Austrian-style doughnuts by World Confectioner Champion

Carnival time is doughnut time: For Austrians, the sweet, round Austrian-style doughnut (“Faschingskrapfen”) is a must in the carnival season between New Year’s Eve and Ash Wednesday. Virtually every bakery, confectionery, pastry shop and café offers this delicacy filled with apricot jam and lavishly sprinkled with icing sugar during this time. And for very good reason, because the Austrian “Krapfen” has a long tradition. People have been deep-frying pieces of the rich yeast dough since medieval times, but the delicacy was first enjoyed as a nutritious fasting meal.

Originally served without apricot jam, the recipe later included a filling with stewed fruit. Austrian doughnuts were already being filled with jam by the 19th century – though not the traditional apricot jam we know today, but mainly plum or redcurrant. It wasn’t until around 1900 that apricot jam became the preferred filling – and this recipe has proved the most popular to this day.

When it comes to the best recipe, we asked a true professional for his secret and top tips: Gregor Regner (pictured above), World Confectioner Champion at WorldSkills 2009 in Calgary, opened his recipe book and let us into his secret for making the perfect carnival delicacy.

Recipe for “Faschingskrapfen”:

 

  • 1.000 grams flour

  • 8 egg yolks

  • 80 grams yeast

  • 80 grams butter

  • 100 grams sugar

  • 4 tablespoons rum

  • 0,5 litres lukewarm milk

  • Lemon zest; to taste

  • Vanilla sugar; to taste

  • A pinch of salt

  • Oil for frying

Method:

 

  1. Dissolve the yeast in the liquid ingredients. Stir in the remaining ingredients,
  2. and knead until you have a smooth dough.
  3. Divide the dough into flat, round shapes, allow to prove until they have increased considerably in size.
  4. Heat the oil to 160°C and deep-fry the doughnuts.
  5. Leave to cool, fill with the apricot jam and dust with icing sugar.
  6. Enjoy

For best results when preparing your Krapfen, the World Confectioner Champion 2009 in Calgary has a bit of extra advice for you: “It is important to knead the dough thoroughly until fine pores appear. Also make sure you place them into the pan with the top side first and let the top side fry a bit longer than the underside. If you follow these steps, you can’t really go wrong.”

Wishing all you baking enthusiasts the best of luck and lots of fun as you try this recipe!