A warm plate of Kaiserschmarrn, a dusting of icing sugar, and everyone reaching for the piece with the golden edge. That contrast is the point: lightly browned outside, soft inside. Here’s a home version that needs no oven. And if it breaks when you turn it, congratulations: for once, that’s part of the plan.

Ingredients and tools for two

You’ll need four eggs, 100 g plain flour, 200 ml milk, one sachet of vanilla sugar and a pinch of salt. Have clarified butter or neutral oil for the pan and icing sugar to finish. Add around 50 g raisins if you like them; apple sauce or fruit compote is optional.

Use two bowls, an electric whisk or balloon whisk, a roughly 28 cm non-stick frying pan and two suitable spatulas. Whisking the whites by hand takes longer but works. With a smaller pan, cook more batches rather than one deep layer.

1. Make the batter

Separate the eggs and whisk the whites to stiff peaks in a clean, grease-free bowl. In the other bowl, mix the yolks, milk, flour, vanilla sugar and salt until smooth. Fold in the whites gently with a spoon or spatula, adding raisins now if using. Put the electric whisk aside at this stage: keeping that air in the batter is what gives you a soft, light middle.

2. Cook and turn

Warm a little fat over medium heat and pour in half the batter. Let the underside become golden before lifting an edge to check. When it releases, divide it into four with the spatulas and turn each quarter separately. Much easier than a dramatic pan flip. Cook until the centre is no longer wet, lowering the heat if the outside colours too quickly.

3. Tear and serve

Break the cooked quarters into bite-size pieces and turn them briefly in the pan to colour the new edges. Move onto plates, dust with icing sugar and repeat with the remaining batter. Serve straight away while those edges are still warm and lightly crisp.

Getting the texture right

A dense result can mean the whites lost their air during mixing: finish the base batter before folding them in. Dark edges with a raw centre mean the heat needs turning down. Cook through gently rather than adding more fat. Uneven shapes, on the other hand, are absolutely fine here.