Whole Wheat Apple Cinnamon Kaiserchmarn

I bet you are wondering what in the world a Kaiserchmarn is, aren’t you?  Many years ago I worked with a girl from Germany who was just as big a foodie as I was and we got to talking about our favorite foods.  She described a wonderful creation that was a cross between a crepe and a pancake that could be filled with fruit, jam, or even chocolate and then rolled up and covered in powdered sugar.  It sounded too good to not try it for myself.  The original recipe uses raisins but the variations are endless.  You could add chocolate chips, cranberries, etc and use different flavorings like vanilla or a citrus or almond extract.  Our usual preference is to fill with jam and sprinkle with powdered sugar.  Since we went to the apple orchard this week, we had a huge jar of apple preserves to use up so we added cinnamon to go with it.

I usually use regular white flour for this recipe but decided to see how it would work with whole wheat flour.  I used half and half and it had a nuttier taste and a slightly chewier texture than when I make it with white flour but was absolutely delicious.  Replacing half of your white flour with whole wheat is a great way to add fiber to your diet and many recipes will still turn out fine.

For this recipe, you really have to whisk the batter quite briskly to get rid of the lumps.  And you MUST use real butter for frying.  It just does not taste the same if you try and use a low fat substitute!  After whisking the batter in the bowl, transfer to a large measuring cup to make pouring it easier.   You will get approximately one Kaiserchmarn per egg if you make them rather large or 1 1/2 per egg if you make them smaller.  6 eggs will make enough to feed our family of 4 for dinner if we serve them with fruit and sausage.

Whole Wheat Apple Cinnamon Kaiserchmarn

Ingredients:

6 eggs

1 cup milk

¾ cup whole wheat flour

¾ cup regular flour

3/8 cup sugar

1/4 tsp cinnamon

Butter for frying

1 cup apple preserves

Powdered sugar and cinnamon for dusting

Directions:

1.  Add eggs and milk in a large bowl and beat with wire whisk

2.  Add flours, cinnamon and sugar and mix until batter is smooth.  This takes a little bit of work and I get better results whisking by hand than beating with my mixer.  You want a relatively thin batter so if is too thick and doesn’t spread in the pan when you pour add more milk.

3. Heat a nonstick frying pan over medium heat and add a small amount of butter to coat the pan.

4. Pour enough batter into the pan so that it just covers the bottom.  Swirl for better coverage if needed.  Let cook until top is starting to look dry and bottom is golden.

5.  Flip Kaiserchmarn and cook 2 to 3 minutes on the other side.  Remove to a cookie sheet set in a low oven to keep warm while you repeat the process with the remaining batter.

6.  When all Kaiserchmarn are cooked, remove from the oven.

7.  Take a Kaiserchmarn and lay it on a plate.  Spread it with the apple preserves and roll up.

8. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and cinnamon

Serves 4 people