A sweet temptation – carnival time is doughnut time!

Fun parties, crazy costumes and children with broad smiles on their faces – how I just love carnival time. I recall my own childhood well. In colourful fancy dress, proud and happy after our annual school’s carnival ski race, standing around together biting into a carnival doughnut – those were the days.At our house, carnival doughnuts are made every year, but why is the sweet doughnut filled with jam so popular at carnival time?

Carnival doughnuts or Berliner, as they’re known in Germany were not invented yesterday and despite this or rather because of this – their origin is controversial. Up until now it’s not be conclusively proved when, where and by whom doughnuts were first made.The discovery of small, doughnut-like cakes in an ancient Egyptian tomb plus pictures from the times of the Pharaoh Ramses III (around 1200 before Christ) suggest, that even the ancient Egyptians prepared fried cakes swimming in fat. Today’s doughnuts probably go back as far as the Romans: the doughnut-like cakes, which they called “globuli” (latin for small balls), were brought by Roman colonialists over the Alps to the Donau limes and to Vindobona (today’s Vienna) and served under the name of “Chraphen“ and thus this delicacy was already known in Vienna in the 9^th century under the Middle High German name of Krapfo. The first “krapfen makers” were documented as far back as 1486.Another legend says, that the sweet doughnuts were invented in the 17th century by a Viennese Court cook, by the name of Cäcilie Krapf, who during the Viennese Congress created her “Cilli balls“ – yeast dough balls filled with jam.

That’s easily explained: due to the lack of good food, back in the middle ages monks and priests recommended simple folk to eat the more nutritious doughnut instead of bread during the time leading up Lent, so that poorer people and children didn’t get weak or ill during the long fasting period. This custom was taken on by non-fasters too and has been upheld until today and makes the “Viennese Carnival Doughnut“ the most famous doughnut in the Austrian kitchen.

Sieve the flour into the bowl, add the sugar, salt, egg, egg yolk, clarified butter, milk, orange zest and schnapps and mix well. Crumble the yeast over the top and knead with the machine for approx. 10 - 12 minutes until the dough is silky smooth.

Then place in a bowl and cover with household foil and leave to rise in the oven at 30 degrees for approx. 20 minutes.
Punch down the dough and let it rise for another 10 minutes.

Then grind the dough into balls, place on a floured cloth, flatten and cover. Leave to rise for 15 minutes.

Then cover and place in the cold (so that they get a leathery skin and thus do not soak up so much oil).

Heat the oil to approx. 160 degrees, place the doughnuts with the upper smooth side in the oil.

Put the lid on and bake for 4 - 5 minutes. Then turn over and bake again without the lid for 4 - 5 minutes.

Mix the apricot jam with the apricot schnapps, fill into a piping bag and fill the doughnuts with the jam after poking a hole with the nozzle.

Finally, sprinkle the finished carnival doughnuts with icing sugar, et voilà: nothing stands in the way of a successful carnival party!