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    Home » Recipes » Austrian Recipes

    Austrian Kaiserschmarrn {torn pancakes}

    Published: Aug 17, 2022 · Modified: Jul 17, 2023 by Nora · This post may contain affiliate links · 14 Comments

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    Garnish shredded pancakes with powdered sugar and serve with apple compote.
    Garnish shredded pancakes with powdered sugar and serve with apple compote.
    Garnish shredded pancakes with powdered sugar and serve with apple compote.
    Garnish shredded pancakes with powdered sugar and serve with apple compote.
    Garnish shredded pancakes with powdered sugar and serve with apple compote.

    This article is also available in German.

    Kaiserschmarrn (or Kaiserschmarren) is an Austrian delicacy also known by the names Emperor's Mess, scrambled pancake, shredded pancake, torn pancake, or Emperor's Pancake.

    This easy Kaiserschmarrn recipe is made without raisins in under an hour. Its fluffy texture and sweet taste will make your heart beat faster!

    Jump to Recipe - Print Recipe

    You can prepare torn pancakes in their traditional version, with raisins added to the thick pancake batter. Fry them in a pan, and then cut them into pieces or, just as they are called, torn apart and served dusted with powdered sugar.

    The traditional Austrian dish is famous as a sweet main course or as a dessert. Those who visited Austria may have tried this treat at least once.

    Serve them traditionally with roasted plums, apricot compote, or apple compote.

    Jump to:
    • 🥘 Ingredients
    • 🔪 Instructions
    • 🇦🇹 Fancy more traditional Austrian Recipes?
    • 🍇 Variations
    • 🍽 Equipment
    • 🌡 Storage
    • 💭 Top tip
    • 🙋🏻 FAQ
    • 📖 Recipe
    • 🇦🇹 You might also like
    • ⛑️ Food Safety
    • 💬 Comments

    🥘 Ingredients

    • Unsalted butter or oil
    • Eggs
    • All-purpose flour
    • Milk
    • Salt
    • Sugar
    • Powdered sugar - for sprinkling
    • Optional: raisins and rum

    See the recipe card for quantities.

    🔪 Instructions

    Step 1

    First of all, separate the eggs into two large mixing bowls. First, pick up the mixing bowl with the egg yolks and add the milk, a pinch of salt, and sugar.

    Mix the ingredients until they form a thick mixture.

    Now sprinkle in the flour, constantly stirring until a dough mixture forms. If the dough becomes too thick, you can stretch it by adding milk. However, if the dough is too thin, add a little flour.

    Step 2

    Now beat the egg whites in the second separate bowl until stiff, and then fold them into the dough mixture.

    Step 3

    Now it's time to pan-fry the dough. You will need two large frying pans for the amount of batter. Put a tablespoon of butter or oil in each pan and let it get hot.

    Divide the batter evenly between the two pans and fry over medium heat. Be careful not to turn the heat up too hot, or your emperor's pancake will burn and won't taste good.

    Once the dough is golden brown on the bottom, divide the pancake into quarters and turn them over in the pan.

    Fry the dough in a hot pan.

    Fry the dough in a hot pan.

    Divide the pancake into quarters.

    Divide the pancake into quarters.

    Flip over - one after the other.

    Flip over - one after the other.

    Fry the other side of the pancakes until it is golden brown.

    Fry the other side until it is golden brown.

    Now fry the other side until it is golden brown, and pull the dough into bite-sized pieces.

    Pull the dough into bite-sized pieces.

    Pull the dough into bite-sized pieces.

    Garnish shredded pancakes with powdered sugar and serve with apple compote.

    Garnish with powdered sugar.

    Step 4

    Stir the scrambled pancakes a few more times to ensure that all the pieces are golden brown.

    Sprinkle some powdered sugar over the Kaiserschmarrn in the pan and let it caramelize.

    Divide the finished Schmarrn onto plates and sprinkle with powdered sugar. And you're done! Serve this traditional Austrian delicacy with apple compote (Zwetschgenröster - aka roasted plums or apricot compote).

    Enjoy your traditional Austrian meal!

    🇦🇹 Fancy more traditional Austrian Recipes?

    • Tafelspitz (Austrian prime boiled beef)
    • Apfelkren (Austrian apple horseradish sauce)
    • Schnittlauchsauce (Chives Sauce)
    • Erdäpfelschmarrn (Austrian grated pan-fried potatoes)
    • Kandierte Veillchen mit Sekt (Candied violets with sparkling wine)
    • Liptauer (Liptauer cheese spread)

    🍇 Variations

    Variation with rum and raisins. Spice up the emperor's pancake dough with a shot of rum and raisins if you fancy.

    Add a shot of rum and 50-100g of raisins to the batter right before step 2.

    That is before you whip the egg whites and fold them into the batter.

    🍽 Equipment

    • Two frying pans - ideally with a non-stick coating
    • Food processor or electric mixer
    • Two large mixing bowls
    • Two spatulas

    🌡 Storage

    Kaiserschmarrn can be stored in the refrigerator for one to two days, packed in an airtight container.

    You can also freeze the shredded pancakes. Let it cool entirely after frying (without sprinkling it with powdered sugar) and put them in a Ziplock bag. Let the air out as much as possible and freeze afterward. This way, the delicious Kaiserschmarrn will keep for several months. It loses a tad of its fluffiness by freezing but is still very tasty.

    💭 Top tip

    Since my husband is not a friend of raisins, but my daughter loves them, I always sprinkle raisins over my daughter's finished Kaiserschmarrn before serving.

    Thus, my husband does not have to eat them, and my daughter is happy because she gets her beloved dried grapes!

    🙋🏻 FAQ

    Why is It Called Kaiserschmarrn?

    The name Kaiserschmarren is made up of the words Kaiser and Schmarren. Schmarren is also a colloquial expression that in Austrian and Bavarian means a trifle, a mishmash, a mess, a garbage or a nonsense. The word "Schmarren" is related to Scharren (to scrape) and schmieren (to smear).
    Course: Wikipedia

    Is Kaiserschmarrn Austrian or German?

    Kaiserschmarrn originates in Austria but can also be found in Germany or the German-speaking part of Switzerland. 

    What is the History of Kaiserschmarrn?

    It is generally agreed that the dish was first prepared for the Austrian Emperor Francis Joseph I (1830–1916). There are several stories. One apocryphal story involves the Emperor and his wife, Elisabeth of Bavaria, of the House of Wittelsbach. Obsessed with maintaining a minimal waistline, the Empress Elisabeth directed the royal chef to prepare only light desserts for her, much to the consternation and annoyance of her notoriously austere husband. Upon being presented with the chef's confection, she found it too rich and refused to eat it. The exasperated Francis Joseph quipped, “Now let me see what 'Schmarren' our chef has cooked up.” It apparently met his approval as he finished his and even his wife's serving.
    Another story is that Francis Joseph and his wife were traveling the Alps and stopped by a farmer's home for lunch. The farmer was so nervous that he threw all the fanciest ingredients he had into a pan to make a delicious pancake; worse yet, due to his nervousness and shaky hands he scrambled the pancake. Hoping to cover up the mess he then covered it with plum jam. Luckily, the Kaiser thought it was delicious.
    Another popular tale is that his wife was a poor cook and couldn't flip a pancake efficiently. She decided to play to her strengths and shred the pancakes altogether and would serve them up to the Kaiser on a regular basis with jam. He liked them with jam. It was his favorite dessert.
    Source: Wikipedia

    What is Kaiserschmarrn served with?

    Traditionally Kaiserschmarren is served with stewed plums, apple sauce, or fruit compote (apple compote, plum compote, apricot compote, strawberry compote).

    If you make this recipe, let me know how you liked it by ★★★★★ star rating it and leaving a comment below. This would be awesome! You can also sign up for our Newsletter or follow me on Pinterest or Instagram and share your creation with me. Just tag me @combinegoodflavors and hashtag #combinegoodflavors, so I don't miss it.

    📖 Recipe

    Garnish shredded pancakes with powdered sugar and serve with apple compote.

    Austrian Kaiserschmarrn - torn pancakes

    Nora
    This easy Kaiserschmarrn recipe is made without raisins in under an hour. Its fluffy texture and sweet taste will make your heart beat faster! Serve with roasted plums, apricot compote, or apple compote.
    5 from 54 votes
    Prevent your screen from going dark
    Print Recipe Pin Recipe
    Prep Time 20 minutes mins
    Cook Time 20 minutes mins
    Total Time 40 minutes mins
    Course Dessert, Main Course
    Cuisine Austrian
    Servings 4 Servings
    Calories 318 kcal

    Equipment

    • 2 Pans
    • Food processor or electric mixer
    • 2 Large mixing bowls
    • 2 Spatulas

    Ingredients
     
     

    • 2 teaspoon Unsalted butter or oil
    • 5 Eggs
    • 1 ½ cups All purpose flour
    • 1 ½ cups milk
    • 1 Pinch Salt
    • 1 teaspoon Sugar
    • Powdered sugar for sprinkling

    Optional

    • Raisins ¼ - ¾ cup

    Instructions
     

    • Separate 5 Eggs into two large mixing bowls.
      5 Eggs
    • First, pick up the mixing bowl with the egg yolks and add 1 ½ cups milk, 1 Pinch Salt and 1 teaspoon Sugar.
      5 Eggs, 1 ½ cups milk, 1 Pinch Salt, 1 teaspoon Sugar
    • Mix the ingredients until they form a thick mixture.
    • Sprinkle in 1 ½ cups All purpose flour, constantly stirring until a dough mixture forms.
      1 ½ cups All purpose flour
    • Now beat the egg whites in the separate bowl until stiff, and then fold them into the dough mixture.
    • Grab two large frying pans. Place 2 teaspoon Unsalted butter or oil in each pan and let it get hot.
      2 teaspoon Unsalted butter
    • Divide the batter evenly between the two pans and fry over medium heat.
    • Once the dough is golden brown on the bottom, divide the pancake into quarters and flip them over in the pan.
    • Now fry the other side until it is golden brown, and tear the dough into bite-sized pieces.
    • Stir the scrambled pancakes a few more times to ensure that all the pieces are golden brown.
    • Sprinkle some Powdered sugar over the Kaiserschmarrn in the pan and let it caramelize. Add Raisins if you fancy.
      Powdered sugar, Raisins
    • Divide the finished Schmarrn onto plates and sprinkle with powdered sugar.
    Never miss a recipe!Sign up and let me spoil you weekly with a delicious homemade recipe!
    Keyword Austrian torn pancakes, Erdäpfelschmarrn, Kaiserschmarrn, pancakes, shredded pancakes, torn pancakes
    Like this recipe?Mention @combinegoodflavors or tag #combinegoodflavors!
    Nutrition values are estimates only, using online calculators. Please verify using your own data.
    Serving: 1Serving | Calories: 318kcal | Carbohydrates: 40g | Protein: 15g | Fat: 11g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Trans Fat: 0.1g | Cholesterol: 221mg | Sodium: 123mg | Potassium: 260mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 506IU | Calcium: 149mg | Iron: 3mg
    Enjoy creating delicious food all year round! Truffles, eggnog, chocolates, Christmas cookies, cakes, boozy drinks, and divine Austrian delicacies!

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    ⛑️ Food Safety

    • Cook to a minimum temperature of 165 °F (74 °C)
    • Do not use the same utensils on cooked food, that previously touched raw meat
    • Wash hands after touching raw meat
    • Don't leave food sitting out at room temperature for extended periods
    • Never leave cooking food unattended
    • Use oils with high smoking point to avoid harmful compounds
    • Always have good ventilation when using a gas stove

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    • Thin pancakes with apricot jam, a classic Austrian dessert that can be made in a few easy steps!
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    1. Jan

      August 23, 2022 at 11:52 pm

      first time trying these, they were great. something different to what we normally eat. Yum, such a lovely recipe and so many toppings to eat with

      Reply
    2. Marcellina

      August 24, 2022 at 4:56 am

      5 stars
      I had never heard of torn pancakes. I can't wait to make these on the weekend. My family love pancakes and I'm always looking for different ways to make them.

      Reply
    3. Gloria

      August 24, 2022 at 5:47 am

      5 stars
      We love any kind of pancake. I have never tried this version. Guess I know what I am serving for brunch this weekend.

      Reply
    4. Swathi

      August 24, 2022 at 9:00 pm

      5 stars
      I need to try this recipe torn pancakes sounds like great breakfast idea.

      Reply
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    Garnish shredded pancakes with powdered sugar and serve with apple compote.
    Garnish shredded pancakes with powdered sugar and serve with apple compote.
    Garnish shredded pancakes with powdered sugar and serve with apple compote.
    Garnish shredded pancakes with powdered sugar and serve with apple compote.
    Garnish shredded pancakes with powdered sugar and serve with apple compote.

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    Hi, it's me, Nora! I love good food, especially when it's homemade. I am a home chef with a passion for baking and mixing drinks.

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    Garnish shredded pancakes with powdered sugar and serve with apple compote.
    Garnish shredded pancakes with powdered sugar and serve with apple compote.
    Garnish shredded pancakes with powdered sugar and serve with apple compote.
    Garnish shredded pancakes with powdered sugar and serve with apple compote.
    Garnish shredded pancakes with powdered sugar and serve with apple compote.

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