Kaiserschmarrn – Emperor’s Mix/Nonsense: Guest Post by Healthy Foodie Travels

Hi folks. Today I have a special treat for you. Today is blog swap day! So what does this mean you ask? Well, it means the lovely and talented Kiri from Healthy Foodie Travels is going to be sharing a delightful recipe with you. Kiri is an amazing gal I met through blogging. She is fun, witty and always on point with her recipes. She shares many foods I have never heard of or seen. It is such a learning experience visiting her blog. The history and ties to travels always make me want to jet off somewhere fabulous for some local eats. Kiri is incredibly supportive of other bloggers and always has a warm embrace for everyone who visits. It's one of those blogs you come away from in a good mood, feeling like you can tackle any recipe put in front of you. For my part of this swap I shall be sharing Haupia Cake from Hawaii over at Kiri's blog. So be sure to pop over when you finish reading her post to see the scrumptious coconuty goodness I whipped up. There's even some pictures. Of me. I know right. Shocking for sure. Granted they are old and have some weird hair happening but they are pictures just the same. And now I hand the keys to the kingdom, or asylum as the case may be over to Kiri. Please give her a warm welcome.

I declare this Asylum my new property. Behold the German flags I have erected to mark my mighty claim! Cower and shiver at the prospect of my new eternal rule!

Just kidding. It’s blog swap day! I met Kim a while ago, and while she likes to think she’s crazy as can be, she really is just one of the sweetest, most helpful and kindest bloggers around.  That, and her dishes make me swoon. While Kim is nice enough to cook up some delicious Island food over on my humble blog, she invited me to do a guest post for her here, today. So let me introduce myself – I’m Kiri from Healthy Foodie Travels. I’m a 20-something expat German that dabbles with tuberculosis research when not eating, and I love to drool at all that Kim posts about. Normally, I focus on healthy dishes. Not so much today. Today we shall indulge, but to keep the traveling theme going, we'll indulge Austrian-style.

I present to you: Kaiserschmarrn. Literally, that means something like Emperor’s Mix if you look at it in Austrian German, though regular Germans would take it to mean Emperor’s Nonsense.  The closest description I can give you is caramelized egg pancake scramble. There’s a lot of overlap in cuisine in desserts between Southern Germany, Austria and Hungary, and this is a dessert I whipped up as a child when I would periodically take over the kitchen and dining room and pretend it was my own restaurant called “Chat Noir”. I’m serious. I painted menus and all. I can’t say it was always delicious, but there was always love in the dishes! Back to Kaiserschmarrn, or more precisely, Schmarrn for Austrian emperor Franz Joseph I (1830-1916). As the story goes, empress Elisabeth, a German, wanted lighter fare for her dessert, clearly being my kind of easily-gaining-weight lady. The royal chef attempted to obey, and came up with the here presented dish. The Empress took one bit, harrumphed and refused to eat the rest because it was too rich for her, and, if this is the royal chef’s best shot, I’m inclined to excuse her behavior. The emperor however did not, and in a show of superiority declared he would try the royal chef’s “Schmarrn” instead. Apparently he liked it, for he finished the plate and the dessert became a staple across Austria-Hungary and Southern Germany.

Kaiserschmarrn – Emperor’s Mix/Nonsense

Ingredients for one (large) serving:3 eggs
2 tbsp all purpose flour
½ cup milk
3 tbsp butter or butterschmalz
3 tbsp raisins
1 oz rum
¼ cup powdered sugar
½ cup raspberry or strawberry preserve

1. Soak raisins in rum for several hours. (This is important. Trust me. You want them well soaked!)
2. Melt butter in a pan over medium-high heat. (Look at it. Mmmm.)

3. Stir eggs with salt, then add flour, stir well, add milk, stir well. Add raisins, stir. (The mixture might appear a bit grainy, but trust me, it works.)
4. Pour batter into melted butter and cook until browned.

5. Flip, cook until other side is browned.
6. At this point, all the butter should be well cooked into the caramelized pancake. Scramble with a spatula.

7. Serve topped with powdered sugar and preserve. Feast like an emperor.

Okay, so was I right or was I right?? This gal can cook and entertain you. This dish looks delicious. I bet hubs would gobble this up right quick. Thank you so much for blog swapping with me today Kiri. It has been a pleasure. Folks I encourage you to follow Healthy Foodie Travels . You will be so glad you did. This lady is amazing. 


Make sure you stop by Kiri's blog to see what I made for her. It's a traditional Hawaiian dish that will blow your mind. It looks like this:

This is a Haupia sponge cake.

I also did traditional Haupia in bite size squares.

Toodles and smoochies.xx