Steve Lamberty is sure this recipe is one his maternal grandfather's family used to make, and wanted to share it with us.
Although this dish is mentioned in one of our older newsletters (Newsletter 127), this month's entry has step-by-step photos, along with different fruit options (plum compote, apple sauce, and carmelized plum and cranberry sauce). The original recipe can be found on Aleksandra's foodie website Everyday Delicious at this link.
Kaiserschmarrn is one of the most popular Austrian recipes. It’s a large thick pancake that is torn into bite-sized pieces. It’s traditionally served with plum compote or apple sauce. This delicate and fluffy shredded pancake is packed with rum-soaked raisins and sprinkled with powdered sugar.
(suggested by Steve Lamberty)
- 4 eggs
- 1 cup (240g) milk
- 1/4 cup (50g) sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 cup + 3 tablespoons (150g) flour, spooned and leveled, not scooped
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 1/4 cup (35g) raisins
- 1 tablespoon rum or lemon juice
- In a small bowl, combine the raisins and rum (or lemon juice). Set aside for the time of preparing the remaining ingredients or 30 minutes if you have time.
- Melt the butter (4 tablespoons) in a large (10-11 inch or 27 cm) non-stick pan (you will need a tight-fitting lid for this pan or a piece of aluminium foil). 2 tablespoons will be needed for the batter and 2 tablespoons will be needed to cook the pancake.
- Separate the eggs into egg yolks and egg whites. Add the egg whites into a clean metal/glass bowl and set aside.
- In another large bowl, whisk together the egg yolks with milk, sugar, vanilla, 2 tablespoons melted butter (the remaining butter stays in the pan) and drained raisins (without rum/lemon juice).
- Add the flour, whisk gently until just combined (small lumps in the batter are fine).
- Whisk the egg whites with a pinch of salt until stiff peaks form.
- Fold gently the whipped egg whites into the batter using a silicone spatula.
- Heat the butter in the pan, when it bubbles pour in the pancake batter.
- Cover the pan with a lid (important, if you don‘t have a lid, then cover the pan tightly with aluminum foil or with a big sheet pan).
- Cook for about 10 minutes over low heat (the heat should be low but not so low that the pancake is barely cooking – it will end up dense and greasy). After this time, the bottom of the pancake should be set and golden, but the top will be still a little runny. (This time can vary depending on your stovetop settings, lift the bottom of the pancake with a silicone spatula to check if the bottom is not burning).
- Now you need to flip the pancake over. The easiest way to do this is to divide the batter into 4 parts. Flip over each piece separately using a large flat spatula. (If it doesn‘t look nice and even, don‘t worry, the whole pancake will end up shredded anyway).
- Cook on the other side for about 2 minutes. Using a spatula, tear the pancake into bite-sized pieces.
- Cook them for a couple more minutes, stirring gently until all the batter is set.
- Transfer shredded pancake to a plate. You can sprinkle it with powdered sugar.
- You can also add zest of 1 lemon to the batter.
- If you don't have a large non-stick pan with a tight-fitting lid, you can use any oven-safe pan that you have and finish your pancake in the oven instead of on the stovetop.
- If you only have a small pan, not large, divide the batter into two parts and cook it in two batches or cook the whole batch in the oven (see original recipe).
- You can serve Kaiserschmarrn with apple sauce, plum jam, plum compote, or caramelized plum and fresh cranberry sauce. The recipes for plum compote and caramelized plum sauce can be found in the post above.
- How to measure flour: Fluff the flour by stirring it in the bag/flour container with a spoon. Spoon the flour and sprinkle it into your measuring cup. Sweep off the excess flour with the back of a knife. Use a digital scale for best and consistent results.
- 1 serving (1/3 of the recipe)