Jam-Filled Doughnuts (Berliner Pfannkuchen)
Berliner Pfannkuchen Say it: behr-LEE-ner PFANN-koo-khen
Berliner Pfannkuchen — known simply as Berliner or Krapfen — are plump, golden doughnuts of sweet yeast dough, filled with jam and rolled in sugar. They are not pancakes despite the name but a deep-fried pastry eaten across Germany, above all on New Year's Eve and during carnival season. Inside the crisp, pale-gold crust the crumb is airy and soft, almost brioche-like, and each bite ends in a pocket of tart apricot or plum jam. Their snowy sugar coating and slightly lopsided shape make them unmistakable.
Jam-Filled Doughnuts (Berliner Pfannkuchen)
Berliner Pfannkuchen
Pronounced behr-LEE-ner PFANN-koo-khen
- Serves
- 6
- Prep
- 40 min
- Cook
- 30 min
- Total
- 1 hr 10 min
- Level
- Medium
Also nut-free.
Allergens: contains gluten, milk, egg. Check labels on packaged ingredients.
Ingredients
Amounts are scaled. Cooking times and pan sizes stay the same.
Dough
Frying and finishing
Method
Warm the milk to just above body temperature, stir in the yeast and a pinch of the sugar, and let it stand 5–10 minutes until a foamy layer forms on top.
In a large bowl mix the flour, the remaining sugar and the salt. Pour in the yeast mixture, add the eggs and vanilla, and stir until a shaggy dough forms.
Knead on a floured surface for 5 minutes, then work in the soft butter a spoonful at a time and keep kneading 8–10 minutes, until the dough is smooth, supple and springs back when pressed.
Cover the bowl and leave in a warm place 1–1½ hours, until the dough has doubled and looks full of air bubbles.
Knock the dough down, divide it into 12 equal pieces (about 2½ oz / 70 g each), and roll each into a tight, smooth ball. Set them well apart on a floured tray, cover, and let them rise 30–40 minutes until visibly puffy — a light finger press should leave a dent that fills back slowly.
Heat the oil in a deep heavy pot to 340–350°F (170–175°C). Slide in 3–4 doughnuts at a time, pleated side down, put the lid on and fry 2–3 minutes, until deep golden underneath.
Remove the lid, turn the doughnuts with a slotted spoon and fry uncovered 1½–2 minutes more, until golden all over with a pale ring around the middle. Drain on paper towels and repeat with the rest.
Let the doughnuts cool 15–20 minutes, until just warm. Fit a piping bag with a long narrow nozzle, fill it with jam, push the nozzle into the side of each doughnut and pipe in about 1 tbsp, until it feels noticeably heavier.
Roll each filled doughnut in the sugar to coat, and eat while still fresh.
Regional variant: Austrian Carnival Doughnuts (Faschingskrapfen)
In Austria and parts of Bavaria the same dough is shaped into slightly higher domes and fried the same way, but it is filled with tart rosehip or apricot jam through the side once cooled. Instead of being rolled in sugar, the tops are brushed with warmed apricot jam and dipped in a thin white fondant icing. Some are filled with vanilla custard (Vanillekrapfen) piped in beside a small amount of jam.
Cook's notes
- Keep the oil at a steady 340–350°F (170–175°C): too hot and the outside browns before the middle cooks, too cool and the dough drinks the oil.
- The pale ring around the equator is the mark of a properly fried Berliner — it comes from the dough floating and rising as it fries.
- Never skip the second rise; slightly under-proofed doughnuts split open and lose their jam in the oil.
Serve with
Hot coffee or tea, or a glass of Sekt at a New Year's party.
Make ahead and storage
Best the day they are made. Unfilled fried doughnuts keep a day in an airtight tin and freeze well for a month; thaw, then fill and sugar them.
