The most beautiful mess an your plate – The Kaiserschmarrn

There are many myths about one of the most famous Austrian sweet dishes, The Kaiserschmarrn. We won’t ever be certain where the name really came from. Nevertheless, The Kaiserschmarrn has always been my culinary silver lining on each and every day out on the slopes of Ski amadé. And when my hunger is as mighty as the majestic Dachstein, it’s the most welcome remedy.

During the pandemic we entertained ourselves watching our skiing videos and immediately felt hungry for a certain dish. Do I need to tell you which one? Home-made with love it was, but of course not competitive enough with the original from our most favorite hut in Ski amadé.

If you translate the German word into English, you end up with the Emperor’s Mess. A very royal name for a rather simple dessert. So, what is the background story of those calories from heaven?

History Version No. 1

One version of the internet is that the Emperor of Austria (one of the many) loved pancakes. His chef had had a bad day and his pancakes were a complete failure. Being under pressure (stress was not invented recently!), he threw in raisins and piled up the sugar. The servants shrugged and served a plate of mess, which ultimately became the Emperor’s Mess. Sweet!

The Ski amadé Kaiserschmarrn I am talking about traveled all the way to Japan into the kitchen of a good friend of mine. She was delighted watching our video footage from the mountains and its delicatessen and asked for the recipe. We had it translated and popped it in the post. That’s how the mess found its way to Nippon.

History Version No. 2

In Japan, emperors are still en vogue and the royal family admired and loved. I will have to share another Kaiserschmarrn tale with my Japanese friend soon. Another old saying is that the dish was originally created for Empress Elizabeth of Austria: Sissi. In modern terms, Sissi would be on Instragram showing off her toned and skinny body, bragging about her workouts and showing off her tiny waistline. It goes without saying that she was not a fan of those calories, a pile of sugared pancakes with a load of plum sauce. She found them a “tad bit rich”. Her husband was less picky and said: “Well, then give me that mess that came out of the kitchen today again.”

By the way, we only want to mention the ingredients; eggs, flour, milk, raisins… and SOME butter. Go have a try yourself! We recommend an original somewhere on high altitude. Your taste buds will be be dancing!