Kaiserschmarrn

Pancake Day celebrations took an international theme this year.

I ended up hosting a Pancake feast as the thought of not ceasing the opportunity to prepare, consume and be around so many pancakes was not an option.

There were coconut macaroon pancakes, Danish pancakes, frittelle,
Blueberry ricotta pancakes, chickpea flour pancakes, farinata Genovese and kaiserschmarrn, the latter being my contribution.
Besides breaking your teeth trying trying to pronounce the thing, it is genious.

How did I not know of this sooner? It makes perfect sense!
Similar to making pancakes, this is the quicker, immediate satisfaction version, and even MORE comforting!
The general idea is to prepare the batter, which includes separating the eggs and whipping the egg whites before folding it back in the mixture, and then pouring the lot in one go to a large pan. This results in quite a mess, hence the name (the literall translation is 'emperor's mess'). However, this is organized, controlled mess, with the extra benefit of foreseeing it, and thus enjoying it.

It's over before you know it and the schmarrn is ready to be devoured. This is a slightly modified recipe taken from The Illustrated Kitchen Bible by Victoria Blashford-Snell and Brigitte Hafner.

kaiserschmarrn
serves 4

Ingredients
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
4 large eggs, separated, at room temperature
¼ - 2/3 cup whole milk
2 tbsp butter
¼ cup raisins (soaked in rum for an hour- optional)
For serving
Orange zest
cinnamon
Caster sugar

Whisk the flour, sugar, egg yolks and milk together in a bowl with a clean whisk until smooth.
Beat the egg whites in a separate bowl until stiff peaks form. Fold into the batter.
Melt the butter in a 20cm nonstick frying pan over medium heat.

Pour in the batter and sprinkle with the raisins.
Cook until the underside is browned. At this point you need to turn the pancake, thus begins the tricky part as its going to get messy.
Try to relax and enjoy it. You don’t want to fuss too much around it or you'll end up with an omelet.

In order to make sure the batter is cooked through, cut the pieces to small bite size chunks with the spatula, until done.
Transfer to a plate and sprinkle with plenty of cinnamon, sugar and orange zest. That’s it.

Notes
Traditionally served with plum preserves or apple sauce on the side.

Alternatively, you may want to try it with ricotta (with added sugar and vanilla), sour cream, chocolate sauce to name but a few.

It also works great with other combinations such as banana and chocolate (naturally).