The 'Emperor's mess' — a thick sweet pancake fried in butter, torn into ragged golden shreds in the pan, caramelised with a scatter of sugar and dusted with icing sugar, served warm with lingonberry or plum compote. A dessert of the whole former Habsburg world, thoroughly at home in the mountain huts of South Tyrol, where the batter is bound with whole eggs and studded with rum-soaked raisins.
The dish is named for the Austrian Emperor Franz Joseph I, who reigned from 1848 to 1916, and 'Schmarrn' is an Austro-Bavarian word for a torn or scrambled trifle. Several legends compete for its birth. One holds that a court pastry chef prepared a light omelette with plum compote for the diet-conscious Empress Elisabeth in 1854; when she declined the rich dish, the Emperor is said to have eaten it himself with the words 'give me that Schmarrn our Leopold has cooked up', so that the sweet, first called Kaiserinschmarrn, took the Emperor's name once he became its champion. Another traces it to an alpine hunting lodge, where a dairyman (Senn) served Franz Joseph a humble Kaserschmarrn that so pleased him he gave it his own name. In the mountains of South Tyrol the dish is made with whole beaten eggs, giving a denser crumb than the Viennese version lightened with whipped whites.
Soft, eggy and cloudlike within, the torn shreds carry crisp caramelised edges and a warm butteriness; sweet bursts of rum-plumped raisin punctuate each forkful, and the tart compote cuts cleanly through the richness.
The batter sets on the proteins of egg and the starch of flour; when the whites are whipped separately and folded in, the incorporated air expands with heat and steam to give a soufflé-like lift, while whole-egg batters stay denser. Tearing the half-set pancake multiplies its surface area, and the sugar sprinkled into the hot pan melts and caramelises above roughly 160°C to coat the ragged edges; at the same time the milk solids in the butter and the reducing sugars react with egg proteins in a Maillard browning that builds the toasted, nutty crust. The rum-soaked raisins, rehydrated and swollen, release moisture and aromatic esters into the crumb.
Variations
Viennese versions lighten the batter with stiffly whipped egg whites for an airier result. Some cooks caramelise the shreds under sugar in the oven, or add a splash of caramel at the end. Beyond raisins, toasted flaked almonds are a common addition; the classic accompaniments are Zwetschgenröster (spiced stewed plums) and apple purée, though lingonberry compote is equally traditional.
On the Palate
Where Kaiserschmarrn (Trentino) sits in the Italian flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 4
How it's made
8 steps · 15 min
- 130 min
Soak the raisins in the rum for at least 30 minutes until plump, then drain, reserving any liquid.
- 26 min
Separate the eggs. Whisk the yolks with the milk, a pinch of salt and half the sugar, then beat in the flour to a smooth, lump-free batter.
- 35 min
Whip the egg whites with the remaining sugar to soft, glossy peaks, then fold them gently into the batter to keep the air intact.
Watch outFold the whipped whites in gently to keep the air — deflate them and you lose the soufflé-like lift that makes it light.
- 43 min
Melt a generous knob of butter in a wide non-stick or well-seasoned pan over medium heat, pour in the batter and scatter over the drained raisins.
- 55 min
Cook until the underside is golden and the top is just set, 4–5 minutes, then flip the pancake in sections to colour the other side.
- 62 min
Tear the pancake into rough 3–4 cm pieces with two forks or a spatula, directly in the pan.
Watch outTear the half-set pancake into rough pieces right in the pan — that ragged surface is what caramelizes crisp in the next step.
- 73 min
Add a little more butter and a sprinkle of sugar to the pan and toss the shreds over higher heat until the sugar caramelises and the edges crisp, 2–3 minutes.
Watch outToss the shreds over higher heat with sugar until the edges caramelize and crisp — that browned, sugary crust is the whole dish.
- 82 min
Pile onto warm plates, dust generously with icing sugar and serve at once with lingonberry or plum compote.
