Berliner — the German jam doughnut

i. Origin & history

Fried, sweetened yeast dough has a very long history in Central Europe. Medieval German cookbooks describe fried pastries called Krapfen, and filled versions are recorded from the sixteenth century, when sugar became more widely available. The ball-shaped, jam-filled doughnut known today developed from that tradition, and by the nineteenth century it was a fixture of German and Austrian bakeries.

The name 'Berliner' links the doughnut to Prussia's capital. A popular story tells of a Berlin confectioner who, rejected for service as a gunner in the army of Frederick the Great in the eighteenth century, was allowed to stay on as a field baker and shaped his dough into cannonballs, frying them over an open fire. It is a charming legend without evidence, but the name stuck: outside Berlin, the doughnut became the 'Berliner Pfannkuchen', and then simply the Berliner.

The naming is famously regional. In Berlin and much of eastern Germany it is a Pfannkuchen — a word that means pancake in the rest of the country. In Bavaria, Austria and South Tyrol it is a Krapfen, and during Carnival a Faschingskrapfen. In Hesse it is a Kreppel, and in parts of the west a Puffel. Most of the rest of the country, and much of the world, says Berliner.

The doughnut is tied to two moments in the calendar. On New Year's Eve (Silvester) Germans eat Berliner at midnight, and on the days before Lent — Fasching, Karneval or Fastnacht, depending on the region — bakeries make them by the thousand as the last indulgence before the fast. A long-standing practical joke is to hide one or two filled with mustard among the jam ones. And then there is John F. Kennedy's 1963 line 'Ich bin ein Berliner': the persistent claim that he called himself a doughnut is a myth, since the phrase was grammatically correct and Berliners call the doughnut Pfannkuchen anyway.

ii. Where the white ring comes from

A well-made Berliner has a pale band around its middle, called the Kragen (collar) or Ring by German bakers. It is the sign of a light dough that has proved properly. A well-risen, airy ball of dough floats high in the fat, so only the bottom half is submerged; when it is turned, the other half fries, and the strip around the equator — never touching the fat — stays pale.

Getting there depends on a soft, enriched dough and a full proof. The dough contains eggs, butter, milk and sugar, which make it tender and help it brown, and it is kneaded long enough to develop the gluten so it can trap gas and hold its round shape. After shaping, the balls are proved until they are puffy and light — under-proved dough sinks deeper, fries without a ring and tends to be dense; over-proved dough collapses when it hits the fat.

Many German bakers cover the pan with a lid for the first side. The steam keeps the top of the dough soft and lets it expand fully before the crust sets, which helps form a rounder doughnut and a clearer ring. The second side is fried uncovered.

Frying temperature is decisive. At about 170 °C, the outside browns in two to three minutes per side while the centre cooks through. Too hot, and the outside darkens before the middle is done; too cool, and the dough absorbs fat and turns greasy. The jam goes in afterwards, piped through a hole in the side, which is why a Berliner has no seam and no hole in the middle.

iii. Ingredients

Makes 12 servings · scroll the side panel to adjust

• 500 g plain flour or bread flour
• 50 g caster sugar
• 7 g instant dried yeast
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 unwaxed lemon, finely grated zest
• 200 ml lukewarm whole milk
• 2 eggs, plus 2 yolks
• 1 tbsp rum (optional)
• 70 g soft unsalted butter
• 2 litres neutral oil or vegetable fat, for frying
• 300 g smooth jam (raspberry, plum, apricot or rosehip)
• 100 g granulated sugar or icing sugar, to coat

The extra yolks make the dough richer and more tender; they are traditional in Austrian Krapfen. A spoonful of rum is a classic addition, and like other alcohol in fried doughs it helps reduce fat absorption. Use a smooth, seedless jam so it passes through a piping nozzle: raspberry or mixed-berry is the German default, apricot is standard in Austria, plum butter (Pflaumenmus) and rosehip jam are regional favourites. German bakeries traditionally fry in solid vegetable fat; a neutral oil such as sunflower or rapeseed works at home.

iv. Method

1. Mix the flour, sugar, yeast, salt and lemon zest. Add the warm milk, eggs, yolks and rum and knead for 5 minutes. Add the soft butter a piece at a time and knead for another 8–10 minutes, until the dough is smooth, glossy and comes away from the bowl.
2. Cover and leave to rise in a warm place for 1–1½ hours, until doubled.
3. Divide the dough into 12 pieces of about 70 g. Roll each into a tight ball on an unfloured surface, cupping your hand over it. Place on floured baking paper, well apart, flatten very slightly, cover with a cloth and prove for 30–45 minutes, until visibly puffy and a light finger press springs back slowly.
4. Heat the oil in a wide, heavy pan to 170 °C (340 °F), at least 6 cm deep.
5. Lower 3 or 4 doughnuts into the oil, top side down. Cover with a lid and fry for 2–3 minutes until deep golden underneath. Turn them, and fry uncovered for another 2–3 minutes. A pale ring should be visible around the middle.
6. Lift out with a slotted spoon and drain on kitchen paper. Bring the oil back to 170 °C between batches.
7. While still warm, roll in granulated sugar, or let cool and dust with icing sugar.
8. Stir the jam until smooth and spoon it into a piping bag with a long, narrow nozzle. Push the nozzle into the side of each doughnut, through the pale ring, and pipe in about 25 g of jam, until the doughnut feels heavier.

v. Tips & common mistakes

• Knead in the butter after the gluten has developed. Adding it at the start coats the flour and stops the dough becoming elastic. A strong dough holds the round shape and traps the gas that makes the ring.
• Shape tight balls. A smooth, taut surface helps the doughnut rise upwards rather than spreading flat.
• Prove fully, but not too long. The balls should look puffy and feel light. Under-proved Berliner sink deep and have no ring; over-proved ones collapse and absorb fat.
• Use a thermometer. The difference between 160 °C and 180 °C is the difference between greasy and burnt-outside, raw-inside.
• Do not crowd the pan. Too many doughnuts at once drop the oil temperature sharply.
• Eat them the same day. Berliner go stale quickly. A day-old doughnut can be refreshed in a warm oven, but it is never as good.

vi. Variations

Besides the classic jam, German and Austrian bakeries fill doughnuts with vanilla custard (very popular in Bavaria and Austria, where the Vanillekrapfen is a favourite), eggnog cream, chocolate or nougat, and during Carnival with sparkling-wine or liqueur creams. Toppings range from simple sugar to pink or chocolate glazes. Some regions make unfilled versions, or Quarkbällchen, small fried balls of quark dough.

Similar doughnuts exist all over Europe and beyond: Polish pączki, Israeli sufganiyot for Hanukkah, Italian bomboloni, British jam doughnuts and the Dutch New Year fritter oliebollen. Germany's other fried Carnival treats include the Franconian Schneeballen, and Austria's Punschkrapfen share the name Krapfen but are a rum-soaked cake, not a doughnut. For other fried doughs, see the American doughnut and the Norwegian smultring.

vii. Serving & storage

Berliner are eaten fresh, ideally on the day they are made and still slightly warm, with coffee. At New Year's Eve they are served at midnight with sparkling wine, and at Carnival they are eaten anywhere and everywhere, from offices to parade routes.

They are at their best within a few hours of frying. They can be kept in a paper bag at room temperature until the next day and refreshed for 5 minutes in an oven at 150 °C (300 °F), though the texture will not be quite the same. Unfilled, unsugared Berliner freeze well for up to a month: thaw at room temperature, warm briefly, then fill and sugar them. Shaped, unproved dough can also be refrigerated overnight and fried the next morning after a final proof.

ix. More from Austrian & German

• Schneeballen — fried pastry snowballs
• Punschkrapfen — pink rum-punch cakes
• Schnecken — German snail buns
• Oliebollen — Dutch New Year fritters
• Donuts — American ring doughnuts
• Smultring — Norwegian cardamom doughnuts