Pumpkin Filled Pancakes

This ebelskiver pan from Williams-Sonoma has been on every bridal registry I've seen lately. And no wonder, the catalog makes it look like whipping up a batch of these on a weekend morning would not only be impressive, but would also be loads of fun. And nothing could be further from the truth. Most newlyweds should be working on their regular pancake and waffle skills before taking on these extremely labor intensive, finger-burning pieces of work.

But I knew that going in - I've had the pan for several years. This recipe for pecan pumpkin filled pancakes is typical of the recipes they recommend for the pan. They also do a little self promoting and use their own pecan pumpkin butter. I just mixed plain canned pumpkin, 2 tablespoons sugar and a little cinnamon with the cream cheese.

The last two paragraphs in their directions are for making the actual pancakes, having you tilt each pancake twice. My batter was not runny enough to do any tilting, so I used this method and had pretty good luck with it. I sprayed the pan with nonstick spray instead of 1/2 tsp of butter per pancake as recommend. Fill the cups 3/4 full, go back to the first one and start adding 1 tsp of filling, again return to the first one and add 1 tsp of batter to cover the filling. Let this cook until the bottoms are browned. Using either wooden skewers or the special wooden sticks they sell for this purpose turn the pancakes over and let the top cook until browned. Turning is not as easy as it sounds and there are probably a lot of burned fingers out there to prove it. If you haven't thrown the pan away in a fit of frustration, you will probably get into a rhythm and be done in about 1/2 an hour.

Speaking of burning - these pancakes are usually filled with some type of fruit filling and are really hot inside. They can't be served immediately, especially to children. I hope I haven't completely discouraged you from making these because they really are good. Just leave plenty of time to make them before serving, and if you are having guests, I would recommend a trial run first.

Andrew, Karen and I all loved them and ate a lot of them for breakfast. I also enjoyed them as a snack.