Vegan Kaiserschmarrn (English Recipe) — Plantbasedredhead (2024)

Vegan Kaiserschmarrn – a classic fluffy dessert from Austria that could be described as shredded pancakes, topped with powdered sugar, and served with a fruit compote. In this vegan but still authentic recipe, Kaiserschmarrn does not contain any eggs at all. Instead, it is prepared with aquafaba, which brings it very close to the original. On the side, there is a strawberry and rhubarb compote. I am happy to share with you my recipe in English and show you how to make a veganized version of delicious Austrian Kaiserschmarrn.

Kaiserschmarrn – what is it?

Kaiserschmarrn is a classic Austrian dessert that is eaten both as a dessert and as a main dish (my preferred route, hehehe). One possible description would be scrambled or shredded pancake. But that’s not entirely true. Kaiserschmarrn usually contains a lot of eggs, I think more than pancakes, and the egg whites are beaten separately to make it fluffy. For vegan Kaiserschmarrn we will beat aquafaba, more about it below.

On the opposite of pancakes, Kaiserschmarrn doesn’t have any baking powder in the dough. Further, the dough is poured into the pan quite thick and gets fried slowly on low to medium heat, sometimes finished in the oven (I skip this part). It is often made with (rum-soaked) raisins and is usually caramelized a bit with some extra sugar until it is nicely golden brown.

Before serving, it is sprinkled with more powdered sugar, and usually served with stewed plums, plum compote (“Zwetschkenröster”) *), or applesauce. But you can eat it with any other compote, like strawberry and rhubarb compote, for which I share the easy and delicious recipe with you in this post.

Celebrity fan

There are some legends about the history of Kaiserschmarrn. Whatever it is: the namesake is always taken into account. Emperor Franz Joseph should have been very fond of this dish. Emperor, by the way, means Kaiser in German. So if you are wondering of the meaning and want to know what Kaiserschmarrn is in English, it could be translated as “Emperor’s Mess”.

By the way: If you like the Austrian cuisine, be sure to check out the other vegan Austrian recipes I shared so far. And if you were wondering about the origin of Kaiserschmarrn. It is a traditional Austrian dessert and is often connected with Vienna, Tyrol, or Bad Ischl. But it is also known in close by Bavaria, so you might find German Kaiserschmarrn recipes as well.

Thanks to Aquafaba

Let’s get back to the ingredients. I mentioned Aquafaba before and wanted to tell you a little bit more about it: Aquafaba refers to the water in which legumes have been cooked (from Latin: aqua for water and faba for beans). In vegan cuisine, this usually means the water from cooking chickpeas. It is slightly thick and jelly-like, which according to Wikipedia has to do with the proteins that transfered into the water. Therefore, Aquafaba can be whipped up really nice and fluffy – just like egg white. It gets so stiff too! If I hadn’t done it myself, several times, I would hardly believe it. And it doesn’t taste weird like chickpeas or anything.

You can make aquafaba out of the liquid from a chickpea can, or from the cooking water of home-cooked chickpeas, unless you cook them with baking soda (so that the chickpeas soften faster). In this case, it has not worked for me so far (I had 2-3 attempts, now I just let it go).

Aquafaba is definitely one more reason to make hummus yourself.

As mentioned before, Kaiserschmarrn is usually made with raisins, mostly with (rum) soaked raisins. Even if I love raisins, it gets a bit too sweet for me in combination with a compote.

Speaking of the compote: Incidentally, it is a little more than you would need for two to three servings of vegan Kaiserschmarrn. I like to eat the leftover compote just like it is. Or use it as a topping on porridge. Or eat it with plain yogurt… Believe me: you won’t be sad to have a little leftover.