Recipe: Kaiserschmarrn

Should I choose Honey or Jam?

As usual when I am trolling the internet looking for new and interesting vintage recipes to try out on the blog I came across something I'd never heard of before, Kaiserschmarrn.  It roughly translates to mean the "Emperor's Pancake" and although the history is fuzzy, it seems to have been created for Emperor Franz Josef of Austria-Hungary around 1900.  I toyed with a couple different recipes for it and was less than impressed with the results and then I decided to do a little fusion between a fluffy pancakes recipe from the 1920's and the best parts of old Kaiserschmarrn recipes.  What I ended up with, I later found out, is close to a 1905 recipe I found after the fact.  Indeed the only difference was using sour cream instead of sour milk.

Kaiserschmarrn

1/4C Raisins
1/4C Dark Aged Rum
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1 1/4C Milk
4T White Vinegar
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2C Flour
4T Sugar
2tsp Baking Powder
1tsp Baking soda
1/8tsp Cinnamon
Pinch Nutmeg
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2 Eggs, separated
4T Melted shortening
1tsp Vanilla Extract

Combine raisins and rum in a small bowl so raisins are covered, allow to soak 15-30 mins.  Combine milk and vinegar and stir well and set aside.  Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and spices, sift 3 times to ensure proper mixing.  Add egg yolks, shortening, soured milk, vanilla, raisins and rum to dry ingredients and mix well.  In separate bowl whip egg whites until soft peaks then fold carefully into batter.  Heat griddle to 350° and oil.  Drop by 1/4C amounts on griddle and cook as you would regular pancakes.  Yield 10 pancakes.  Serve with honey or as the Austrians do, dusted with powdered sugar with jam on the side.

Traditionally Kaiseschmarrn is served chopped up

I knew the first time I made this recipe I had a winner.  Dad really liked it and it was a nice diversion from regular pancakes.  In Austria where these are still made the fruit included can vary depending on the whims of the chef.  They are considered brunch or coffee food and not just exclusively breakfast.

Each Pancake, Yield 10 Pancakes

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