Tuesday 23 October 2012

Vegan Kaiserschmarrn (German Torn Pancakes)


I have been particularly enjoying the excuse to make lots of pancakes for breakfast during German month. Even though in countries such as Germany pancakes are served more as a dessert than a breakfast, I still can't help making these recipes for my breakfast. Earlier in the month I made some German Apple Pancakes which were a bit of an eye opener to me - because they made me realise I should have been experimenting with putting fruits in my pancakes, but for some reason I wasn't! Well, I've learnt my lesson now and I think you will be seeing a lot more fun and fruity pancake variations from me, I'll call it the Germany Month legacy.

These pancakes were inspired by a recipe in one of my older editions of SBS Feast magazine. If SBS was a person then I think we would be awesome friends. Why? Because we have so much in common! We both love world things -
~different cultures - history and stories,
~wonderful food - where it comes from, how it is made
~AND most importantly the love child of those two things: world + food = world food!

Sometimes I dream that SBS will give me a job travelling the world presenting a food show. Then I wake up and realise that this is the real world - but hey, I can dream. That's my dream job - what's yours?


Vegan Kaiserschmarrn
Adapted from Feast Magazine Issue 11 (July 2012)

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup soy milk
1 cup soda water
7 tbsp non dairy margarine (such as nuttelex)
2 large granny smith apples, peeled, cored and thinly sliced (don't do this too far in advance though, or the apples will go brown)
Icing sugar for sprinkling

To Make
1. Combine the flour, baking powder and cinnamon in a bowl. Make a well in the middle and add the soy milk and soda water. Stir with a whisk until batter is a smooth consistency (it doesn't matter if it's not completely smooth, as long as all the ingredients are combined).
2. Heat a large frypan over a medium heat and add 1 tbsp margarine.
3. Add about 1/4 of the batter to the pan at a time, you will need to cook them in 2 batches. Flip the pancakes after about 2-3 minutes, or when bubbles appear all around the edge of the pancake and the bottom looks golden brown.
4. Add an extra tbsp of margarine to the pan and cook the second batch. Once cooked set the pancakes aside.


5. Return the saucepan to the heat and add 2 tbsp of the margarine. Add the sliced apples and cook for about 4 minutes over a medium heat, stirring frequently, until slightly softened. 
6. Tear the pancake into pieces - if they're not too hot then you can use your hands, if they are still very hot then you can use 2 forks.
7. Increase the heat to high and add an additional 3 tbsp margarine along with the torn pancake pieces.
8. Cook, stirring occasionally for 3-5 minutes or until the pancake pieces are golden.
9. Transfer to a serving plate and dust with icing sugar to serve.

Serves 2-3.

NOTES
~ This recipe doesn't have any sweeteners added (except the dusting of sugar at the end) so it main sweetening element are the delicious apples. If you have a crazy sweet tooth then you can add a touch of sugar to the batter or a drizzle of maple syrup at the end - but I recommend trying them without first, because they are perfectly balanced as they are!




7 comments:

  1. My dream job is an internet billionaire. It could happen right?

    ReplyDelete
  2. I wish someone would pay me to eat cupcakes. I think 'cupcake taster' would be the best job in the world haha.

    These pancakes look amazing - I am definitely going to give these a try!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I like the sound of your dream job :) I think my dream job would be one of those presenters on Getaway - going to holiday destinations for work? YES PLEASE!! Hehe. These pancakes look great - will have to give them a try for a weekend brekky :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. I love the look of these pancakes, though! Did you think about making potato pancakes for German month? They were one of my favourite things about growing up. Even though they're a savoury dish had at meal times, we would most often have them sprinkled with sugar. Personally, I like mine with a big dollop of apfelmus! :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I did have potato pancakes on my list of things to make, but I ran out of time. I would love to try them though, I'll have to give them a a go some day. The kaiserschmarrn were amazing though!

      Delete
  5. Your Kaiserschmarrn looks fantastic!

    Although my father is probably turning in his sleep right now, just having his daughter thinking of doing vegan Kaiserschmarrn, when he's spent years perfecting the beating of the eggs, to make it extra fluffy :)

    This recipe makes me really happy! We Central Europeans don't really have a lot of vegan recipes...
    Thank you!!

    PS: Oh and not that it makes a big difference, but this is very much an Austrian, not German dish :)
    (and name, not fancy and proper enough for the Germans)

    ReplyDelete
  6. This is Austrian, not German. Looks good just the same!

    ReplyDelete