Kaiserschmarrn, a Bavarian/Austrian treat

Kaiserschmarrn is a pretty typical dessert in Bavaria and in Austria.  The name literally translates to "Emperor-Mishmash." 

Mittenwald, Bavaria, Germany

It's basically little pieces of pancake, fried in melted butter and topped with powdered sugar, sliced almonds, applesauce, whipped cream, jam and/or raisins.  Voll lecker!  It's certainly available in many restaurants in and around Munich, but is really typical to the mountains, during both the skiing and hiking seasons.  I first tried Kaiserschmarrn in Mittenwald, Germany on the top of a mountain after a hike with the JYM group during the first few weeks.  Our program director bought a few servings of the dessert for everyone to taste, declaring the Kaiserschmarrn in Mittenwald was the best.  It certainly was good! Especially after a long hike up the mountain.
There are several legends behind Kaiserschmarrn, here's one.  Kaiserschmarrn was named after Kaiser Joseph I from Austria-Hungary.  His wife was obsessed with retaining her slim figure and would request that the chef prepare only light desserts; upon receiving this concoction, she turned her nose up and refused to eat it.  Her husband, Joseph, asked "was is this mishmash?" He loved it and ate his serving and that of his wife.  The dessert became subsequently beloved!

A friend of mine, Yvonne, came over for dinner the last night to teach me some of her Chinese recipes (post to come this week!!) and I offered to make dessert in return.  Kaiserschmarrn definitely hit the spot! It may have strayed a little from the theme of the evening but, hey, we are in Bavaria so it's always fair game!

I found this recipe online and kept it pretty much the same, adding only a bit of almond extract.

Kaiserschmarrn

chefkoch.de

4 eggs, separated 

30 grams (2 1/2 tbsp) sugar 

1 pinch of salt 

2 tsp vanilla sugar (or extract)

(almond, rum or other flavor if you'd like - about 1/2 - 1 tsp)

375 mL (a little more that 1 1/2 cups) milk

125 gram (1 cup) flour 

butter for the pan (~ 1Tbsp)

powdered sugar 

As many or as few of the following:

applesauce (classic) 

jam

whipped cream

vanilla sauce 

rasins 

almond slices 

cinnamon 

let your imagination go wild...

Separate the eggs and beat the whites to stiff peaks.  

In a separate, large mixing bowl whisk the yolks, sugar, salt, vanilla, and flavor (if you are using one) together until frothy.  

Add about 1/3 of the milk and half of the flour and mix.  Add the second 1/3 of the milk and other half of the flour, mix and add the rest of the milk.  

Gently fold the egg whites into the dough with a rubber spatula.  If you want, you can add raisins at this step (better yet, let the raisins soak in rum or another liquor for awhile before incorporating them).

Allow the dough to rest at least 30 minutes to rise.  

Heat a frying pan (use a small one to make 4 individual servings or a large one to cook it all at once) to a pretty medium high heat, make sure the pan is hot before starting the cook the Schmarrn.  Melt a generous amount of butter in the pan and once it's bubbling, add the dough, either portioned or all at once.  Allow it to cook like a pancake, if you can flip the whole thing, go for it; or using your spatula, cut the cake into quarters and flip each piece separately. It won't look pretty but, that's okay, it's a mishmash :) 

Let it the other side brown and then, with your spatula or dull knives, break the pancake into bite sized pieces.  If you're feeling indulgent, add a little more butter.  Sautée the pieces until they are caramelized.  Sprinkle powdered sugar over the Kaiserschmarrn and mix again.  Transfer it to a platter or individual plates and give it another dusting of powdered sugar.  Top with desired toppings and dig in!  

Guten Appetit!

French Yogurt Cake

The French Yogurt Cake.  Dorie Greenspan, once again Brilliant.

If you've read my other posts, you'll know that Kaffee und Kuchen is by far the favorite meal of many in Studenten Stadt. It's that time of the day, we need a little break from our studies and a little time with the girls.  The gray, snowy January days make the lure of Kaffee und Kuchen so much stronger. 

I offered to host today's meeting, knowing as I typed my reply exactly what I would make: Dorie Greenspan's French Yogurt Cake.  

I've said it before, and I'll say it again, Dorie is the best.  I don't really know how or why I developed such an interest in her recipes but each and every one I have attempted has proved to be successful.  She's an incredibly smart woman and has definitely brought a lot to the culinary world.

I have read about this cake many times.  It's apparently one of the few baked goods the French will actually bake regularly at home as opposed to picking something up and one of the patisseries.  It's incredibly easy to make, requiring no special tools or skills, and is really quite rewarding.  

I don't know what to compare this to in a typical American baker's repertoire.  It's definitely not as dense as a pound cake nor as light as an angel food cake, and a little more tart than a quick bread; perhaps something like a teacake?  But then again, perhaps it can't be grouped at all; it forms it's own genre of cakes.  Bake it, you'll see. The flavors are subtle but certainly not absent; the ground almonds compliment the texture and bring an unexpected slight nuttiness, the lemon zest gives the cake an ever so subtle zing of freshness and citrus flavor, and the yogurt makes the cake perfectly moist and adds just the right amount of tartness.
Make a glaze if you want, either with a jam or simply with powdered sugar and cream, or, there is no shame is serving it au naturel.  It really doesn't need a topping, in my opinion, but typical in France (and definitely would have been nice, had I had them in the apartment) would be a slightly sweetened crème fraîche and fresh berries.

The cake got rave reviews from my guests; it hardly made it through Kaffee und Kuchen!  It really is better if you can give it time to cool to room temperature, probably even better if you can stand to leave it overnight.   

French Yogurt Cake

Dorie Greenspan 

1 cup (128g) all-purpose flour

1/2 cup (85 g) ground almonds 

2 tsp baking powder

pinch of salt 

1 cup (201 g) sugar

grated zest of one lemon 

1/2 cup (1 dl) plain yogurt

3 lg eggs 

1/4 tsp vanilla extract 

1/2 (1 dl) cup flavorless oil, such a vegetable or canola 

Preheat the oven to 350 F or 180C and butter a standard loaf pan generously.  

In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the flour, almonds, baking powder, and salt.  Set aside.

In a larger bowl, rub the sugar and lemon zest together with your fingertips. This will bring out the aromatic oils of the lemon zest (and it will smell amazing). 

Add the yogurt, the eggs, and the extract to the sugar and whisk together vigorously.  Add the dry ingredients and whisk to combine.    

Switch to a rubber scraper and fold in the oil, until just combined.  

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake 35-40 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean and the edges are starting to pull away from the sides.  

Bon Appétit! 

Das deutsche Frühstuck (and an American recipe)

I guess you could label me as a morning person.  I certainly enjoy my sleep, but somehow or other I tend to find myself getting an early start to the day.  And, it goes without saying, that breakfast is an important meal; I don't know about it being the most important meal, but it's right on up there.
The typical German breakfast is quite different from that of a typical American breakfast.  To our pancakes, bacon, bagels, eggs, sausage, cereals, etc they have fresh bread, cold cuts, cheese, yogurt and müsli.  I definitely enjoy the German breakfasts; the yogurt is unbelievably good and the bread, oh, the bread.

So much to say... take a walk down the street early in the day and just soak in the aroma emitted by the bakeries all over the city.  Low/No-Carb diets surely don't exist here.  Semmeln (crusty rolls), Brezen (pretzels), Butter-Brezen (need I translate this one?!), various Croissants, Krapfen (Donuts), the list goes on and on.  The temptation that is the German bakery is one I find similar to that of fast food or junk food in the states.  The fast food epidemic has not quite taken Germany, sure, there are McDonalds, Subways and the like scattered around the cities; but it's the bakeries that are on every corner and have lines out the doors during rush hours or after classes.  But the bread-obsession doesn't stop there; not even close.  Check out the discount grocery store, Aldi.  There's a bread vending machine, seriously.  Look at the pictures, push a button, and a warm, freshly baked Semmel, loaf, Breze, whatever is sent to you within seconds and will cost you just a few cents (0,29/ Breze!).  Or if you are planning ahead for a busy/lazy morning grab a bag of the frozen or brown and serve Semmeln to finish off in the toaster oven.  Most of the bread in Germany ist crusty, however, if you're feeling a little homesick, "American style toaster bread" is available pretty much all over.

Now the hard part, what to eat atop this glorious bread.  As I mentioned earlier, cold cuts and cheese are typical at the breakfast table.  As far as cold cuts go, I would say the most popular are some sort of "Wurst" (but not the hotdog style wurst, more like bologna), Salami, and Ham; deli Turkey exists but is rarely eaten.  The cheese is fantastic.  As sliced cheese, Berg (Mountain) Cheese, Butter Cheese or Emmenthaler (Swiss) are probably the most popular; of the spreadable variety Brie is very popular as well as Camembert and several flavored cream cheese like spreads.  Germans are certainly not afraid of butter, it will regularly be used as a condiment instead of mayonaise.  Outside of the cold-cut sandwiches, there are of course several varieties of spreads such as Nutella, Philadelphia, Exquisa (a cream based spread), jams... just to name a few.  You really can't go wrong.
The yogurt in Germany is out of this world, or I guess out of the American world!  It's on a whole different level; think creamy, super fresh, and super cheap.   With a little bit of Müsli (sort of a less sweet granola), it's a great start to the day.


But.... sometime you get a little craving for an American breakfast.  Hans, a friend from the JYM program, introduced me to this fascinating way to eat an egg: inside a slice of toast.  Brilliant.  Of course for this undertaking, we had to use the American style Toast bread.  It's super easy and looks pretty cool.

Take a regular slice of bread, cut out a circle in the middle (with a glass or just free-form it with a small knife), heat equal parts butter and evoo (I like to put a little bit of rosemary in the pan as well) and once the oil/butter is hot, add the bread and crack the egg into the middle.  Let the egg set and flip it, cook until the egg is done!  It's simple, looks pretty cool and tastes good!

Guten Appetit!