Recipe for mit schlag?

[thecuriousone]

Hi everybody-

Where can I find a recipe for mit schlage? I would like to make some coffee drinks for the holidays and top them with it. I havent been able to find anything other than a basic whipped cream recipe. Thanks for all of your help.

[slkinsey]

Mit Schlag simply means "with whipped cream." The verb schlagen, in this context, means to beat or whip. Schlag stands in for the larger word Schlagsahne, meaning "whipped cream" (Sahne = "cream"). It's like saying, "with whipped" or "with whip" -- which is a colloquialism still used in parts of the country with lots of descendants of German immigrants.

So, to answer your question, there is no recipe for Mit Schlag. It's just plain old whipped cream. For example, Kaffee mit Schlag is simply coffee topped with whipped cream.

Edited December 21, 2008 by slkinsey (log)

[rlibkind]

Hi everybody-

Where can I find a recipe for mit schlage?  I would like to make some coffee drinks for the holidays and top them with it.  I havent been able to find anything other than a basic whipped cream recipe.  Thanks for all of your help.

←

"Mit Schlag" is colloquial for "with [whipped] cream". No special recipe of which I'm aware. Sweeten and flavor it, you wish, but any flavoring and sweetening is probably better placed in the drink itself. What's probably most important for a great whipped cream is not to use the "ultra pasteurized" version found in most supermarkets. Seek out plain pasteurized. The taste difference is overwhelming.

[Fat Guy]

Granted schlag means whipped cream. But in the Austrian tradition isn't whipped cream typically sweetened with sugar and flavored with a little vanilla?

[Fat Guy]

In other words, were I to make schlag the recipe would probably be:

2 cups heavy whipping cream

1/4 cup confectioner's sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Beaten with a whisk or electric mixer until it's schlag.

[slkinsey]

Two things:

I'd say that the whipped cream there is likely to be sweetened if it is going to be used with a dessert, just like it would be here. And it can also be flavored with whatever you like. But neither of these things would be necessary for it to be called "Schlag."

Second, I imagine you mean to say superfine rather than confectioner's sugar. Confectioner's sugar contains corn starch.

[Fat Guy]

I'd use confectioner's sugar.

I don't know about the formal definitions but in practice -- and limited to eating at German-Austrian restaurants in the US -- I've never tasted anything called schlag that wasn't noticeably sweetened. I have no idea if this source is reliable but it's what came up on Google when I searched "schlag sweetened vanilla":

"SCHLAG . . . . sweetened, flavored (usually with vanilla) whipped cream."

[slkinsey]

In the context of dessert, I'd say that it is true that it is usually sweetened and usually flavored with vanilla. The same thing is true with respect to whipped cream for dessert and coffee in the United States -- it is usually sweetened and often flavored with vanilla. But, in other contexts, it might not be. If you were in Austria and got some whipped cream that was unsweetened and flavored with rum, it would still be Schlag.

What's the thinking behind using confectioners sugar (very fine sugar with corn starch) in whipped cream? Does the corn starch add stability or something?

Edited December 21, 2008 by slkinsey (log)

[Fat Guy]

Amernick's "Art of the Dessert" (page 81) has a note that says "Granulated sugar tends to break down whipped cream, causing moisture to separate out, whereas confectioners' sugar absorbs the moisture because it contains cornstarch." I have no idea how that impacts on superfine sugar.

[slkinsey]

Huh! Who knew?

Well, you and these guys, clearly. I'll have to try it with confectioners sugar next time.

Maybe that's how they get it so thick at Peter Luger.

[nickrey]

As said above, Schlag (without the e) refers to the whipped (beat) part of whipped cream.

mit (with) schlag is "with whipped cream"

Of course, you could add sugar and vanilla but if it is used with Sachertorte, for example, it is whipped cream without sugar. This is used because many Viennese consider this particular cake too dry to eat without cream.

The ISI whippers that we use for foams and espumas, which are Austrian in origin, were designed originally with schlag in mind.

In answer to the original question I'd support SLKinsey's original post: mit schlag is "with whipped cream."

How you make the cream depends on what you are having it with: sugar is fine, vanilla is fine but pure and simple heavy cream without either of these, when whipped is also used when you serve "mit schlag."

[Holly Moore]

Back in the day of Holly Moore's Upstairs Cafe we served all of our desserts with the option of "mit schlage" We did not add sugar both because we believed the classic version was just whipped cream and because we thought the unsweetened whipped cream would balance the sweetness of our desserts.

[slkinsey]

In a way, I suppose it's like looking for a recipe for "à la mode" or "au jus."

[Fat Guy]

I'll just note that every time I've been served Sachertorte mit schlag, the whipped cream has been sweetened. That's not all that many times -- maybe three or four -- but it has been consistent. My pastry library isn't all that deep but the Markus Farbinger recipe in "The New Taste of Chocolate" specifies sweetened whipped cream with vanilla. Also Epicurious offers this recipe from Rick Rodgers and it specifies sweetened whipped cream.

[slkinsey]

Was any of those four times in Vienna? This German language recipe specifically calls for unsweetened whipped cream: "Mit "Schlag" (ungesüßter Schlagobers) servieren" (ungesüßter = "unsweetened"; Schlagobers = the Austrian German word for Schlagsahne = "whipped cream").

Edited December 21, 2008 by slkinsey (log)

[Jon Savage]

I'm far from being an expert on schlag but did live in Austria for 8.5 years so do have some direct experience in this matter.

Served on coffee, cacao etc. it was generally unsweetened.

Used on desserts there was typically a sachet or two of Vanillezucker added to the cream before whipping it. The sachets of Vanilla Sugar were omnipresent in every home kitchen I visited. The texture of that product was very very fine close to powdered sugar.

As an aside I found that most Austrians seemed to whip their cream far more stiffly than we generally see in the US. Think just shy of where butter granules begin to become visible.

Edited December 21, 2008 by 6ppc (log)

[thecuriousone]

Thanks so much for all of the comments.

The last comment appears to be more of what I had in mind. A VERY stiffly whipped cream that was flavored with sugar.

Which brings me to my second question. Once I whip it and flavor it, what is the best way to maintain the volume for later use? I would like to whip it in the morning, load it into a pastry bag for piping onto coffee drinks about 4-5 p.m. Thanks again for the help.

[Fat Guy]

Was any of those four times in Vienna?  This German language recipe specifically calls for unsweetened whipped cream:  "Mit "Schlag" (ungesüßter Schlagobers) servieren" (ungesüßter = "unsweetened"; Schlagobers = the Austrian German word for Schlagsahne = "whipped cream").

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Wikipedia says, without citation, that sachertorte "is traditionally served with whipped cream without any sugar in it," so I don't really know what to think. My own experience, in America, has been that 100% of the time when I've been served anything called "schlag" it has been sweetened. I'd defer to an authoritative source but I don't think one has been cited here.

[slkinsey]

I think that, what is to be gained from this, is that Schlag, just like our American "whipped cream" can be sweetened or not, depending on context and the desires of the cook.

[cakewalk]

I'm making a linzertorte for tonight and was wondering about schlag. I Googled "mit schlag" and this thread popped up. It was such a pleasure to read!