Austrian Cooking

Today, Nic's mum Olivia (3/4K) and Nick's mum Alison (3/4T), came in to our neighbourhood to do some international cooking. Here is the recipe and information about this dish - thanks Olivia!

Austrian Desserts: Kaiserschmarrn

Recipe

Ingredients

3 tablespoons of raisins

hot water

4 eggs (separated)

Pinch of salt

3 tablespoons caster sugar

400 mls of milk

1 cup plain flour

½ teaspoon of vanilla extract

2 tablespoons butter

Icing sugar

Applesauce, plum sauce or other fruit

Preparation

1. Pour hot water over the raisins to cover and leave to soak

2. Separate the eggs putting the whites into one bowl and yolk into another.

3. Beat the egg whites until soft peaks form and add the salt towards the end.

4. Beat egg yolks, sugar and vanilla until light yellow. Add milk and flour, a little at a time to avoid lumps.

5. Fold in egg whites. Let the batter rest for about ten minutes.

6. Drain the raisins on some paper towel.

7. Warm up a large frying pan (10 - 12 inches in diameter) and melt 1 to 2 tablespoons of butter in it.

8. Stir the batter again, gently, and pour into hot pan. Sprinkle the raisins evenly over the top. Cover the pan and let the pancake cook over low heat for about 8 minutes. Flip over (you may have to cut it into several portions to flip).

9. Cut or pull the pancake apart into bite size pieces while it continues to cook. When it is browned a bit, it is ready to serve.

Sprinkle with icing sugar and serve with applesauce or preserves of your choice.

What is Kaiserschmarrn?

The most legendary of all Austrian desserts: Kaiserschmarrn is something like a torn omelette. Its origin, in fact, is somewhat legendary itself: Torn omelettes ("Schmarrn") already had a longstanding tradition when Austria's last "real" emperor, Franz Joseph I demanded one such thing for dessert. His cook quickly created this simple Schmarrn from few ingredients. Inspired by the milk, he named it "Käser Schmarrn" (Cheesemaker's Schmarrn), which the old emperor misunderstood as "Kaiserschmarrn" (Emperor's Schmarrn).

Since you don't disagree with an emperor, the dish became known as just that. "Schmarrn" is also used in colloquial German like "rubbish" or nonsense in English, describing inaccurate information or stories. The legend of the name Kaiserschmarrn may be just that but it makes a good story.

Source: http://www.tourmycountry.com/austria/kaiserschmarrn.htm

Photo of Nick’s Kaiserschmarrn 16/10/10