Authentic Kaiserschmarrn Recipe (Austrian Torn-Up Pancakes) (2024)

FAQs

What is Kaiserschmarrn made of? ›

Kaiserschmarren is a light, caramelized pancake made from a sweet batter using flour, eggs, sugar, salt, and milk, fried in butter.

The name means “imperial mess” in German. The story goes that a frazzled farmer created the dish in a tizzy when Austria's Emperor Franz Joseph and his wife showed up hungry at his home. As a last-ditch attempt to save face, the farmer shredded his disastrous pancake and topped it with sugar and marmalade.

If you stir your pancake batter too much, the gas bubbles that your acid and base just produced will be released. Over stirring causes tough, rubbery pancakes. You should barely stir your pancake batter.

Apfelstrudel. Ah, right up the top of your list of desserts associated with Austria and Vienna is likely Apfelstrudel (apple strudel).

A ploye is not a crepe. Nor is it a pancake. For one, you don't flip it. Seconds after being poured onto a hot, barely greased griddle, the surface of a ploye—a traditional Acadian buckwheat flatbread—will become pocked with hundreds of tiny, bursting bubbles.

Here are Ten Fun Facts about Pancakes:

It was invented in 1889 in St. Joseph, Missouri. ​It is common in France to touch the handle of the frying pan and to make a wish while the pancake is turned, holding a coin in one hand. ​The first pancake recipe appeared in an English cookbook in the fifteenth century.

Pancakes were also associated with the Christian Lent. It was a way for people to use up their eggs, fats, and other ingredients that they weren't permitted to eat during the time of Lent. Pancakes eventually made their way to America.

Pancakes have existed in Japan since the Edo period (1603-1868); when a sweet, crepe-like, filled and folded pancake was served during Buddhist ceremonies. This pancake was eventually separated in two – a sweet version and a savoury version.

Eggs are a crucial ingredient. They provide the cakes with the structure to hold light bubbles. Eggs also give the batter additional, richer flavor from the yolk fat. If you add too many eggs, you'll have “pancakes” that look more like custard or crepes.

The secret to fluffy restaurant style pancakes? Buttermilk! The acid in the buttermilk reacts to the leavening agents in the pancake batter, creating air bubbles that make the pancakes tall and fluffy. It's a simple switch that makes all the difference.

Why do you always throw away the first pancake? ›

Why is the first pancake often so ugly that it gets tossed? Pancake experts say that there are some possible reasons, including the amount of butter being used, the temperature of the heating surface, and so on. Perhaps the first one is a "tester." Once it is made, the next batches will be fine.

Blodplättar (in Swedish; blodpannekaker in Norwegian, veriohukainen, verilätty or verilettu in Finnish; verikäkk in Estonian), or blood pancakes in English are a dish served in Finland, Estonia, Sweden and Norway made of whipped blood (typically reindeer blood), water or pilsner, flour and eggs.

These pancakes are derived from the purple yam known as ube. It has a beautiful deep purple color that adds a visually appealing element to your breakfast, brunch, or dessert. These pancakes are prepared by incorporating ube extract and ube halaya, which is also known as mashed ube or ube jam, into pancake batter.

The batter is made with flour, tempura scraps (tenkasu), grated yam (nagaimo or yamaimo), and eggs. It's then mixed with shredded cabbage and sometimes additional ingredients like shrimp and squid. A classic topping is pork belly slices, placed on top of the savory pancake while grilling.