My weekday breakfasts are boring — think oatmeal or cereal, but I like to make breakfast foods that are a little fancier on weekends, so I was thrilled when I came across a recipe for Raisin Nut Omelet in a hundred-year-old cookbook.
The Raisin Nut Omelet is topped with a sprinkle of powdered sugar. For the omelet, the eggs are separated and the whites beaten, which makes the omelet a little fluffier than many modern omelets. The raisins (and the powdered sugar) give the omelet a lovely sweetness, and the nuts add a delightful crunchy texture. The omelet is perfect for breakfast or brunch – though it almost has a dessert-like essence and could also be served at other times of the day.
Here’s the original recipe:
This recipe was in a cookbook published by the Corn Products Refining Company, so it calls for specific brands for the corn-based ingredients. When I updated the recipe, I just listed the ingredients without the brand names.
The recipe calls for cutting the raisins in half. They probably don’t really need to be cut, but I followed the recipe directions and cut them. The resulting raisin pieces were a nice size when dispersed throughout the omelet.
I could not figure out why the recipe called for boiling water (and thought it might prematurely cook some of the egg yolk), so I just used regular water.
And, here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:
Raisin Nut Omelet
5 eggs, separated
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup raisins, cut in half
1/4 cup chopped nuts (I used walnuts.)
1 tablespoon olive oil or other cooking oil
powdered sugar
Step 1. Preheat oven to 350° F.
Step 2. Place egg whites in a bowl, then beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Set aside.
Step 3. In another bowl, whisk the egg yolks, then stir in the salt, corn starch, and water. Add raisins and nuts; then stir until evenly distributed in the mixture.
Step 4. Fold in the beaten egg whites.
Step 5. Grease a large oven-proof skillet (or use an omelet pan) with olive oil or cooking oil, then heat on the top of the stove using medium-low heat.
Step 6. Pour the egg mixture into skillet, and gently cook for 2 minutes. Then gently stir, lifting the cooked portion from the bottom of the pan to allow the uncooked portion to flow to the bottom. After another minute, again gently lift the cooked portion from the bottom of the pan to help ensure that the omelet cooks evenly, and gently cook for another minute.
Step 7. Move the skillet to the oven, and bake for about 8 – 10 minutes or until the egg mixture is set.
Step 8. Remove from oven, and loosen the edges and bottom of the omelet from the skillet with a spatula, then turn onto a plate.
Step 9. Fold omelet in half. Sprinkle powdered sugar on top of the omelet. Serve immediately.
I know I’m being silly and narrow-minded, but I can’t seem to fancy a sweetened omelette! My loss.
Yep… I am pretty much in that camp also. Though… if I think souffle it might work.
Naw… on second or third thought that doesn’t work in my head.
🤣
My sense is that sweet omelets are a thing that some people really like. A few years ago I did a Jelly Omelet post that has consistently been one of my more popular posts.
Beating the egg whites seem a nice idea … but I’ll pass on the jam. Er … jelly!
Some day I’m going to get an oven proof skillet. My mother thought you couldn’t live without one, and she didn’t. Still, I’ve outlived her by three years.
🙂 I think that my mother thought the same thing. When I got married many, many years ago, my mother went to a flea market and bought me an old cast iron skillet. I still regularly use it. (It’s the pan I used when did this post.)
I have looked for cast iron skillets in thrift stores, but they are too valuable to hang around.
Fingers crossed that you luck out and happen to visit a thrift store on the right day to find a cast iron skillet.
My sense is that there was an era when cast iron skillets weren’t very popular, and that in recent years there’s been renewed recognition of how handy they are. I think my mother bought my skillet used during that time period when they were less popular.
I agree with you. Cast iron is in now.
My mother’s second edition Betty Crocker cookbook had a similar recipe, without the raisins and nuts.
I also have that cookbook. It has a lot of good classic recipes in it.
It does. I learned to cook mostly from it.
Most unusual! Sounds good though.
It’s an intriguing combination of ingredients – but I liked the omelet. It was tasty.
When I saw the title of omelette and raisins put together, I’m like okay is it going to be good?!😁
However the more I read of the recipe I was beginning to think it would taste good!
I liked the omelet, though it is sweeter than what I typically eat at breakfast. It was yummy.
ah yes the old souffle omelette! I remember a housemate making one for me years ago. Delicious!
sherry
It’s wonderful to hear that this recipe brought back some warm food memories.
The shudder I just shuddered at the imagined flavor of a sweet omelette… I can’t!
It is definitely different from most omelets, but it’s tasty. You should give it a try (or maybe not).
If Sparky wasn’t anti-raisin, I’d give this a try!!
If he doesn’t like raisins, this isn’t a recipe for you.
Exactly. But I’m intrigued and I might give it a try if he is not going to be home for dinner some night!
This is a unique one, thanks for sharing it with me!
It’s tasty.
Maybe a bit sweet for me. But, interesting!
Sweet omelets can be hard to picture, but they actually are quite tasty. I did another hundred-year-old sweet omelet recipe several years ago that also was good: Jelly Omelet
Ooh, Sheryl, I liked the technique of the Jelly Omelette, it would make a beautiful soufflé like omelette. I’ll be giving that a go with my next omelette – maybe some blueberries and cream to go!
mmm . . . it would be lovely with some blueberries and cream.
Different!
It’s actually quite nice.
I’m glad it turned out well!