By Wolfgang Puck
Tribune Content Agency
If there’s one important cooking lesson I learned from my mother, it’s that you can always do little things to make a recipe you like into something even better. Thinking back to afternoons spent watching her at work in our home kitchen, I can see her always tasting and adjusting seasonings, often quickly improvising based on a seasonal ingredient or simply some sudden inspiration she had.
The results, needless to say, were always delicious. It’s her early influence, and the delicious food both she and my grandmother made, that played a big role in my career path to becoming a chef.
Kaiserschmarren is a traditional Austrian dish that is also very versatile.
So, I’m happy to share a new version of a recipe I often ate as a child in my mother’s kitchen; one that often evolved based on available ingredients and my mother’s whim. The recipe is for a traditional Austrian dish called Kaiserschmarren (literally, the Emperor’s shreds or mess).
The name describes the fact that, fancy though it looks when it comes out of the oven, this fluffy hybrid of a souffle and a pancake is traditionally torn into rough pieces for serving. I’m sure that my mother loved to serve it to us children not only because it was delicious but also because of its versatility. She could make for dessert or as an economical one-dish supper.
In that versatile spirit, I would like to suggest that you prepare Kaiserschmarren for Mother’s Day, as a breakfast or brunch main dish, a light supper or a special dessert.
Mother always served Kaiserschmarren with some sort of fresh fruit compote: apples in autumn or winter, for example, or plump berries in springtime or summer. That’s one great example of the way she often improvised.
Following my mother’s example, I’ve gone on evolving the Kaiserschmarren recipe she handed down to me. Over the years, I’ve added more eggs to make it even less like a pancake and more like a souffle. The recipe here even differs from a version I shared eight years ago, now containing a slightly higher proportion of egg whites to yolks for even fluffier results (plus a touch of cream of tartar to help stabilize those beaten whites), and a touch of vanilla for more flavor.
To make this version extra special, I’ve also decided to feature fresh cherries in the compote instead of the strawberries I often use. Right now, you should be able to find cherries in many farmers’ markets and food stores; if not, you could always switch back to berries.
I hope you’ll add this to your own recipe book. My mom would have been pleased to know it!
KAISERSCHMARREN WITH FRESH CHERRY COMPOTE
Serves 6 to 8
For the Kaiserschmarren:
1/2 cup (125 mL) seedless raisins
6 tablespoons dark rum
2 cups (500 mL) creme fraiche
1 1/2 cups (375 mL) granulated sugar, divided, plus extra for coating
8 large eggs, separated
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
Pinch kosher salt
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature, for coating
For the cherry compote:
4 cups (1 L) pitted fresh cherries
1/4 cup (60 mL) freshly squeezed orange juice
1 tablespoon finely grated orange zest
1/4 cup (60 ml) granulated sugar
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Confectioners’ sugar, for serving
Position a rack in the center of the oven. Preheat the oven to 425 F (220 C). Meanwhile, put the raisins and rum in a small bowl and leave the raisins to plump for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Drain off excess rum, reserving 1 tablespoon of rum.
Put the creme fraiche, 1/2 cup (125 mL) of the sugar, the egg yolks, plumped raisins, the 1 tablespoon rum and the vanilla extract in a mixing bowl. Whisk until blended. Sprinkle in the flour, stir, and set aside.
Put the egg whites in a large, clean mixing bowl. Add the cream of tartar and salt. With a hand-held electric mixer on medium speed and clean beaters, beat the whites until thick and foamy. Then, still beating, gradually sprinkle in the remaining 1 cup (250 mL) sugar. Continue beating until soft peaks form when the beaters are lifted out.
With a large spoon, drop a generous dollop of the beaten egg whites into the egg yolk batter. With a flexible rubber spatula, gently fold the whites into the batter to lighten it. Spoon the remaining meringue over the batter and gently but thoroughly fold it in.
With a brush or clean fingers, spread the butter inside a medium-sized ovenproof skillet to coat it evenly. Evenly sprinkle in enough additional granulated sugar to coat the butter, turning the pan for even distribution; then, gently tap out any excess sugar.
With the spatula, gently scrape the batter into the prepared skillet and smooth the top. Bake in the preheated oven until the mixture puffs up and turns golden brown on top, and it feels springy when very gently and quickly touched at its center, 10 to 12 minutes.
While the souffle bakes, make the cherry compote: In a nonreactive skillet, stir together the pitted cherries, orange juice and zest, granulated sugar, lemon juice and vanilla. Cook over medium-low heat just until heated through and the cherries have begun to give up some of their juices, stirring to help the sugar dissolve and mashing a few of the cherries to help thicken the sauce, about 5 minutes. Keep warm.
To serve, divide the compote among 6 to 8 serving plates. With a large serving spoon, scoop up large dollops of the souffle, distributing it evenly on top of the compote. Dust generously with confectioners’ sugar. Serve immediately.
(c) 2019 WOLFGANG PUCK WORLDWIDE, INC. DISTRIBUTED BY TRIBUNE CONTENT AGENCY, LLC.