Kaiserschmarrn

Ingredients

• 200 g flour
• 30 g sugar
• 4 eggs
• 300 ml milk
• 40 g butter
• 30 g raisins

Method

Kaiserschmarrn is a shredded pancake built on aeration — the egg whites do the work here. Separate your yolks from whites. Whisk the yolks with flour, sugar, salt, and milk until smooth; there should be no flour streaks. In a separate bowl, beat the whites to stiff peaks — this takes about three minutes with an electric mixer, or five by hand. The peaks should hold their shape without drooping; if you tilt the bowl, they should stay put. Fold the whites into the yolk mixture in two additions, turning the spatula through the bottom and over the top each time. Overmixing deflates the air you've trapped, so stop as soon as no white streaks remain.

Heat 40g butter in a 28–30cm non-stick frying pan over medium-high heat. When the butter foams and the foam subsides — roughly 90 seconds — pour in the batter. It should sizzle on contact. Leave it untouched for 2–3 minutes until the underside is deep golden and the top surface looks nearly set but still dimpled and wet. This is the critical moment: transfer the pan to a preheated 180°C oven and bake for 8–10 minutes. The oven-baking finishes the interior — it should rise further and turn pale golden on top. You're looking for a surface that springs back when pressed lightly, with just a slight wobble in the centre.

Remove the pan and let it rest for one minute. Using two forks or a spatula, tear the pancake into rough 3–4cm pieces — kaiserschmarrn means "torn" pancake in Austrian dialect. Do this while it's still warm; it tears cleanly then, not when cooled. Toast the raisins in a dry pan for 30 seconds to warm them through and plump them slightly, then scatter them over. Dust generously with icing sugar. Serve warm with a spoonful of sweet-dishes fruit compote (plum or apricot) alongside, or a dollop of sour cream. The contrast between the light, aerated crumb and the sharp dairy cuts through the sugar and balances the dish.