Austrian

Kaiserschmarrn

6/29/2018 05:18:00 PM

Kaiserschmarrn! These are pillowy-light Austrian pancakes, broken into bite-sized pieces, with lots of addictive little crunchy bits. I love them under a thick and snowy blanket of icing sugar and with some luscious sour cherries on the side.

Kaiserschmarrn

Those of you who have been following this blog for a long time may remember I've made Kaiserschmarrn before, eight years ago! It was high time I remade them, and when a lazy Sunday with no plans popped up, I jumped at the opportunity. I also thought it would be a good opportunity to re-photograph them and blog the recipe! Sandra bought me a new lens for my birthday this year - a Canon 24-70ml f/4, and I am LOVING it! It's really inspiring me to lift my food photography game. And if pancakes are involved, so much the better.

One reason (of many) that I love these pancakes is that they're made with store cupboard ingredients - eggs, salt, flour, milk, vanilla and icing sugar. Sour cherries are a store cupboard staple in my house; but you can serve these plain too. (Other options: chuck some raisins into the batter and/or serve with apple sauce).

It's a very eggy batter (four eggs to 100 grams of flour and 200 millilitres of milk!), and becomes almost ethereally light because you whip the egg whites separately and fold them into the batter. As I was cooking these, it struck me that the batter is quite similar to those vertiginous Japanese soufflé pancakes that are all over the internet.

Fluffy fluffy dough

However, there's a lot less pressure when making Kaiserschmarrn - they're not meant to be perfect round pancakes, but a big pile of messy pancake pieces! Once the bottom is golden brown and sealed, you cut it into four pieces with an egg flip and flip them one at a time. (The top of the pancake won't be cooked yet but that's ok).

One quarter at a time

Flipped!

Once they're flipped and the other side is golden brown, you break them into bite sized pieces, and stir around until cooked through. (It doesn't matter if you accidentally spread some raw batter around while cutting and flipping; they'll cook while you're stir-frying the little pancake pieces around.)

Kaiserschmarrn!

Tip them into a serving dish, blanket with icing sugar and dig in!

Kaiserschmarrn

I had these for Sunday breakfast with a nice pot of coffee on the side. They'd also make a great dessert.

Kaiserschmarrn

I'm a big fan of any dough-based dessert - pancakes, waffles, Yorkshire puddings, that sort of thing - so these are right up my alley. They have a wonderful fragrance from the vanilla and are just so moreish!

Kaiserschmarrn

I adapted and translated the recipe from Dr. Oetker's Schul Koch Buch, an old-fashioned, iconic German cookbook that's been around (in various verisons) for over 100 years. It's a good resource for classic dishes from Germany and the German-speaking countries.

I hope you enjoy these Kaiserschmarrn as much as I do!


Kaiserschmarrn
Recipe adapted from Dr. Oetker's Schul Koch Buch

Ingredients
4 eggs
1 pinch salt
100 grams flour
200 millilitres milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract (or 1 packet vanilla sugar)
Butter for frying (approx. 2-3 tablespoons in total)
Icing sugar and jarred sour cherries, to serve

Method
Separate the eggs. In a clean bowl, whisk the egg whites with a pinch of salt until they form stiff peaks. Set aside.
Place the flour in a mixing bowl and make a well in the centre. Add the egg yolks to the well and whisk, incorporating the flour as you go. Slowly pour in the milk and keep whisking to form a smooth batter. Whisk in the vanilla.
Gently fold in the egg whites in two batches.
Melt a tablespoon of butter in a non-stick 28-cm frying pan over a medium heat. (You may need a little more butter; you need enough to coat the base of the pan). Spoon in half the batter and spread evenly across the base. Allow to cook for 5 or so minutes, or until the bottom is sealed and light golden brown. (You can lift up the corners with an egg-flip to check). Cut the pancake into quarters, and flip each quarter over. Cook for 2-3 minutes or so, until the bottom is sealed and light golden brown. Cut the pancake into small bite sized pieces, and keep cooking and stirring until golden brown all over and no pockets of raw dough remain. Remove the pieces to a plate and cover with foil or keep warm in a low oven.
Melt another tablespoon of butter in the pan and cook the rest of the batter in the same way.
Dust thickly with icing sugar and serve with sour cherries
Serves 2-3

Have you made this recipe? Leave a comment below! Tag me on Instagram @sarahcooksblog and hashtag #sarahcooksblog

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2 comments

  1. Ooh I know these! I had them in Austria and you're right, they're great because you can whip them up any time. I try and keep sour cherries as much as possible but I love them so I tend to eat them all lol.

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    Replies
    1. Haha sour cherries are totally addictive aren't they!

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