Bet you didn’t think I was describing a pancake in the title of this blog. Apparently the Austrian emperor Franz Joseph I favored this fluffy shredded pancake back in the day. According to BaliNow:
‘The name Kaiserschmarren is a combination of the words Kaiser (meaning emperor) and Schmarren (meaning scrambled or shredded). Schmarren is also a colloquialism used in Austrian and Bavarian to mean trifle, mishmash, mess, rubbish, or nonsense.”
The ingredients are simple, flour, milk, eggs, and butter, and combined together make this delicious rustic, even messy-looking pancake.
I would consider this a dessert pancake. It is thicker than a traditional breakfast pancake. And without sugar in the batter, it is not sweet, however, sprinkled with powdered sugar and topped with jams, or syrup lends a sweetness to this dish. Some might even consider a limoncello syrup drizzled on top – oh yeah!
Adding sauteed fruit as a topping (such as apples or pears) gives this treat a fruity twist.
Mix pancake ingredients and let it sit for 20 minutes or so.
It’s important to heat the oil in the pan before adding the batter to get a nice browned crust to the pancake.
Okay, so my flipping technique wasn’t quite what I wanted, but since this is a “messy” pancake and would be chunked up in the end, I wasn’t too concerned. I just wanted the batter cooked on both sides.
Optional: saute a thinly sliced apple in butter and add to the pancake when serving.
Pancake coarsely cut into bite-sized pieces with powdered sugar on top.
Apples added. More powdered sugar, please!
I love this “messy” pancake so much I served it for breakfast one day, even though I consider it more of a dessert item. I topped it with fig jam – perfect!
Serves 3
Save RecipeIngredients
- 1 cup flour
- 1 cup whole milk
- 3 eggs
- 3 tablespoons butter, melted
- Dash of salt
- 2 tablespoons canola oil (or other oil such as rapeseed)
- Confectioner's sugar
- Optional: Jam for serving
Instructions
- Whisk flour, milk, eggs, melted butter and a pinch of salt together. Set aside at room temperature for 20-30 minutes.
- Warm the oil in a large skillet over medium heat until heated. Pour the batter into the skillet and let it sit for about 2 minutes or until the bottom is slightly brown.
- Flip the pancake and continue to cook on the opposite side until the bottom of the pancake is brown and the batter has solidified.
- Break up the cooked pancake (in the pan) into rustic pieces and sprinkle with confectioner's sugar.
- Serve with jam of your choice or syrup.
Nutrition