Hot chocolate with whipped cream

I mentioned in an earlier post that Elizabeth (The House in Marrakesh) and I stopped at the Viennese inspired café at Neue Galerie.  It reminded us of Merisi’s Vienna for Beginners.  The café serves authentic Viennese specialities, traditional Austrian dishes, and patisserie like strudel and Linzertorte.  An extremely cold day, we both ordered hot chocolate with whipped cream.  Mmmm!  That certainly hit the spot.   Elizabeth ordered ham on country bread with crispy crusts with mustard spread.  Very delicious. 

We arrived at the café early and it was a good idea because a short time later, it became crowded.  Hours later, a line formed to dine at there.  Next time, I’ll make sure to go there with a big appetite.

Paz 
 

Open ham sandwich on country bread

This Sunday’s New York Times has an article out on dining in Austria, and our friend and fellow blogger, Angelika of The Flying Apple is a major part of the article.  She recently opened her own restaurant, which she has blogged about on her site. 

Quite some time ago, she sent me an Austrian cookbook (recipes from the Austro-Hungarian Royal Kitchen).  I hadn’t been able to try out any of the recipes, although I’d picked up the cookbook to look for something to make after recently watching The Sound of Music (which takes place in Austria).  I never had time to prepare my Austrian meal.

With news of Angelika’s article in theTimes, I had to prepare something Austrian in her honor.  For a Sunday morning, I decided to prepare the Kaiser Pancakes.  The ingredients were readily available to me, except for plum purée.  I bought blueberry preserves to use as a substitution for the plum puree.  However,  by the time I’d finished making my pancakes, I was starved and couldn’t wait to eat my food.  I forgot all about the preserves.  Next time. 

Anywho, my Kaiser Pancakes didn’t turn out badly at all.  In fact, I loved them.  It tasted really good.  As I closed my eyes and savored the taste of my pancakes, I imagined I was part of the royalty enjoying my meal.  My imagination lasted, until I had to get up and wash my own dishes.  

Congratulations, Angelika on a very nice article and all your accomplishments.

Best,

Paz

Kaiser Pancakes (Kaiserschmarren)

Imperial Austrian Cuisine by Renate Wagner-Wittula

Ingredients:

6 eggs

200 g (7oz) cake or pastry flour

50 g (1 1/2 oz) sugar

250 ml (8 fluid oz) milk

pinch of salt

40 g (1 oz) raisins

butter

confectioners’ sugar (powdered)

plum purée

Preparation:

Separate the egg whites from the yolks.  Thouroughly mix the yolks, sugar, milk and flour.  Whisk the egg whites, add a pinch of salt and continue whisking until stiff.  Now, carefully fold into the egg yolk mixture.  Melt butter in a large pan, pour in the mixture and sprinkle in raisins.  Let cook on one side for a few minutes, turn over and tear into pieces with a fork.  Now let finish cooking (ideally in a buttered pan in a preheated oven(.  Be especially careful not to overcook the pancakes, otherwise they will dry out.  Sprinkle with confectioners’ sugar and serve with plum purée.