Kaiserschmarrn - Light and Fluffy Shredded Pancake
Kaiserschmarrn (emperor's mess), a fluffy, torn-up giant pancake is a staple in Austria. This is an Austrian family recipe that we would eat for lunch (main) or dessert. It's is a very detailed recipe because I want you to get a perfect result. This version is baked in the oven for 10 minutes for easy handling. Kaiserschmarrn is easy to make and only needs a few simple ingredients, so please don’t get scared off by my lengthy instructions :-)
Yield: 2 mains or 4 desserts
Ingredients
Kaiserschmarrn:
- 4 large eggs, separated
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar (1 to 3 tablespoons sugar are fine, depending on how sweet you like it)
- 1/2 cup + 1/3 cup milk (200 ml)
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract (or 1 teaspoon vanilla sugar)
- 1 cup all purpose flour (4.5 oz / 125 g)
- Optional: 2 tablespoons raisins (soaked in brown rum)
- 1 tablespoon neutral-tasting oil, clarified butter (ghee), or unsalted butter for frying
To serve:
- Powdered sugar for dusting
- To serve: plum compote (or any compote or fresh fruits)*
In addition:
- Ovenproof large frying pan (10-inch or larger)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 °F (200 °C), top and bottom heat. If using a fan-oven, reduce temperature to 355 °F (180 °C).
- Beat the egg whites with salt and 1 tablespoon sugar until soft-to-firm peaks form. Do not beat until stiff since this will make it harder to fold in stiff beaten egg whites later.
- With a hand whisk, whisk together egg yolks, about half of the milk (1/2 cup), vanilla, and 1 tablespoon sugar.
- Stir in flour until you get a smooth batter. Just now, add the rest of the milk. It is much easier to avoid lumps, if the batter is pretty thick.
- Using the hand whisk, add about one third of the beaten egg whites and stir them in, to lighten the batter. Then, carefully fold in the rest of the beaten egg whites, try to keep the volume.
- Heat oil or clarified butter over medium heat in a large frying pan (at least 10 inch Ø, with ovenproof handle) on the stove-top. If you are using butter, make sure not to overheat it. We want hot but not browned butter. Pour the batter into the hot pan, spread evenly, and bake for about 1 minute. If using raisins, scatter them over the batter.
- Transfer the pan to the preheated oven, middle rack, and let it bake until puffy and golden on top, for about 10-12 minutes. Note: This time depends very much on your oven and the temperature you used to pre-bake this giant pancake on the stove-top. If the top of the Kaiserschmarrn is still pale after 15 minutes in the oven, check the bottom of the batter with a spatula to make sure it doesn’t get too brown or even scorched. You can always flip the pancake when out of the oven and brown the pale side later.
- Remove the pan from the oven and set it on low heat on the stove-top. Quarter the pancake with two spatulas and turn. If the top side was golden already, keep the quartered pancake on low heat and cut them further into pieces with two spatulas (or two forks). If your pancake was rather pale on top turn the heat to medium and let the turned quarters cook until golden. Dial back the heat (or turn it off) and tear the quarters into pieces. Transfer the Kaiserschmarrn to plates and generously dust with powdered sugar through a sieve.
- Traditionally, Kaiserschmarrn is accompanied by Zwetschgenröster*, a fruit compote made with plums. However, you can serve it along with any fresh fruit, apple sauce, or compote in season.
Notes
*I’ve already posted a recipe for plum compote here. In the pictures above, I adapted it slightly: I used small damsons, which I halved, used only 2 cloves, and more water (1/2 cup) to get more sweet plum juice.