Berliner

Berliner is a yeasted dough ball deep-fried without a hole, filled with jam through a hidden slit and dusted with sugar. It is eaten in Germany both around New Year's Eve (Silvester) and during Carnival season (Karneval, Fasching). At New Year, bakeries traditionally slip a mustard-filled one into a batch of jam ones, and pulling the wrong Berliner has been a small German ritual for generations.

What it actually is

A yeast dough enriched with egg, milk, butter and sugar, with a pinch of salt, is proofed, shaped into balls and deep-fried in frying oil or fat rather than baked, which is what gives it a pale ring around the middle where the dough meets the hot fat. Once cooled, a small hole is pushed into the side and jam (classically red fruit, plum or strawberry) is piped deep into the centre, and the outside is finished with a heavy dusting of sugar, sometimes an icing glaze instead.

The name depends on the region: it is a Berliner in much of Germany, a Pfannkuchen in Berlin itself, a Krapfen in Bavaria and Austria, and a Kreppel or Kräppel in Hesse. The filling stays hidden, so a good Berliner gives no clue until it is bitten.

How it's served

• Usually eaten whole, by hand, at room temperature.
• Dusted with granulated or icing sugar, the classic finish.
• Around New Year's Eve and during Carnival season, when the mustard-prank version sometimes appears in bakeries at New Year.

Writing it on a menu

• Flag gluten (wheat), egg and milk; the enriched dough carries all three. If a mustard-filled prank one is served, name the mustard too.
• Say which jam is used, since plum, strawberry and apricot are all common and worth naming.
• Mention if you glaze with icing instead of dusting with sugar, since regulars have a preference between the two finishes.
• Note that it is best fresh; a day-old Berliner turns noticeably greasy and the dough loses its light texture.