Krapfen (doughnut)

ABerlinerorKrapfenis a Germanjam doughnutwith no central hole, made from sweetyeast doughfried inlardor cooking oil, with ajamfilling, and usually covered inpowdered sugar.
Sugar was very costly until the 16th century, and early doughnuts were usually stuffed with savory fillings like cheese, meat and mushroom. When imports from Caribbean sugar plantations made sugar more affordable,fruit preservesgained in popularity. In 1485, the first German-language cookbook to be published in printed formKuechenmeistereiwas published inNurembergand remained in print at least until 1674 with 20 editions(it was later translated into Polish in 1532). It was one of the first cookbooks printed using theGutenberg pressand contains the first known recipe for ajelly doughnut, calledGefüllte Krapfenmade with jam-filled yeasted bread dough deep-fried inlard. It's unknown whether this innovation was the author'sown or simply a record of an existing practice.
The yeast dough contains a good deal of eggs, milk and butter. For the classical Pfannkuchen made inBerlinthe dough is rolled into a ball, deep-fried in lard, whereby the distinctive bright bulge occurs, and then filled with jam. The filling is related to the topping:for plum-butter, powdered sugar; for raspberry, strawberry and cherry jam, sugar; for all other fillings, sugar icing, sometimes flavoured with rum. Today the filling usually is injected with a large syringe orpastry bagafter the dough is fried in one piece.
Today, Berliners can be purchased throughout the year, though they were traditionally eaten to celebrate onNew Year's Eve(Silvester) as well as thecarnivalholidays (RosenmontagandFat Tuesday). A common Germanpractical jokeis to secretly fill some Krapfen withmustardinstead of jam, especially onApril Fool's Day,and serve them together with regular Krapfen without telling anyone.
The jelly-filled Krapfen were calledBerlinersin the 1800s, based on the legend of a patriotic baker from Berlin who became a regimental baker after he was deemed unfit for combat by thePrussian Army. When the army was in the field, he "baked" the doughnuts the old-fashioned way, by frying them over an open fire. According to the tale, the soldiers called the pastry Berliner after the baker's hometown.
The termBismarcken(forOtto von Bismarck) came into use by the end of the 19th century. Immigrants from Central Europe settled in the United States in large numbers during the 19th century, and jelly doughnuts are called "bismarcks" or "bismarks" in some parts of theMidwestern United States, Boston, and Alberta and Saskatchewan in Canada.
The terminology used to refer to this delicacy differs greatly in various areas of modern Germany. While calledBerliner Ballenor simplyBerlinerin Northern andWestern Germany, as well as in Switzerland, the Berliners themselves and residents ofBrandenburg,Western Pomerania,Saxony-AnhaltandSaxonyknow them asPfannkuchen, which translates literally and wrongly to "pancakes". A pancake in the rest of Germany is indeed aPfannkuchen, inAustriaand sometimes Southern Germany calledPalatschinken.The people of Berlin call their pancakesEierkuchen, which translates to "egg cakes".
In parts of southern and central Germany (Bavaria), as well as in much of Austria, they are a variety of Krapfen (derived fromOld High Germankraffoand furthermore related toGothic languagekrappa), sometimes calledFastnachtskrapfenorFaschingskrapfento distinguish them fromBauernkrapfen. InHessethey are referred to asKräppelorKreppel. Residents of thePalatinatecall them alsoKreppelorFastnachtsküchelchen("little carnival cakes"), hence the English term for a pastry called "Fasnacht"; further south, theSwabiansuse the equivalent term in their distinctivedialect:Fasnetskiachla. InSouth Tyrol,Trivenetoand other parts of northern Italy, the food is calledkraffenorkrapfen, while in the southern parts it can be referred asbombaorbombolone.
In Slovenia, it iskrof; in Portugal it is "bola de Berlim" (Berlin ball) ormalasada(from "mal-assada" = "badly-baked"); in Croatia, it iskrafne; while in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia, it is calledkrofne. In Poland, they are known aspączki, in Ukraine, as "pampushky"; and in the Czech Republic askobliha. In Hungary, it is calledbécsi fánk, meaningViennese doughnut, as it was transited by Austria to the Hungarian kitchen.The pastry is calledBerlinerbolin the Netherlands and Suriname,Berlijnse bolandboule de Berlinin Belgium,hillomunkkior (glazed)berliininmunkkiorpiispanmunkkiin Finland,berlinerbollein Norway,sufganiyotin Israel,Berlínarbollurin Iceland,šiškain Slovakia, andgogoșiin Romania. In Denmark, it is calledBerliner. In Turkey, they are known asAlman Pastası(German Pie). All of these are similar preparations.
In Argentina, the pastries are calledbolas de fraile(lit.'friar balls'); the reason for this relates to the anarchist bakers' unionSociedad Cosmopolita de Resistencia y Colocación de Obreros Panaderos.
In English-speaking countries, Berliners are a type of doughnutusually filled withjam,jelly,custard, orwhipped cream.InSouth Australia, however, theKitchener bunis a Berliner cut on the side for the filling of jam and cream.
InIsrael, a version of the pastry calledsufganiyah(Hebrew: סופגנייה) is traditionally consumed during the Jewish holiday ofHanukkah.
InSoutheast Europe, they are calledKrofne,KrafneorKrofi. They are the same size and often filled with jam as well, but unlike its German counterpart, chocolate fillings are also very common there. They are not to be confused with "princes krofne" which is a Serbo-Croatian name forprofiteroles.
InPortugal, Berliners are slightly bigger than their German counterparts. They are known asbolas de Berlim(lit. Berlin ball) or malasada, and the filling is frequently an egg-yolk-based yellow cream calledcreme pasteleiro(lit. confectioner's cream).The filling is inserted after a half-length cut and is always visible. Regular sugar is used to sprinkle it. They can be found in almost every pastry shop in the country. It's a typical beach food, provided by street vendors.
Such versions are also found in Latin American countries with German descended populations, such as inMexico(berlinesas),Chile(Berlín),Paraguay(bollo),Venezuela(bomba),UruguayandArgentina(bola de fraileorsuspiro de monjaorberlinesa), where it is filled not only with custard (called "crema pastelera"), but also with jam (especially red ones),dulce de leche, ormanjar blanco.
InBrazil, they are known as sonho (dream) and are also widely consumed in the country. Their commercialization began in the 1920s in bakeries inSão Paulo, with the use of leftover bread dough. They are presented filled, usually with pastry cream, chocolate, or dulce de leche.
InFinland,berliininmunkki(Berlin doughnut) is a commonly consumed pastry, although unlike a traditional Berliner, this variant has pink caramel colored frosting on top as opposed to regular or powdered sugar.
InTromsø, Norway, Berliners are eaten to celebrate the return of the sun at the end of thepolar nighton January 21. They are called asolbolle(lit. sun bun), and around 60,000 Berliners, roughly one per capita, are consumed in Tromsø on this day. In recent years, bakeries have also made a special type of Berliner called amørketidsbolle(lit. polar night bun), with a yellow custard filing and a dark chocolate covering (to symbolize darkness covering the sun). This Berliner is eaten in the build up to and during the polar night period, from the end of the September until the start of Christmas.
InItalythey are known as Krapfenand are usually filled with custard. They are more common in northern Italy, probably due to the proximity with Germany.
Portuguese style Malasadas are also very popular inHawaii. In 1878, Portuguese laborers fromMadeiraand theAzoreswent to Hawaii to work in the plantations. These immigrants brought their traditional foods with them, including a fried dough pastry called "malasada."Today, there are numerous bakeries in the Hawaiian islands specializing in malasadas.
Mardi Gras("Fat Tuesday"), the day before Lent, is Malasada Day in Hawaii. Being predominantly Catholic, Portuguese immigrants would need to use up all their butter and sugar prior to Lent. They did so by making large batches of malasadas, which they would subsequently share with friends from all the other ethnic groups in the plantation camps.
John F. Kennedy's words "Ich bin ein Berliner" are standard German for "I am a Berliner", meaning a person from Berlin. Mentioned inLen Deighton's 1983 novelBerlin Game, anurban legendhas it that due to his use of the indefinite articleein,Berlineris translated as "jelly doughnut", and that the population of Berlin was amused by the supposed mistake. This is incorrect, insofar as when leaving outein, the meaning only changes slightly (compareI am BerlinerandI am a Berliner). The normal convention when stating a nationality or, for instance, saying one is from Berlin, would be to leave out the indefinite articleein. However, Kennedy used the indefinite article here correctly to emphasize his relation to Berlin.Additionally, the wordBerlineris not used in Berlin to refer to theBerliner Pfannkuchen. These are simply calledPfannkuchenthereand therefore no Berliner would mistakeBerlinerfor a doughnut. Throughout the 1980s, the legend was spread even by reputable media likeThe New York Times,The Guardian,BBCandNBC.