Faschingskrapfen – A medieval doughnut

Fasching, as the Carnival season is called, is not only about wearing funny costumes. It’s also about eating filled doughnuts called Krapfen. The custom goes back to the Middle Ages. “Fat Thursday” being the last day to eat meat before Lent, people spent the day slaughtering their animals and used the fat to make baked goods.

The result were the typical fried dough foods that have become a staple among Carnival revellers.

Here’s our recipe for you to try at home:

Ingredients

• 500 g all-purpose flour
• 200 ml milk
• 50 g sugar
• 1 egg
• 4 egg yolks
• 50 g yeast
• 70 g butter
• 10 ml rum
• 8 g salt

The recipe

Sift the flour into a bowl and form a depression in the centre of the flour. Warm the milk, pour a little bit in, and sprinkle in the yeast. Then sprinkle a little sugar over the yeast-milk mixture and let stand for about ten minutes.

In the meantime, mix the egg and the egg yolks together with the remaining milk. Then mix the egg-milk mixture, the remaining sugar, the butter and the rum into the dough. The following tip can be crucial for your success: add the salt at the very end. If the salt comes in direct contact with the yeast too soon, the dough won’t rise the way it should. Once all the ingredients are well kneaded, let the dough stand for about 45 minutes.

Use a kitchen scale to weigh out about 70 g of dough, knead well and form into balls.

Heat butter or lard in a deep fryer to 160°C. Close the lid and bake the doughballs for four minutes, then turn over and bake for another four minutes with the lid open.

For a classic Faschingskrapfen, squeeze in a bit of apricot jam from the side. Or whip up half a litre of whipping cream with a package of vanilla powder – mixing in some eggnog if desired – and use it to fill the dough.

Enjoy!

 

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