Let’s head over to Austria today to make the legendary dessert, Kaiserschmarrn with a strawberry sauce.  My wife’s parents both came to the United States from Vienna and so she grew up with Kaiserschmarrn as a staple childhood dessert.  I first became acquainted with Kaiserschmarrn through Wolfgang Puck while I was working at Spago Beverly Hills.  Kaiserschmarrn was on our dessert menu and when I told Lynette that we served it with a strawberry sauce—as I’ve mentioned before she’s a strawberry fanatic—we knew we had to devote an afternoon to making Kaiserschmarrn with Strawberry Sauce.

I based this recipe off of how we did it at Spago with a few changes.  For future readers, we are still in quarantine/social distancing times so I made some adjustments based on the ingredients I had.  Right now, the cottage I’m staying in only has a portable gas stove and no oven so I cooked my Kaiserschmarrn soufflé in a pan. It turned out to taste amazing but i’ll include written instructions on how to do it with an oven as well and then you can decide to proceed with whichever method.  Also note that traditionally Kaiserschmarrn has powdered sugar sprinkled over the top.  I did not have any on hand but if you do it makes the dessert a little prettier and adds a touch more sweetness.

A fun note, last night we were having a virtual birthday party for my father in law, it was his 74th birthday. He is from Vienna, Austria and so I told him about our Kaiserschmarrn adventure.  He told me that Kaiserschmarrn earned it’s name because it was first served to Austrian Emperor Francis Joseph I (1830–1916) his wife, Elisabeth. The Chef messed up the pancake (due to nerves or carelessness, we don’t know!) and cut it into large chunks to serve. The Kaiser thoroughly enjoyed it and it became a staple of Austrian cuisine.

Kaiserschmarrn Batter Ingredients

• 4 organic eggs, separated, room temperature

• 5 Tablespoons sugar

• 2 Tablespoons dark raisins, rehydrated. Place raisins in a skillet and use just enough liquid (water or rum) to submerge the raisins. Allow to cook for about 6 minutes

• 1 1/2 Tablespoon crème fraiche (I used sour cream because it is what I had on hand and it’s a great substitute)

• 3 Tablespoons all-purpose flour

• 2 Tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

• confectioners sugar, for dusting when plated (optional)

Kaiserschmarrn Soufflé Instructions

• Begin with four room temperature egg yolks.  Add 3 Tablespoons of sugar and incorporate together using an electric hand whisk. Once ingredients are incorporated add crème fraiche or sour cream, raisins, and flour to the mixture.   Incorporate ingredients using electric hand whisk.

• In a separate container, begin with four egg whites and a pinch of salt. Begin whisking. After about 30 seconds add two tablespoons of sugar and continue whisking until you achieve soft peaks.

• Using a rubber spatula, slowly fold the egg white mixture into the base batter.  Be sure to scrap the sides and roll the spatula underneath the batter to incorporate the egg whites.

• Coat a non-stick sauté with 1 Tablespoon of butter. Add all the batter.  It’s ideal to bake in oven at 350 F for approximately 15 minutes. If you’re working with a stove top, as I am in the video below, then cook over medium high heat.  Cover, lower temperature, and allow to cook on one side for about 4 minutes.  Using a rubber spatula divide the soufflé in half and flip each side to cook on the other side. Add another Tablespoon of room temperature butter. Cover and cook for another 3-4 minutes.

Kaiserschmarrn Strawberry Sauce Ingredients

• 1/2 lb fresh strawberries hulled and halved

• 1 Tablespoon granulated sugar

• 1 Tablespoon fresh squeezed lemon juice

• pinch of salt

Kaiserschmarrn Strawberry Sauce Instructions

Place a non-stick sauté pan over medium high heat. Add strawberries, sugar, lemon juice, and salt.  Allow berries to cook down.  Keep berries in bite sized pieces, breaking down larger pieces.  Remove from heat and set aside.

Plating your Kaiserschmarrn and Strawberry Sauce

On a large plate, place and spread a heaping ladle full of strawberry sauce.  Breaking the Kaiserschmarrn soufflé into large chunks, place three large pieces on each plate.  I made two large servings with this recipe but each serving was more than enough for two people to share.  So this recipe is good for 2-4 servings. Finally, dust the Kaiserschmarrn with confectioners sugar.  In the video you can see that due to shelter in place I did not have confectioners sugar and it looks great and tastes amazing either way.  I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we did!