Dear Reader,
Back in 2009, I spent a semester abroad in Rome through my university. While our weekdays were filled with classes on campus, weekends were ours to explore Italy and beyond. Like many adventurous 20-year-olds, we made the most of them.
One chilly February weekend, a friend and I took a trip to Vienna, packing as much as we could into just three days.
During a tour of Schönbrunn Palace, I picked up a very touristy cookbook in the gift shop called “Austrian Cuisine: The Best Dishes and Desserts”. Looking at it now, I’m pretty sure it’s the kind of book made specifically for museum gift shops—but it still lives on my shelf as a little souvenir from an unforgettable weekend exploring a new country.
I decided it was time to actually make something from the book—it couldn’t just sit on the shelf gathering dust.
I chose Palatschinken, the Austrian version of pancakes. The book suggests two classic fillings: apricot jam and sweet cheese.
While we typically think of pancakes as a breakfast food in the U.S., in Austria they’re often served as a “sweet lunch.” In fact, Austria has an entire tradition of sweet main dishes. This custom developed from the Catholic practice of abstaining from meat on Fridays. As a result, dishes like pancakes, sweet dumplings, strudels, and sugary noodle bakes became common substitutes.
The first filling is simple and perfect for a quick meal or dessert: make a batch of pancakes, spread them with apricot jam mixed with rum, roll them up, sprinkle with powdered sugar, and enjoy. The rum adds just enough depth to the jam to make them feel special.
The sweet cheese version is more like a baked casserole. I really should start reading recipes all the way through before cooking, because I kept getting surprised by each new step, like beating egg whites and folding them into the filling. It wasn’t that the recipe was difficult, just more involved than I expected for pancakes.
Once the filling is made, you just smear it on the pancakes, roll them up, slice them in half, and nestle them cut side up into a casserole dish. They bake for a bit, and then you pour over a mix of eggs, sour cream, sugar, and milk. It all bakes together into something warm, creamy, and incredibly comforting. This is the kind of food Oma would serve you, the kind that lingers in your memory long into adulthood.
I hope you’ll make these for a Friday lunch sometime, or for a comforting Sunday morning breakfast. The casserole version takes a little more effort, but it’s absolutely worth it.
Until next time, happy baking!
Kristin
P.S. You can print these recipe cards from your desktop. If you save each week’s recipe, just imagine how much you’ll have “Baked Across Europe” by the end of the year. 😉