Kaiserschmarrn
Kaiserschmarrn is a pancake ruined deliberately, and it is better for it. A thick fluffy batter browns on one side, gets torn into ragged pieces with two spatulas and keeps frying, so every piece earns its own crisp edge. The lift comes from whipped whites, so fold them in last and stop early. Serve it the moment it leaves the pan — five minutes later it is just a pancake again.
- Prep
- 15 min
- Cook
- 12 min
- Rest
- 20 min
- Total
- 47 min
- Servings
- 4
- Level
- Easy
- Per serving
- 430 kcal
Ingredients
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What to use instead
Apple sauce or cranberry sauce can replace the plum jam — what you need is the tart counterweight, not more sweetness.
Makes: 4 servings
Shopping list
The ingredients for the servings you chose — copy them or send them to a messenger. Tick what you already have at home: only the rest goes on the list.
Method
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Step 1: Soak the raisins
Cover the raisins with the rum and leave them 20 minutes while you do everything else. Cooking for children, use hot water instead — they plump up just the same.
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Step 2: Mix the batter
Beat the yolks with the sugar, vanilla and salt until pale. Pour in the milk, add the flour and whisk smooth. It should be thicker than crêpe batter, more like a drop scone.
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Step 3: Whip the whites
Whisk the whites to soft peaks — the kind that just curl over on the whisk. Fold them into the batter in two goes, from the bottom up. A few white streaks are better than an overmixed batter.
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Step 4: Brown one side
Melt half the butter in a 26 cm pan over medium heat, pour in all the batter and level it. Cook covered for 4–5 minutes, until the base is golden and the top has set at the edges. Scatter the raisins over.
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Step 5: Tear it up
Cut the pancake into quarters with two spatulas, flip each one and cook 2 minutes more. Then keep cutting and tearing into pieces the size of a large walnut, untidily — that is the whole idea.
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Step 6: Caramelise
Add the rest of the butter and a tablespoon of sugar, raise the heat and fry 2–3 minutes, tossing often, until the edges of the pieces are deep gold and crisp.
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Step 7: Serve at once
Pile onto warmed plates, dust generously with icing sugar and put a bowl of plum jam alongside. Do not keep it waiting: the pieces soften fast.
Tips & variations
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Tip
Use a heavy pan and not too wide a one. In a large pan the batter spreads thin and you get dry crusts instead of fluffy pieces.
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Variation
Swap the raisins for apple: fry half a tart apple, sliced, in the butter before the batter goes in.
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Swap
Apple sauce or cranberry sauce can replace the plum jam — what you need is the tart counterweight, not more sweetness.
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Storage
Kaiserschmarrn is not kept. It is a straight-from-the-pan dish, and reheating turns it into dry crumbs.
Nutrition
| 1 serving | Whole dish 4 servings | |
|---|---|---|
| Energy | 430 kcal | 1,720 kcal |
| Protein | 12 g | 48 g |
| Fat | 17 g | 68 g |
| Carbohydrates | 55 g | 220 g |
Approximate values calculated from standard ingredient data.
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