Kaiserschmarrn: Favorite German Recipe

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If you don’t know me I’m Adriana from Changing Plate. My family and I live in a small village on the foothills of the German Alps. I’m Costa Rican and went to school in Guam and the US, my husband is German and went to school in South Africa, and now we are raising our small one in southern Bavaria. It’s an interesting mix 😉

From here we are enjoying our place in the world while we travel and eat our way through Europe and wherever else life takes us.

Today I’m going to pass along one of the first dishes I learned to make in Germany, Kaiserschmarrn. Looks fancy right?

It’s not. It’s not fancy food at all. In fact Kaiserschmarrn has a fun story behind it, told to me by my good friend Claudia, who originally taught me how to make Kaiserschmarrn.

The name translated from German means “the Emperor’s mess.” The story goes that an Emperor arrived at a small peasant village and demanded food from the people. The people panicked since they weren’t prepared to feed a man of his stature and when they told him they didn’t have anything fit for him to eat, he said he didn’t care and to come up with something. So the people threw together what they had — eggs, milk, sugar — and Kaiserschmarrn was born.

Is this story true? No idea, haven’t checked but I like Claudia and I like the story so I’m sticking with it.

Kaiserschmarrn is originally from our Austrian neighbors to the south but since Europe has a way of sharing dishes, especially at the borders Kaiserschmarrn can commonly be found in restaurants or people’s homes anywhere from Bavaria to Hungary. You don’t need that much, just a few ingredients, a hot pan and a few hungry people.

If you’re from the US, Kaiserschmarrn may remind you a tiny bit of funnel cake.  It’s not the same, but once you taste the light fluffy dough covered in powdered sugar you’ll know what I’m talking about. Traditionally it’s served with applesauce or berries but you can add whatever you’d like.  A warm vanilla sauce is my favorite but don’t tell anyone, not sure how much of a faux pas that is.

This was my last pan I had for my daughter’s birthday party.

I hope you enjoy this easy to make dish. The secret is in the hot pan and using plenty of butter. What’s that saying again, everything worth eating starts with a stick of butter? Oh, is that just me?

It’s great for me to have the chance to share this recipe this time of year. I’ve adopted it as a great way to start Christmas Day for my family and once you make it you might too.

Enjoy and if you’d like to keep us in touch you can find me on my favorite Instagram or Facebook , I’d love to have you.

Thank you and enjoy!

Kaiserschmarrn

Serves 2-3, translated from EU measurements to US. Keep in mind this is not an exact science. I use this exact recipe each time I make it but once you’ve made it yourself you can make it your own. 

 

4 egg whites

Pinch of salt

4 egg yolks

1/4 Cup of sugar ( bit more for topping)

1 Cup Milk

1 1/4 Cup Flour

Butter (I usually start with a half a stick and add more if needed)

Powdered sugar (till your heart’s content)

– In a bowl beat egg whites with a pinch of salt using a mixer till fluffy, 2-3 minutes, set aside.

– In a separate bowl using a fork mix yolks with sugar. Once blended slowly add milk and flour till blended well.

– Carefully fold beaten egg whites into mixture, then let rest while you heat butter in a medium size pan.

– Once butter is melted and the pan is hot (not too hot, you don’t want it to burn) slowly add your mixture to the pan. Like pancakes give it a minute to brown on the bottom, then use a spatula to begin cutting the dough into small pieces, tossing them around till golden brown. It’ll go really quickly. Sprinkle with added sugar and add more butter if needed. Once ready divide Kaiserschmarrn between warmed plates, sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve immediately!

 

Tips

* Keep in mind the batter is meant to be light but you can easily add raisins with or without rum if you’d like. If I use them I usually toss a few in right before I add the batter to the pan.

* I also like to add toasted almonds slices right at the end if I have them.

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