Kaiserschmarrn – An Austrian shredded pancake

One of my favourite moments on a dreamy vacation last year, was eating an outdoor Christmas market lunch on the grounds of Vienna’s Belvedere Palace. We had a piping hot plate of cheesy spätzle that tasted like grown-up mac and cheese, followed by warm, sugary Kaiserschmarrn (or ‘Emperor’s Mess‘), a light and fluffy pancake that’s torn or chopped into bite-sized pieces, dusted with liberal amounts of icing sugar and in that festive market, served with either applesauce or stewed plums. It was carb-y, heavenly and exactly the kind of winter food I was there for. I’ve been waiting to try it at home and after a couple of attempts to get it to the way I liked it, I’m here to say this is the perfect slow weekend breakfast!

My version has a slightly sweeter batter with vanilla, both changes I felt were essential for the more French-toast, less omlette vibe that I remember. I based it off this Smitten Kitchen recipe, halving it for a smaller portion along with a lot of Googling to see what other recipes recommend. Some said adding baking powder was a complete no-no, some add vanilla and some don’t, some use rum-soaked raisins and some stay far away from them, and by and large everyone uses a barely sweetened batter. However, I felt like just adding a ton of icing sugar on top didn’t work for me. I don’t remember finding the pancake itself eggy and under-sweetened which is what happened with my first attempt at home. So by sweetening the batter more and making sure to add vanilla for flavour, this version might be a bit of a deviation but was much closer to the one I ate on that cold, cloudy day!

The reason I wouldn’t call this an everyday recipe is the egg whites need to be beaten separately, the pancake is flipped and chopped while it is still half-done, then fried in a bit of butter to crisp it up all of which to means more steps than a weekday morning could accommodate. It’s also best eaten fresh so making it ahead of time isn’t the best idea.

The plum sauce I would say is optional because I liked this pancake even as is, with the dusting of icing sugar and possibly some maple syrup, as inauthentic as that is! But the tart plums go nicely with sugared pancake pieces and if you don’t want to make this sauce separately, you can also use any fruit jam you like as a topping.

Kaiserschmarrn is traditionally a little creamy and custard-y on the inside which means you’re not letting it cook fully. From what I remember, the pieces were actually fully cooked though soft and airy, which is what I stuck to here. Depending on your pan, the pancake also cooks quite fast so letting it remain a little creamy inside is a bit hard in my experience. And finally, though you’re not supposed to let it darken a lot, the quick cooking time meant that for me at least, there were some pieces definitely browner than others and those were my favourite bits!! So have some fun with this one 🙂

Kaiserschmarrn - An Austrian shredded pancake

Soft, fluffy pancake cut into pieces and served with icing sugar and an easy plum sauce

Prep Time: 20 minutes mins

Cook Time: 20 minutes mins

Total Time: 40 minutes mins

Makes: 2 servings

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Ingredients

  

For the pancake

• 2 eggs, at room temperature (integral to the recipe, I can't suggest substitutes)
• 3 tbsps caster sugar (see notes)
• 1 and 1/2 tsps vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup milk, at room temperature (60 ml)
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour (40 gms)
• 2 tbsps unsalted butter (salted threw off the balance a little but if it's what you have on hand, omit the salt in the batter instead)
• Icing sugar for serving, approx 1/4 cup

For the plum sauce

• 225 gms ripe plums (7 to 8 seasonal Indian plums; the darker ones are sweeter)
• 3 tbsps caster sugar
• Pinch of cinnamon powder
• Pinch of clove powder
• 1 tbsp water, optional

Instructions

• I recommend making the plum sauce first so it cools and thickens while you make the pancake. You can also make it earlier and keep it refrigerated. If you don't want to make the sauce, that's ok too. Just butter and icing sugar are also a great accompaniment for this pancake!
• To make the sauce, slice each plum in half, twist and remove the pit, then cut into bite-sized pieces. Add them to a saucepan with the sugar and spices. Set it on low heat and cook, stirring often until the fruit begins to break down and release a lot of liquid. Add the water if there isn't enough liquid. The liquid will bubble and boil, let it continue to cook for 15 to 20 minutes until you can still chunks of fruit but they're soft and jammy. Pour into a bowl and let the sauce cool at room temperature and it will continue to thicken. Refrigerate for 3 to 4 days if not using immediately.
• Make the pancake only when you're ready to eat, ideally not ahead of time. First, separate the eggs. Add the yolks to a mixing bowl and the whites to the bowl of a stand mixer or another larger mixing bowl to whip up in step 6 (make sure no yolk gets in with the whites or they won't whip well).
• To the bowl with the yolks, add the sugar and vanilla. Whisk to combine, then whisk in the milk until smooth (a balloon whisk is good for this recipe).
• Sift in the flour and baking powder and whisk again until you have a smooth batter. Let it rest while you whip the egg whites.
• Using the stand mixer's whisk attachment or a hand mixer, beat the egg whites on high speed until they form stiff peaks. Fold them in two additions into the bowl with the batter (see photos below), until fully incorporated, taking care not to overwork the batter and deflate it too much.
• Now heat an 8-inch skillet (I used a cast iron one here, you can use a non-stick pan too) with 1 tbsp of butter on low heat. Once the butter is melted, pour the batter into the skillet, smoothening the top. Let it cook for about 45 seconds to a minute, making sure the heat remains on low. Once the edges start to look a bit set, run a metal spatula all along the edges, lift and check for a golden-brown colour on the other side. I find the center darkens pretty quickly but those were personally my favourite bits!
• Once the base is browning, you can either flip the pancake in one go, or cut it into 4 pieces and flip each one over. Since it's going to be chopped up anyway, don't worry about this step being pretty. And it's not fully cooked at this stage so expect some batter to spill in the pan as you flip.
• Let the other side brown too, then turn off the heat and use the spatula to cut the pancake into bite-sized pieces in the skillet itself. Alternately, transfer the pancake to a pan and then cut it up, whichever is easier.
• Add the remaining 1 tbsp butter to the pan and lightly fry the pieces on low heat, letting them crisp up slightly but not get over-cooked. Kaiserscharrn is meant to be a little creamy in the center but I prefer it cooked through and find it cooks pretty quickly anyway.
• Immediately divide between two plates, dust with about 2 tbsps icing sugar per serving and keep the plum sauce ready to dip into. Best eaten hot and fresh!

Notes

*Most recipes use a very small amount of sugar in the batter (around 1 tbsp for this amount) and often no vanilla extract. I've deviated a bit because doing it that way made me feel the pancake was unsweetened and eggy, more like an omlette than I wanted. By using a little more sugar in the batter, I needed less icing sugar on top as well and the whole thing was more balanced. And I was generous with the vanilla which gave the pancake a lovely flavour. 

*Adapted slightly from Smitten Kitchen