anna — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 23:30:49 +0000

I was suprised to see so many people have aebelskiver pans! While mine only gets trotted out once a year, it’s a Christmas tradition I cherish, as well as an heirloom from my grandmother.

Carolyn, I do think aebelskivers once usually had apples in them (that’s what “aebel” is for). However, when I lived in Denmark, I never met anyone who used apples and my family recipe doesn’t either. Just pancake batter, with whipped egg whites and lemon extract.

By: John of Indiana

John of Indiana — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 22:51:25 +0000

“But wait, there’s MORE!!!”

I wonder if you could poach eggs in it, too?