Chef Elsa
Apfelradeln
Thick apple rings in a light, eggy batter, fried golden in butter and oil, then buried under cinnamon sugar while they're still hot enough to melt it on contact.
Culinary Explorer
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Palatschinken mit Marillenmarmelade
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Thin, golden Palatschinken rolled around warm Marillenmarmelade and dusted with powdered sugar at the table, the way Viennese grandmothers have been making Tuesday night feel special for generations.
Desserts
Austrian
Weeknight
Quick Meal
Comfort Food
15 min
Active Time
20 min cook•35 min total
Yield4 servings (about 8 Palatschinken)
In my grandmother Eva's kitchen in Kent, Palatschinken were the first thing Gretel trusted me to make on my own. I was maybe eight. The batter is forgiving, she told me, and the pan does most of the work. She was right. I burned the first one, ate it standing at the stove with jam on my chin, and the second one came out golden. That's the thing about Palatschinken. They reward you almost immediately.
Don't call them crepes. I know they look similar. The batter is close. But Palatschinken belong to a different tradition, one that came to Vienna through Hungary and Bohemia and became the foundation of an entire family of Austrian desserts. Fill them with Topfen and bake them and you have Topfenpalatschinken. Layer them with chocolate cream and you have Palatschinkentorte. But the simplest and, I think, the most honest version is this one: warm Marillenmarmelade, a generous roll, a snowfall of powdered sugar. That's it. That's dinner if you want it to be, because in Austria, Mehlspeisen are not an afterthought. They are a meal.
The batter needs to rest. Twenty minutes, minimum. The flour has to absorb the liquid fully or your first Palatschinke will be grainy and thick when it should be silky and thin. Use that time to warm your jam, set the table, pour yourself a glass of wine. When you come back to the bowl, the batter will have changed. It will pour like cream and coat the pan in one smooth turn of the wrist. You'll know it when you feel it.
The word Palatschinken comes from the Romanian plăcintă by way of Hungarian palacsinta, tracing a clear path through the Habsburg empire's eastern provinces into the Viennese kitchen. By the 19th century, Palatschinken had become one of the pillars of Viennese Mehlspeisen, appearing in dozens of variations across cookbooks and Kaffeehaus menus. Katharina Prato's foundational 1858 cookbook 'Die Süddeutsche Küche' lists over a dozen fillings, from apricot jam to ground walnuts to curd cheese, confirming that even then this was a dish with a family tree, not a single recipe.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
plain flour
Quantity
150g
eggs
Quantity
2 large
whole milk
Quantity
250ml
sparkling mineral water
Quantity
50ml
granulated sugar
Quantity
1 tablespoon
vanilla sugar (Vanillezucker)
Quantity
1 teaspoon
salt
Quantity
pinch
unsalted butter
Quantity
for frying
Marillenmarmelade (apricot jam)
Quantity
200g
powdered sugar
Quantity
for dusting
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| plain flour | 150g |
| eggs | 2 large |
| whole milk | 250ml |
| sparkling mineral water | 50ml |
| granulated sugar | 1 tablespoon |
| vanilla sugar (Vanillezucker) | 1 teaspoon |
| salt | pinch |
| unsalted butter | for frying |
| Marillenmarmelade (apricot jam) | 200g |
| powdered sugar | for dusting |
Equipment Needed
- •Non-stick pan or seasoned crepe pan (24cm)
- •Thin spatula or palette knife
- •Small ladle
- •Fine-mesh sieve for dusting sugar
Instructions
- 1
Make the batter
Whisk the eggs and sugar together in a bowl until the sugar dissolves. Add the milk and sparkling water, then sift in the flour gradually, whisking as you go. Add the Vanillezucker and the pinch of salt. Whisk until completely smooth. The batter should be thin, about the consistency of pouring cream. If it feels thick, add a splash more milk. Don't worry about getting it exact. You'll know after the first Palatschinke whether you need to thin it.
The sparkling water is Gretel's trick. The bubbles create tiny air pockets in the batter that make the finished Palatschinken lighter and more tender. Still water works, but sparkling water works better. - 2
Rest the batter
Cover the bowl and let the batter rest for at least twenty minutes at room temperature. This is not a suggestion. The flour needs time to fully absorb the liquid and the gluten needs to relax. A rested batter spreads evenly and produces Palatschinken that are silky and thin. An unrested batter gives you something thick and grainy that tears when you try to roll it.
- 3
Warm the Marillenmarmelade
While the batter rests, warm the apricot jam gently in a small saucepan over low heat, stirring occasionally. You want it loose enough to spread easily but not bubbling. If your jam has large pieces of fruit, break them up with a spoon. The jam should coat the back of a Palatschinke smoothly, not sit on it in lumps.
- 4
Fry the Palatschinken
Heat a 24cm non-stick pan or well-seasoned crepe pan over medium heat. Add a small knob of butter and swirl it until it coats the surface. Lift the pan off the heat, pour in a small ladleful of batter, and immediately tilt and rotate the pan so the batter runs across the entire base in a thin, even layer. Put it back on the heat. Cook until the edges begin to lift and turn golden, about sixty to ninety seconds. Slide a thin spatula under the Palatschinke and flip it. Cook the second side for thirty seconds more. The first side should be evenly golden. The second side will be spotted and paler. That's correct. The golden side faces out when you roll.
The first Palatschinke is always a test. Professional kitchens call it the one for the cook. If it's too thick, add a splash of milk to the batter. If it's too pale, raise the heat slightly. Adjust and keep going. - 5
Fill and roll
Lay each finished Palatschinke golden side down on a plate. Spread a generous spoonful of warm Marillenmarmelade across the surface, leaving a small border at the edges. Roll it up tightly from one side. Don't fold it like an envelope. A Palatschinke with Marmelade is rolled, not wrapped. The jam should peek out from the ends. Line up the finished rolls on a warm serving plate, seam side down.
- 6
Dust and serve
Dust the rolled Palatschinken generously with powdered sugar at the table. Use a fine sieve and be liberal. The sugar should settle across the plate like a first snow. Serve immediately while the jam is still warm inside. No sauce, no cream, no garnish. The apricot jam and the thin, buttery pancake are the whole story. Mahlzeit!
Chef Tips
- •Your jam matters here more than your technique. Good Marillenmarmelade made from Wachau apricots has a sharp, almost tangy sweetness that cuts through the buttery Palatschinke. If you're using a generic supermarket jam, add a squeeze of lemon juice to wake it up. The fruit flavor needs to push back against the richness.
- •Butter the pan lightly between every Palatschinke. A paper towel dipped in melted butter works better than dropping a knob in the pan. Too much butter pools in the center and makes the batter slide around instead of coating evenly.
- •If you want to serve these for a proper Viennese weeknight Mehlspeisen dinner, count three Palatschinken per person. Austrians eat Palatschinken as a main course, not as a dainty dessert after something else. A clear soup beforehand if you're feeling formal, but the Palatschinken are the point.
- •Gretel always said Palatschinken should be thin enough to read a newspaper through. You probably won't get there on your first try. Your second batch will be better, and by your third, you'll be tilting the pan without thinking about it.
Advance Preparation
- •The batter can be made up to 24 hours ahead and refrigerated. Give it a good whisk before using, as it will thicken overnight. Add a splash of milk if needed to bring it back to pouring cream consistency.
- •Palatschinken can be stacked between sheets of baking paper and kept at room temperature for an hour, or refrigerated for a day. Reheat briefly in a warm pan before filling. They lose their tenderness if you microwave them.
- •Marillenmarmelade can be warmed and kept in a covered pot for up to an hour without losing quality.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 185g)
Calories
420 calories
Total Fat
11 g
Saturated Fat
6 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
5 g
Cholesterol
120 mg
Sodium
100 mg
Total Carbohydrates
71 g
Dietary Fiber
1 g
Sugars
36 g
Protein
9 g
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