Oma's Jelly Donut Recipe: Berliner Pfannkuchen or Krapfen (2024)

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Oma's Jelly Donut Recipe: Berliner Pfannkuchen or Krapfen (1)

by: Gerhild Fulson / Cookbook Author, Blogger, German Oma!

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This easy and delicious German jelly donut recipe, aka Berliner Pfannkuchen or Krapfen (among many other names!) is made with a simple yeast dough.

Filled with jam, deep-fried, and dusted with powdered sugar, these homemade doughnuts can be enjoyed all year round, but they are especially traditional served on New Year’s Eve where they are eaten at midnight for a sweet start to the New Year.

Oma's Jelly Donut Recipe: Berliner Pfannkuchen or Krapfen (4)

This sweet jelly-filled fluffy donut is also very popular during Germany’s Karneval Season, also known as Fasching or Fastnacht.

Regardless of the time of year, plan to make these the same day you want to eat them. They taste best fresh, when they are still warm. Wunderbar!

What is a jelly donut called in Germany?

Jelly doughnuts go by various names throughout Germany:

  • In Berlin, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Brandenburg, they are just called Pfannkuchen, which translates as pancakes. (Pancakes in these areas are called Eierkuchen, literally egg cakes.)
  • In Northern and Western Germany, they are called Berliner Ballen or just Berliner.
  • In Southern and Central Germany, including Bavaria, these are called Krapfen, Fastnachtskrapfen or Faschingskrapfen.
  • In Hesse, they are Kräppel or Kreppel.
  • In Palatinate, they are Kreppel or Fastnachtsküchelchen.

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Oma's Jelly Donut Recipe: Berliner Pfannkuchen or Krapfen (5)

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How to make homemade jelly donuts

This recipe for homemade donuts is adapted from an old Dr. Oetker cookbook, Baking is Fun, Volume 1. It’s an easy recipe to make, especially if you have a deep fryer, although just having a deep pot and deep-fry thermometer will also work well.

I use my stand mixer with a dough hook attachment to make quick work of kneading the dough. If you don’t have one, use a wooden spoon to mix the dough ingredients together in a large bowl and then knead the sticky dough with your hands until the dough is smooth, soft, and elastic.

Using a bread machine on the dough setting to make the dough through the first rising is also an option.

Once the easy yeast dough is made and has had its first rise, the fun starts! Roll, cut out, fill, stack, and let rise again. Easy breezy!

Oma's Jelly Donut Recipe: Berliner Pfannkuchen or Krapfen (6)

Above, I've filled these with apricot jam, hubby's favorite. Whatever your favorite jelly or jam is will work great in these.

Following the original recipe cooked the donuts too quickly, so that they didn't cook all the way through. I lowered the oil temperature and fried them a little longer to ensure they were evenly cooked throughout.

When you make this jelly donut recipe for the first time, cook only one donut to start and check that it is properly cooked. That way, you can make any adjustments needed for the rest of the doughnuts.

Oma's Jelly Donut Recipe: Berliner Pfannkuchen or Krapfen (7)

Cover the Krapfen with confectioner’s sugar by putting the sugar into a sieve and hold over the donuts. Tap the sieve with a spoon. The powdered sugar will fall like snow!

Oma's Jelly Donut Recipe: Berliner Pfannkuchen or Krapfen (8)

Fun Facts about Berliner Pfannkuchen

  • A strange German practical joke is to secretly fill one Berliner Pfannkuchen with mustard instead of jam and serve it with the regular jelly-filled doughnuts without telling anyone. This is usually done during the Karneval season.
  • John F. Kennedy’s words “Ich bin ein Berliner” are standard German for “I am a Berliner.” An urban legend has it that due to his use of the indefinite article ein, Berliner is translated as "jelly doughnut" and that the population of Berlin was amused by the supposed mistake. However, Kennedy used the indefinite article correctly to emphasize his relation to Berlin, and since the word Berliner is not used in Berlin to refer to the Berliner Pfannkuchen since they are simply called Pfannkuchen there, no Berliner would mistake Berliner for a doughnut.
  • These were also shown as one of the traditional 'Equator treats' on the popular German TV show, Verrückt nach Meer, as the ocean cruise liner crossed the Equator.

Ready to make these easy and delicious Krapfen?

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Oma's Jelly Donut Recipe: Berliner Pfannkuchen or Krapfen (10)

Oma's Jelly Donut Recipe: Berliner Pfannkuchen or Krapfen

This jelly donut recipe is adapted from an old Dr. Oetker cookbook, Baking is Fun, Volume 1. Also known as Berliner Pfannkuchen and Krapfen, among many other names, these soft pillowy donuts are easy and fun to make and taste absolutely delicious!

Servings:

Makes about 14 Berliner Pfannkuchen and about 12 Donut Holes.

Ingredients:

Doughnuts:

  • 3 cups (390 grams) all-purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons (7 grams) instant yeast
  • ⅓ cup (67 grams) granulated sugar
  • 1 tablespoon (13 grams) vanilla sugar
  • pinch salt
  • 3 tablespoons (45 milliliter) rum or milk
  • 1 tbsp (6 grams) lemon zest
  • 4 egg yolks
  • 6 tablespoons (84 grams) butter, melted and cooled
  • 1 cup (240 milliliter) milk, lukewarm
  • about 1 cup (240 milliliter) jam or marmalade
  • vegetable oil for frying

Topping:

  • ½ cup (63 grams) powdered sugar, sifted
  • 2 tablespoons (26 grams) vanilla sugar

Instructions:

  1. Mix flour and yeast in a large mixing bowl (or the bowl of your stand mixer, if using).
  2. Add sugars, salt, rum, lemon zest, egg yolks, and melted butter. Slowly start mixing into the flour mixture (use dough hook) and gradually add milk. Continue to mix (knead if by hand) until the dough is soft and elastic. I use the dough hook at a medium speed for about 5 minutes.
  3. Cover with a clean kitchen towel and let the dough rise in a warm place until doubled in size (about 1 hour).
  4. Deflate by punching the risen dough. Roll dough out to ¼-inch thickness. Using a floured cookie cutter or glass (about 3-inch diameter), cut out 28 circles. Put a bit of jam or marmalade into the center of half the circles.
  5. Brush the edges of the circles with water and place a plain donut over the jam ones. Press the edges together to seal well. Put the donuts onto a well-floured surface and cover. Let rise until double in size, about 30 minutes.
  6. Gently knead any remaining scraps of dough, roll out, and cut 'donut holes' (I can usually get about 12). Let rise as well.
  7. Heat oil in fryer (or deep pan) to 360°F to 375°F (182°C to 190°C).
  8. Fry donuts, a few at a time, in the hot oil for about 2 to 3 minutes per side, until golden brown.
  9. Remove the fried donuts with a slotted spoon and place them on paper towels to drain excess oil, then transfer to a wire rack to cool a bit.
  10. Mix the powdered sugar and vanilla sugar and, with a sieve, sprinkle over the donuts.
  11. The doughnut holes will usually fry in about 1 to 2 minutes per side.

Notes/Hints:

  • If you’re using a deep pot or pan, be sure to use enough oil so the donuts float and don’t touch the bottom of the pan.
  • Different filling ideas: apricot jam, raspberry jam, strawberry jam, black currant jam, cherry jam, plum jam, or peach jam.
  • Can also be filled with vanilla pastry cream, vanilla pudding, chocolate pudding, or chocolate hazelnut spread.
  • As an alternative to rolling and cutting out the dough, you can separate the dough into smaller balls of dough and fry them. Then once they're cool enough to handle, you can use a pastry bag to fill them with jam.
  • Store leftovers at room temperature in an airtight container.

* * * * *

Unless otherwise noted recipe, images and content © Just like Oma | www.quick-german-recipes.com

* 05.13.2022 revision update

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Oma's Jelly Donut Recipe: Berliner Pfannkuchen or Krapfen (2024)

FAQs

What is the difference between a Krapfen and a Berliner? ›

The jelly-filled Krapfen were called Berliners in 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 the Prussian Army. When the army was in the field, he "baked" the doughnuts the old-fashioned way, by frying them over an open fire.

What makes the donut different from Berliner? ›

Both donuts are made from yeast-raised doughs, although Berliner donuts are shaped into balls (no holes) before deep-frying, whereas American donuts are cut out from a rolled-out dough. American donuts also have the middles cut out, which are then fried to make donut holes.

What are the different names for Krapfen? ›

That one has many regional names, Krapfen, Kräppel, even Karpfen. It is officially sold under the name “Berliner”, except in Berlin, where it is called “Pfannkuchen”. (Outside Berlin, a “Pfannkuchen” is a pancake).

What is the difference between beignets and Berliner? ›

The French-style beignet in the United States has the specific meaning of deep-fried choux pastry. Beignets can also be made with yeast pastry, which might be called boules de Berlin in French, referring to Berliner doughnuts, which lack the typical doughnut hole, filled with fruit or jam.

What is Krapfen in German? ›

noun. doughnut [noun] a ring-shaped cake, with a hole in the middle, fried in fat. a jam doughnut. (Translation of Krapfen from the PASSWORD German–English Dictionary © 2014 K Dictionaries Ltd)

What's the difference between a jelly doughnut and a Bismarck? ›

In the midwest of the US, this is a Bismarck donut: It's… basically just a jelly doughnut. Round, filled with fruit jam, fried, topped with sugar or drizzled with icing sometimes.

What is the difference between a donut and a krapfen? ›

There doesn't appear to be any difference. Wikipedia says "In English-speaking countries, Berliners are usually called doughnuts and are usually filled with jam, jelly, custard or whipped cream", and this page says "The English translation of krapfen is cruller or doughnut".

What is a German jelly donut called? ›

there are multiple names for doughnuts in Germany, Krapfen, Pfannkuchen, Kreppel, Bismarck, Berliner. In Berlin, they are always called Pfannkuchen. Never Berliner. There are only a few places in Germany where they are called Berliner.

What's the difference between paczki and a krapfen? ›

Paczki versus Krapfen

Paczki are often coated, top and bottom, with powdered sugar, and they also come glazed or iced. Krapfen typically have sugar only on top, yet are somehow sweeter. Finally, the go-to krapfen filling is apricot marmalade, though vanilla custard or Nutella are also common.

Where does Krapfen come from? ›

Enjoying a krapfen, or doughnut, is mandatory during Carnival. But do you really want to wait until February to eat one? Legend says that krapfen originated in Graz, Austria, where they were traditionally prepared and sold in the streets during Carnival since the 1600s.

What are the different types of jelly donuts? ›

A jelly doughnut, or jam donut, is a doughnut with a fruit preserve filling. Varieties include the Polish pączki, the German Berliner, the Israeli sufganiyot, the Southern European krafne and the Italian bombolone.

What is the white powder on jelly donuts? ›

Yeast donut filled with raspberry jelly. Rolled in powdered sugar.

What is a donut without a hole called? ›

Jelly Doughnut

Jelly doughnuts are traditionally a yeast doughnut without a hole in the middle, as the fruit-filling gets piped into the center.

Why are jelly doughnuts called Bismarks? ›

In the U.S., another doughnut that resembles a Berliner filled with custard is the Boston cream doughnut, which is Massachusetts' official state doughnut. In some parts of the U.S. and Canada people call Berliners Bismarks, or Bismarcks, after Otto von Bismarck, the first chancellor of the German Empire.

What do Germans call donuts? ›

The name of the doughnut is different in various areas of Germany. Most areas in German speaking regions call it a Berliner. Residents of Berlin, Brandenburg and Saxony often know them as Pfannkuchen, which in the rest of Germany generally means pancakes - pancakes are known there as Eierkuchen (lit. egg cakes).

What's the difference between paczik and Krapfen? ›

Paczki versus Krapfen

Paczki are often coated, top and bottom, with powdered sugar, and they also come glazed or iced. Krapfen typically have sugar only on top, yet are somehow sweeter. Finally, the go-to krapfen filling is apricot marmalade, though vanilla custard or Nutella are also common.

What is a Berliner called in Germany? ›

Here in Berlin, where the Berlin Pfannkuchen has its origin according to history, the round dumpling, which is fried in hot fat, is simply called “Pfannkuchen”. In Bavaria the pastry is known as Krapfen and in other parts of Germany it is called Berliner. Yes – this is a great source of confusion for some people.

What is Berliner called in English? ›

Meaning of Berliner in English

a doughnut (= a small, circular cake, fried in hot fat) with jam inside and usually a sugar covering: A Berliner is made from sweet yeasted dough fried in fat or oil.

What are donuts called in Berlin? ›

The name of the doughnut is different in various areas of Germany. Most areas in German speaking regions call it a Berliner. Residents of Berlin, Brandenburg and Saxony often know them as Pfannkuchen, which in the rest of Germany generally means pancakes - pancakes are known there as Eierkuchen (lit.

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