Kaiserschmarrn is the most beautiful, delicious mess of a pancake you’ll ever make, and eat (2024)

FAQs

What is a fun fact about Kaiserschmarrn? ›

Various stories surround the origins of the dish, all of which relate to the name. Kaiser is German for Emperor and Schmarrn is a colloquial expression for a mess or nonsense, often uttered in exasperation at some unfortunate situation. (Ironically, I tend to make a Schmarrn of making Kaiserschmarren.)

One of the many legends about the origin of Kaiserschmarren says that Emperor Franz Joseph I liked to have Palatschinken (pancakes) for dessert. If the cook made them too thick or torn, they were served to the staff as "Kaiserschmarrn", because they were not good enough for the Emperor.

Thereafter, the dessert was called Kaiserschmarrn across the Empire. According to this lore, Kaiserschmarrn means something along the lines of “emperor's mess.”

Kaiserschmarren is a light, caramelized pancake made from a sweet batter using flour, eggs, sugar, salt, and milk, fried in butter.

A Swedish pancake is a thin, crepe-like, pancake is that is lacy and tender and traditionally served with lingonberries or lingonberry jam. In fact, they are even sometimes called Swedish crepes. They can be rolled up for folded into quarters and eaten with whatever toppings you love.

Kaiserschmarrn is a sweet fluffy pancake, torn into small pieces, covered with powdered sugar and served with a fruit compote. You'll find this sweet treat at many Christmas markets and some restaurants, served as a dessert, not breakfast.

Our prehistoric ancestors just may have eaten pancakes.

Analyses of starch grains on 30,000-year-old grinding tools suggest that Stone Age cooks were making flour out of cattails and ferns—which, researchers guess, was likely mixed with water and baked on a hot, possibly greased, rock.

German pancakes and Dutch babies are essentially the same thing, but the dish is said to have originated in Germany, not the Netherlands. The term “Dutch baby” was coined by an American restaurateur whose use of “Dutch” was a corruption of the word “Deutsch” (“German” in German).

Literally translated “pannenkoek” is the Dutch word for pancake.

Answer and Explanation: The German translation of "pancake" is Pfannkuchen, which is pronounced /fahn-KOO-hehn/, and it is a masculine noun.

What is the meaning of French pancake? ›

For starters, some of you may say that a French pancake is a crêpe but not at all. In the great tales of Captain Baker, it is said that the French pancake is actually a mix from the sweetness of crêpes and the cakey texture of pancakes (a wise man would say it's the best of both worlds).

Blodplättar (in Swedish; blodpannekaker in Norwegian, veriohukainen, verilätty or verilettu in Finnish; verikäkk in Estonian), or blood pancakes in English are a dish served in Finland, Estonia, Sweden and Norway made of whipped blood (typically reindeer blood), water or pilsner, flour and eggs.

Palatschinke (or palaccinka, plural palatschinken) is a thin crêpe-like variety of pancake of Greco-Roman origin. The dessert is common in the Balkans, Central and Eastern Europe.

Custard became a popular food in the middle ages when it was paired with pastry to become a custard tart. The origin of the word custard actually dates back to the middle ages, coined from the French term 'croustade' originally referring to the crust of a tart, and can also be linked to the Italian word 'crostata'.

The oldest written record we have of pancakes is from ancient Greece. Around 600 BC, an ancient Greek poet described pancakes in writing. There is also evidence that suggests the ancient Romans had pancakes. Among these two groups, pancakes were usually made of flour, honey, and olive oil.