PUFFY THINGS? If you had to quickly name a dozen items that possess notable puff, you might first turn to clouds, or a favorite pillow, or even your pup after a bath. But when it comes to puffy foods? You'll need a bit more time, as you muse about marshmallows, consider cheese puffs, and ruminate on the nature of soufflés. But if you're a regular around the Santa Ynez Valley, and you're especially sweet on the hamlet that's home to a bevy of beautiful windmills, then your puffy food pick is definitely going to be the æbleskiver. The petite and flavor-packing Danish pancake is sweetly synonymous with Solvang, and that sweetness grows if it is served with its traditional accompaniments, lingonberry jam and powdered sugar.
ARE YOU MISSING THIS PUFFY TREAT, and sojourns to Solvang? While you dream about your future return to the picturesque village, you can make your own æbleskiver at home. There are mixes you can order online, including one from Solvang Restaurant, Home Of Arne's Æbleskiver. Choose the one-pound or four-pound option, and consider ordering a traditional pan, too (they're also sold on the site). Will you give up flatter flapjacks after you've made a couple dozen? If you've ever sauntered down Copenhagen Drive, after devouring a trio of these puffed-up wonders, it is hard to return to the world of non-puffy pastries. Solvang, we miss you so, and we'll see you one day soon. To prepare for that delightful day, we'll be æbleskiver-ing up, one puffy pastry at a time, with an extra dollop of lingonberry jam to sweeten our Solvang-visiting daydreams.
