Kaiserschmarrn is an Austrian dessert. It resembles a pancake, and is topped with rum-soaked raisins, shredded up, and served with a side of plum preserves. The sugar that coats the pancake caramelizes to make a sweet and delicious Austrian treat!
It’s no secret that Austrians love their sweets. I mean, the whole country takes a break once a day to eat dessert for crying out loud! But kaiserschmarrn takes the love of sugar to a whole new level.
What is Kaiserschmarrn?
Kaiserschmarrn means “emperors omelette,” and the name is no joke. This stuff is fit for a king. Instead of “omelette” in the way that Americans might typically think of the word, I prefer to compare kaiserschmarrn to a pancake.
How Do I Make Kaiserschmarrn?
To make kaiserschmarrn, heat up a pan and pour all of your batter inside. We’re making one gigantic pancake. Soak some raisins in rum, and then drop those into the batter. Cook the pancake on one side until it’s ready to flip, then flip the entire thing over and let it cook through on the other side. You can also sprinkle both sides with sugar so that it will caramelize in the pan. Once the pancake cooks through, use your spatula or a knife to shred the pancake into chunks. The pieces don’t have to be uniformly shaped– in fact, they shouldn’t be. Slice that pancake any which way you’d like. Add a side dish of plum preserves and serve the entire dessert in the pan.
To some Americans, I guess this dish could seem like breakfast. Go to a boujie enough brunch restaurant in Manhattan or something and it probably already is. You can enjoy it in the morning if you want… who am I to judge?! But you can also serve it up for dessert, because, honestly, a pancake is great ANY time of day.
Quick Story for Ya
Remember how I went to Salzburg by myself? (If you don’t, click here to read about my Austrian adventure). Well, I’d been hearing about kaiserschmarrn for the entire duration of my stay in Vienna, but I didn’t get the chance to try it. Once I left my friends and was on my own in Salzburg, enjoying kaiserschmarrn was at the top of my to do list.
When I got into Salzburg, it was about 6:00, so the day was pretty much gone. I had eaten some snacks on the train, so I wasn’t too hungry for dinner but my dessert stomach was growling all the same. Immediately, I looked up the restaurant for the best kaiserschmarrn in Salzburg, and once I dropped my bags off at my hostel, I started my trek.
Food Brings People Together
It was an absolutely beautiful spring night in April, so I asked if I could sit on the patio at the restaurant. There weren’t any open tables available for me, but my waiter noticed that another girl was sitting by herself. Without waiting for permission, my waiter asked the fellow solo traveller if I could eat a meal with her. The girl agreed, so we sat down to eat dinner together.
I sheepishly explained to the girl that I was ordering dessert for my dinner. A few minutes later, the waiter brought out what seemed like a delicious wiener schnitzel to my companion and to me he brought… enough dessert to feed a family of 5. The serving of kaiserschmarrn was massive!
Needless to say, we both had dessert for dinner that night.
Did you like this recipe? You should also try my recipe for Austrian Sacher Torte and this Afghan Semolina Sweetmeat!
If you try this kaiserschmarrn, make sure to share a photo with me! Tag @theforeignfork on Facebook or Instagram and #theforeignfork to make sure that I can see 🙂 Come back soon!
Kaiserschmarrn (Austria)
Kaiserschmarrn is an Austrian dessert that resembles a pancake. It is topped with rum-soaked raisins, shredded up, and served with a side of plum preserves. The sugar that coats the pancake caramelizes to make a sweet and delicious Austrian treat!
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp Rum
- 1/4 cup raisins
- 1 cup flour
- Pinch salt
- 2 1/2 tbsp sugar divided
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- ¾ cup milk
- zest of one lemon
- 3 eggs separated
- 2 tbsp Butter
- powdered sugar for topping
- Plum preserves for dipping
Instructions
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In a small bowl, soak the raisins in the rum until the rum is absorbed (about 15 minutes).
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Mix the egg yolk with vanilla, milk, lemon zest, and salt. Add flour and two tbsp of granulated sugar and mix well.
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Beat egg whites until stiff and fold them into the batter.
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Melt butter in pan that is large enough to fit all of the batter at once. The pancake should be fluffy, so make sure that the pan isn’t so large that the batter spreads too thin.
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Pour the batter into the pan, top with rum-soaked raisins, and then sprinkle with 1/2 tbsp granulated sugar. Cook until the bottom is brown. Flip the entire pancake over at once.
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Continue cooking pancake until the batter is cooked all the way through. Once cooked, leave the pancake in the pan but use a spatula or a knife to shred the pancake into uneven bites.
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Top the shredded pancake with powdered sugar and serve with a side of plum preserves. Serve warm in the pan.