Kaiserschmarrn (Austrian Torn Pancake with Raisins)

Method

1. 1Soak the raisins. Put the 30 g of raisins in a small bowl, pour over 1 tbsp of dark rum and stir. Leave them while you make the batter, about 15 minutes. By then they look plump and glossy and only a little liquid is left. Soaked raisins stay juicy in the hot pan instead of drying out.
2. 2Make the yolk batter. Separate the 3 eggs (about 50 g each without the shell). Put the whites into a large, clean bowl with no trace of grease or yolk, and the yolks into a second large bowl. To the yolks add the 8 g of vanilla sugar, ¼ tsp of salt and 100 ml of the 150 ml of whole milk, and whisk. Add the 75 g of plain wheat flour (not self-raising) and whisk until smooth, then whisk in the remaining 50 ml of milk. You want no dry flour left and a batter like thick pouring cream. Mixing the flour into part of the milk first is what keeps it free of lumps.
3. 3Whip the whites and fold. Beat the whites with a hand mixer (or a balloon whisk) until foamy, then rain in 15 g of the sugar while you keep beating. Carry on until the whites stand in firm, glossy peaks when you lift the beaters, still smooth and not dry or grainy; the sugar steadies the foam. Fold a third of the whites into the yolk batter with a rubber spatula, then gently fold in the rest. A few white streaks are fine, but there should be no large lumps of foam. Stirring hard knocks the air out, and that air is what makes the pancake rise thick and light.
4. 4Cook the first side. Melt 20 g of the 30 g of unsalted butter in a 26 cm nonstick frying pan with a lid over medium heat until it foams. Pour in all the batter and level it with the spatula. Scatter the raisins over the top together with any liquid left in their bowl. Put the lid on, turn the heat down to medium-low and cook for about 5 minutes. Lift an edge with a wide spatula: the underside should be evenly golden brown, and the top set at the edges but still moist in the middle. Low heat lets the thick layer set before the bottom burns, and the lid keeps the steam in so the top sets without an oven.
5. 5Turn the pancake. Take off the lid. Cut the pancake into quarters with the wide spatula and turn each quarter over. Cook uncovered over medium-low heat for 3 to 4 minutes, until the second side is golden brown and the centre springs back when you press it. Four pieces are much easier to turn than one big pancake.
6. 6Tear and caramelise. Tear the quarters into irregular bite-size pieces, about 3 cm, with the spatula. In a nonstick pan use the spatula and not forks, which scratch the coating. Add the remaining 10 g of butter at the edge of the pan, sprinkle the remaining 10 g of sugar over the pieces, raise the heat to medium-high and toss and turn them for 2 to 3 minutes. Stay at the pan: the sugar melts and the edges turn shiny and caramel brown, and it goes from caramel to burnt quickly, so stop before anything turns black. The caramel is very hot, so move the pieces with the spatula and keep your fingers out of the pan. Pull one piece apart to check: inside it should be moist but set, with no runny batter, because the eggs must be fully cooked.
7. 7Serve. Tip the Kaiserschmarrn onto two warm plates, or bring the pan to the table. Dust it with the 10 g of icing sugar through a fine sieve, so it lies white on the hot pieces, and serve at once, while the edges are still crisp.