Berliner Pfannkuchen
Jam-filled doughnuts
Berliner: Berlin jam-filled yeast doughnuts for New Year's Eve and Carnival
In Berlin a Pfannkuchen is not a pancake but a round, sugar-dusted yeast doughnut with a pale ring around its middle and a squirt of jam inside; most of Germany calls them Berliner. Bakeries pile them up for New Year's Eve and for Carnival in February, and the old joke is to slip one filled with mustard into the batch. Good ones are light and springy, never greasy. A common mistake is frying in oil that is too hot, which browns the outside before the middle cooks; keep it at 170 °C. Chef's tip: let the shaped dough rise uncovered for the last 10 minutes so a thin skin forms; that is what gives the classic white band round the middle.
- Total time
- 70 min
- Difficulty
- medium
- Serves
- 12
Ingredients
For the dough
- 1 ⅛ lb strong white flour
- 2 ⅛ oz sugar
- ½ tsp salt
- ¾ cup milklukewarm
- 2 eggs
- 1 egg yolk
- 2 ½ oz buttervery soft
- 1 tsp lemon zest
To fry and fill
- 6 ¼ cups sunflower oil for deep-frying
- 2 ⅛ oz icing sugar or caster sugar
Shop this recipe on Amazon
What you'll need
Spices & pantry
Fresh ingredients (5)
Links open Amazon in a new tab. As an Amazon Associate, WhatToEat.Today earns from qualifying purchases.
Method
0/7 doneStep 1: Mix 1 ⅛ lb strong white flour, ¼ oz fast-action dried yeast, 2 ⅛ oz sugar, ½ tsp salt and 1 tsp lemon zest. Add ¾ cup milk, 2 eggs and 1 egg yolk and knead for 5 minutes, then knead in 2 ½ oz butter bit by bit for 5 minutes more, until the dough is silky and pulls away from the bowl.
10 minStep 2: Cover and leave somewhere warm for 1 hour, until doubled in size.
60 minStep 3: Divide into 12 pieces of about 75 g. Roll each under a cupped hand on the worktop into a tight, smooth ball. Set them on a floured tray, well apart.
15 minStep 4: Cover loosely and leave for 30 minutes, then uncover for the last 10 minutes so the surface dries slightly.
30 minStep 5: Heat 6 ¼ cups sunflower oil for deep-frying in a deep pan to 350°F. Fry 3–4 at a time, lid on, for 3 minutes, then turn and fry uncovered 3 minutes more, until deep golden with a pale band round the middle. Drain on kitchen paper. Keep checking the oil temperature between batches.
25 minStep 6: To test, break one open: the crumb should be fluffy and dry right through. Pipe 9 oz smooth raspberry or plum jam into the side of each warm doughnut with a piping bag fitted with a long nozzle.
10 minStep 7: Roll in or dust with 2 ⅛ oz icing sugar or caster sugar and eat the same day.
2 min
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 330 kcal
- Protein
- 6 g
- Carbs
- 48 g
- Fat
- 13 g
- Fibre
- 1 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does berliner Pfannkuchen take?
- About 70 minutes in total: 40 minutes to prepare and 30 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 12 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegetarian?
- Yes. It has no meat or fish.
- What can I use instead of fast-action dried yeast?
- Fresh yeast, three times the weight.
- What can I use instead of sugar?
- Caster sugar, same amount.
Reviews
No reviews yet. Be the first to cook it.
Rate this recipe
Sign in to rate and review this recipe.
You might also like
Kartoshka cakeCocoa and cake crumb truffles
Soviet cafés and school canteens sold these knobbly brown 'potatoes' for a few kopecks, and they began as a thrifty way to use up sponge and biscuit trimmings at the bakery. Crumbs are bound with butter and sweetened condensed milk, flavoured with cocoa and vanilla, shaped into little potatoes, rolled in cocoa and finished with two dabs of pale butter cream for the sprouts. They are fudgy and dense like a brownie truffle, need no oven, and children love making them. Traditional bakers added a spoonful of rum, an optional extra for adult batches only; this version is alcohol-free with vanilla. The usual slip is coarse crumbs, which make the potatoes crack, so blitz them as fine as sand. Chef's tip: chill the shaped potatoes for at least 20 minutes so they hold their shape and slice cleanly.
Russian
Undu walaluFried urad dal rings in treacle
Walalu means bangles, and these dark, sticky rings of fried urad dal soaked in kithul treacle are a sweet that Sinhala families bring out for Avurudu and for special almsgivings, often made in large batches by an aunt known for her steady hand. A thick, fluffy paste of ground black gram is piped into loops and fried until crisp, then plunged straight into warm treacle, so the rings stay crunchy on the outside while drinking up the syrup. They taste a little like a darker, smokier jalebi, with a toffee finish from the palm treacle. Watery batter is what ruins them; it spreads into flat blobs, so grind the soaked dal with as little water as possible and beat it until light. This recipe uses no asafoetida, so it is naturally gluten free. Chef's tip: pipe the rings onto small squares of baking paper and lower them into the oil paper and all; the paper peels away in seconds.
Sri Lankan
Baklava
The famous layered pastry: crisp sheets of buttered fillo sandwich a filling of almonds, pistachios and cashews spiced with cinnamon, cardamom and saffron. After baking, the hot baklava is soaked in a syrup of sugar, honey, lemon, rose and cardamom and decorated with almond and pistachio flakes. Cut into 40 diamonds; serve with fresh cream or ice cream.