KAISERSCHMARRN



The Mixture



On a recent visit to the Austrian Tyrol we enjoyed one of the country's national dishes - Kaiser Schmarrn.  This dish was first created for the Emperor of Austria.  Kaiser means Emperor and Schmarrn means jumble/trifle.  This dish is often enjoyed as a snack in the many mountain top restaurants or is served in cafes and hotels as a dessert.

This is my simple version of the traditional dish and tastes authentic.

Take:

1 cup of plain flour
A good pinch of salt
1 cup of milk
1 cup of eggs - I use three free range eggs

Place these ingredients in a mixing bowl and whisk together using a hand held electric whisk.

Setting the mixture
in the skillet

Heat a large frying pan or a deep skillet with a knob of butter (TIP: I always add a very small amount of cooking oil to prevent the butter burning).
When the pan is hot, pour in the mixture and let it set.  Occasionally, drag the mixture to the side and let the remaining mixture run into the gap.

The mixture turned to cook the base

  When it is more or less set, use a slice to turn it over to brown the other side.  Don't worry if it breaks, you will be cutting it in the next stage.

Cutting the set mixture into strips

When set, use the slice to cut it into strips in the pan then cut the other way to make small cubes.

Cut into pieces to toss and caramelize

Add knobs of butter to the pieces and toss around, sprinkle on a little caster sugar to help the butter to caramelize on the pieces.  Keep tossing, adding a little more butter, if necessary.
You will see when it is ready when all the pieces are nicely browned and some are slightly crunchy.






Serve on a plate and dust with dredged icing sugar or caster sugar.
The traditional Austrian way to serve Kaiserschmarrn is with a small pot of apple or plum puree served on the side to dip the pieces in before eating.
Delicious.



Serve with plum or apple puree.  Enjoy!


Variation:
Serve sprinkled with caster sugar and lemon wedges to squeeze over - this is my English version!

Optional ingredient:
A few drops of vanilla essence added to the mixture gives it the authentic Austrian flavour. If preferred, a sprinkling of vanilla sugar can be added with the butter instead.