Rumtopf and Kaiserschmarrn

I had to think a bit to come up with my first exposure to the concept of rumtopf, but I found it: a New Your Times article in 2010 describing the general concept and singing its praises. Anything with rum gets my attention, and I made a mental note to investigate this concept before the next growing season came along.

In general, the directions are simple (rum + fruit + sugar), but of course we immediately started to improvise when we started the process in the spring of 2011. Rather than the large ceramic jar that seems to be the favorite of traditionalists, we went with a series of mason jars, so that we could control the batches as well as have portions suitable for gift-giving. You're going to go through a LOT of rum no matter how you do this, though; I'd guess we used between 6 and 8 bottles of rum before we were done. I used a 50/50 mix of Bacardi white and Myers's rum; I wanted the neutral rum bite of the Bacardi, but also the dark-sweet taste of the Myers's.

The general rule of thumb is to put in a layer of fruit, pour a coating of sugar over it, and then fill the container so that the rum is a half-inch above the fruit. There's no stirring or mixing, no special preservatives, refrigeration or treatments necessary; as long as the rum is above the fruit, everything's good. If you begin to see any fermentation (the usual bubbles forming), the suggestion is to spike it with a bit of 151 rum, but we never saw any evidence of anything untoward in any of our jars.

Our goal was to use all local fruits, continuing to layer fruit and sugar throughout the span of the growing season. Here's what made it into our 2011 rumtopf:

• Strawberries
• Cherries (sweet black)
• Raspberries
• Gooseberries
• Plums
• Peaches
• Apricots

Here's a handy guide to some suggested (and discouraged) fruits to put into your rumtopf.

After the last fruit made it in at the end of August, we sealed the jars, and let them sit until December. About two-thirds of them went out the door as Christmas gifts, and we're looking to use the last of the jars we have this winter, doing a new batch in 2013. Some uses that we've had for it, or that giftees have reported back:

• Deglazing lamb/fowl/pork
• Spooning over ice cream
• Blenderizing fruit and rum, stewing down to syrup and using over pancakes/waffles/crepes
• A fruity spike in drinks (champagne, sangria)
• Straining out the fruit and drinking the liquid as a cordial

...and this is where the article lay, ready to publish, until last week. I'm with my wife at IKEA, admiring the many uses for lingonberries, when Julie ooh'ed at a bag of frozen Swedish pancakes. "You know what we could make with that/" she asked, and it only took a moment to catch up to her thought.

When we're in Essen Germany for the Essen Spiel Fest, one of our dinners is at an Austrian sports bar a couple of blocks south of the hotel. Sylter Kliff features a variety of tasty foods, but the first time that we ate there, the hostess served us an off-menu treat called "Kaiserschmarr'n"("Kaiser" means "king", and "Schmarrn" has become the English word "smear"). Basically, this is caramelized thin German-style pancakes, traditionally with rum-soaked raisins and plum sauce. When it's served to us, it's one giant platter of fruity, pancakey heaven for dessert.

Kaiserschmarrn, on a squiggle serving dish, available by
special order from Contemporary Complements

So, instead of just the obligatory picture of a canning jar full of fruit floating in rum, we've got this little bit of food porn to show you. My prep was very easy (here's a recipe you can use for details): place some rumtopf liquid into a pan over low heat until syrupy. Place a handful of raisins into a small bowl and cover with rum for 30 minutes. Either cook up the pancakes, or use a few from your frozen bag from IKEA (one note: I'd sear the IKEA pancakes over a bit of heat and butter, maybe 30 seconds a side, before the next step to get them up to temperature and to put a bit of crisp into the outside of the pancakes). Honestly, a basic batter here is so simple - 1 egg, a half-cup of flour and 3/4 cup milk, adjusting the flour up slightly to thicken the pancakes - that I'd usually just make them myself (and my batter leaves out the sugar from the Allrecipes version - you won't miss it).

Tear the pancakes into large bits (inch-by-inch or a bit larger) and toss them in a pan over medium-high heat with some butter; add in the rum raisins. Once tossed a bit, add a tablespoon or so of melted butter, and then introduce powdered sugar to the pan (again, Allrecipes has specific quantities, but just imagine you're making roux, and add sugar until the butter has been absorbed). Give the pancakes a minute or two to really sear and caramelize; a few crispy bit are good for this. Transfer the pancakes to a plate, add some additional berries if desired, and then drizzle the rumtopf glaze over the top. It should look something like this:

Rum and fruit and pancakes and yum.

So: Kaiserschmarrn is a showy, fancy Austrian dessert that's really easy to make and looks impressive, and it's a great use for rumtopf. And rumtopf is as easy as anything you can make, and it really is drinking or eating a bit of summer. If you have access to fresh fruit, and you're a fan of rum, I can't recommend this enough!