TO COOK, BREAKFAST AND BRUNCH, CAKE AND DESSERT TO COOK, BREAKFAST AND BRUNCH, CAKE AND DESSERT

Kaiserschmarrn - an Austrian Pancake with Darjeeling Orange Raisins

This Austrian classic is one of the best dinner party crowd pleasers when the night calls for an easy rustic dessert. So many people have sat at my long wooden table and enjoyed this cozy dish, which is basically a torn fluffy pancake. Every time I serve Kaiserschmarrn, it creates joyful silence in the room, a silence that only moments of happy bliss and culinary satisfaction can create; moments that remind us of our childhood food and memories, when our mothers or grandmothers would turn the kitchen into the best smelling place in the world on a Sunday morning - simply by cooking some golden pancakes.

Kaiserschmarrn is the Austrian take on this nostalgic treat, which is also popular in South Tyrol, in the Italian Dolomites, and Southern Germany. The fluffy pancake is dotted with raisins and torn by using two forks right after it turned golden on both sides. The name derives from the Austrian Kaiser (emperor) Franz Joseph I of Austria. He used to love this dessert so much that people referred to it as his folly, meaning Schmarrn in Austria and Bavaria.

I feel with the emperor and can easily call it one of my sweet follies. I've had so many Kaiserschmarrn in my life that it's good to bring in a change once in a while. Sometimes I add fresh fruits, like apples (in my book 365), berries, or plums, or spices, like cinnamon or cardamom, but for the one that I will share with you today, I soaked the raisins in Darjeeling tea infused with strips of orange.

Kaiserschmarrn

For 2-3 people you need

  • raisins 50g / 2 ounces

  • orange peel, 2 long strips

  • strong black tea (like Darjeeling), 1 cup, for soaking the raisins

  • organic eggs 3, separated

  • a pinch of salt

  • milk 360ml / 1 1/2 cups

  • granulated sugar 3 tablespoons

  • orange zest 1/4 teaspoon

  • all-purpose flour, sieved, 130g / 1 cup

  • unsalted butter 4 tablespoons, to cook the pancake

  • confectioners’ sugar, for dusting the pancake

Soak the raisins and orange peel in the tea for about 10 minutes then drain the raisins for a 4 minutes; discard the tea and orange peel.

Beat the egg whites and salt until stiff.

Mix together the milk, egg yolks, sugar, and orange zest until combined. Add the flour to the milk mixture and whisk until smooth, then stir in the raisins. Using a wooden spoon, gently fold the egg white into the pancake batter.

Heat 2 tablespoons of the butter in a 30cm /12-inch cast-iron pan or nonstick skillet. Pour all of the the pancake batter into the pan and cook over medium heat for 4-6 minutes minutes or until golden on the bottom and the pancake is just set but still soft. Flip the pancake; you can also cut the pancake in half and turn both halves separately, which is easier. Lift the pancake a little and let 1 tablespoon of butter melt underneath it then continue cooking for 4-6 minutes until the other side is golden. Carefully tear the pancake into chunky pieces, add the remaining 1 tablespoon of butter and cook, stirring gently, over medium-high heat for about 2 minutes or until golden brown and the edges start to crisp.

Transfer to a large platter, dust with a little confectioners’ sugar, and enjoy immediately. You can serve berries on the side, or seared apples wedges, cooked in butter and deglazed with Grand Marnier (recipe in 365).

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