Salzburger Nockerl

Years ago I purchased Alpine Cooking, by Meredith Erickson, published in 2019. I knew I’d love the book; In a previous life I’m pretty sure I was a skier living in Chamonix. Or maybe I just wore ski clothes and showed up for aprés ski. Rustic terrines, pâtés, bread, reblochon, raclette, fondue, cured meats, potatoes, a spritz and some mulled wine – all divine. With a roaring fire, of course.

From this book I’ve made three outstanding dishes: Milk Chocolate Bread Pudding, Salad with Liver, and Liptauer. Then I read the book through again, and there it was – Salburger Nockerl – a dessert I knew I had to experience.

From the author: “This dramatic soufflé, the Austrian cousin to French îles flottantes, is a fluffy concoction shaped into three peaked mounds – said to represent three of the mountains that surround Salzburg: the Mönchsberg, the Kapuzinerberg, and, depending on to whom you talk, the Rainberg or the Baisberg – all resting atop cranberry jam.”

The recipes is from the Bärenwirt Tavern, tucked away on a cobblestone street in Salzburg. Thie photo is from the tavern’s website; Nockerl is top middle.

If you make the nockerl for company, make sure to present it as is just out of the oven. It’s just so as pretty once it’s spooned onto serving plates.

Salzburger Nockerl

2 tablespoons butter, salted or unsalted, at room temperature
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2/3 cup red fruit or berry jam
6 large eggs, separated, plus 4 egg whites
1/2 cup superfine sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla sugar, or 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/3 cup flour
2/3 cup cranberry jam (I used seedless raspberry)
1/2 cup whole milk
2 tablespoons powdered sugar, for garnish

Preheat the oven to 370 degrees F. Generously grease the inside of a straight-sided oval dish, like a Le Creuset 1 3/4 quart baking dish with the butter, then sprinkle evenly with the granulated sugar.

Using a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, on medium speed, beat all the egg whites until foamy and starting to gain in volume, about 3 minutes. Increase the speed to medium-high, gradually sprinkle in the superfine sugar and continue to work air into the egg whites, until thick and glossy and doubled in volume, about another 3 minutes. Shortly before the end, sprinkle in the vanilla sugar and salt and incorporate.

Place all the egg yolks in a bowl and stir with a fork to blend. Gently whisk the yolks into the egg whites. Switching to a spatula, fold the flour into the egg mixture until just combined.

Spoon the cranberry jam into the prepared baking dish and spread to cover the bottom of the dish. Pour the milk evenly over the jam.

Using a flexible bench scraper, scoop out one-third of the egg mixture, shaping it into a dome, using the inside of the mixing bowl as your guide, then lay it inside on end of the baking dish. Repeat twice with the remaining two-thirds whipped egg, laying them in the center and the other end of the dish respectively. Use the scraper to adjust the shapes and make them look like three distinct peaks, making sure the egg mixture is towering but contained within the edges of the baking dish. Transfer onto a baking sheet.

Bake until the soufflé has puffed up and the surface is golden brown, about 9 minutes. Keep an eye on the oven; you don’t want the top to brown dramatically. Sprinkle with the confectioners’ sugar (powdered sugar) and serve immediately.

Nockerl is delicious, especially with the jam. It should have cooked longer; I was nervous about not letting it “brown dramatically.” Undercooking has to be the reason my Alpine mountains flattened out.

I now understand why this dessert is compared to îles flottantes in Alpine Cooking. The milk at the bottom of the dish becomes a berry-sweet thin custard under the meringue peaks. But I honestly don’t think the milk is necessary. I’d cut it back to 1/4 cup.