Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Berliner Pfannkuchen


At midnight on 9 November 1989, the Berlin Wall began to be dismantled, ending 30 years of separation between communist East Berlin and West Berlin. On Monday night at midnight, the 20th anniversary of the occasion was marked in Berlin with celebrations, including the knocking over of painted foam dominoes to symbolise the coming down of the Wall.

I wanted to mark this auspicious occasion, so I have made Berliner Pfannkuchen, a type of jam donut which I understand to be a traditional recipe originating in Berlin. President John F Kennedy is famous for declaring on his visit to Berlin on 26 June 1963 that "Ich bin ein Berliner!" - which unfortunately literally translates to "I am a jam donut!"

I used a recipe for Berliner Pfannkuchen that I found on Cast Sugar's site. Like Cast Sugar, I eschewed the traditional dusting of icing sugar for a coating of caster sugar - as I am a sweet tooth too!


For some reason, my jam spread inside the donuts instead of being contained in an oozy single centre - but hey, they still tasted good! This is my first ever batch of fried donuts.

To all Berliners, congratulations and enjoy this momentous occasion!
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15 comments:

  1. Nutmeg NannyNovember 11, 2009 at 10:24 AM

    Wow these look delicious! I love all that yummy sugar on the top....:)

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  2. AnonymousNovember 11, 2009 at 10:41 AM

    Oh those look good, especially the sugar coating! They look like a very successful first attempt at fried donuts!

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  3. Susan from Food BloggaNovember 11, 2009 at 12:59 PM

    Thank you for this thoughtful post. That is a historical moment we should be reminded of. And your recipe is fabulous! I can only imagine how sweet they taste.

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  4. AnonymousNovember 11, 2009 at 6:50 PM

    Such a timely post. Love the German version of donuts :)

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  5. BrendaNovember 11, 2009 at 9:26 PM

    Loving your educational posts!

    How did you know I was craving doughy fried sugar coated food? ; ) Looks fab....I want to try it!

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  6. FinlaNovember 11, 2009 at 9:46 PM

    I love this, here we call it berliner balls and sometimes it is filled with pattiseri cream too.

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  7. Johanna GGGNovember 11, 2009 at 9:57 PM

    great tribute to the wall - I love these sorts of donuts and my favourites have castor sugar not icing sugar

    btw made your orange and rose petal biscuits and posted them - they're wonderful

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  8. The Caked CrusaderNovember 12, 2009 at 12:29 AM

    Lovely looking doughnuts - wouldn't worry about the jam, I like the way it's spread (less likely to splodge on your clothes!)

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  9. JenniferNovember 12, 2009 at 2:01 AM

    These look delicious! And I love how you always teach me something with your posts!:)

    I just recently made doughnuts for the first time myself....and I loved it!!!!

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  10. BarbaraNovember 12, 2009 at 6:37 AM

    Nice to honor the falling of the wall. Especially with these fabulous donuts! Think I would like pastry cream in mine!

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  11. Gloria BakerNovember 12, 2009 at 6:51 AM

    I love these Cakelaw, look amazing! gloria

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  12. KayteNovember 12, 2009 at 9:45 AM

    The doughnuts look incredible! LOL on the JFK quote. I hadn't heard it in awhile, so it was fun to get to hear it today.

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  13. Lorraine @ Not Quite NigellaNovember 12, 2009 at 11:55 AM

    What a lvoely post and the perfect way to commemorate the event! :D

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  14. HindyNovember 12, 2009 at 10:40 PM

    My very favourite donut! Do I bookmark the recipe or is that too dangerous to what's left of my waistline?

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  15. CakelawNovember 14, 2009 at 9:38 PM

    Hi Nanny, unfortunately if you don't eat them straight away, the sugar kind of melds into the donuts - oh well, they were still good next day.

    Thanks Jill.

    Thanks Susan - they are very sweet, but delish! And are best served warm.

    Thanks Ellie - I always thought donuts were American, but they are actually German!

    Thanks Brenda - they are easier to mke than I thought - just had to overcome my fear of deep frying.

    Hi Happy Cook, I know that I would love them filled with pastry cream - and would gobble them all!

    Thanks Johanna - and your biscuits look lovely.

    LOL Crusader - that's a point.

    Thanks Jennifer. I learn all the time from blogging - it's one of the best things about it.

    Hi Barbara - so would I!

    Thanks Gloria.

    Hi Kayte, I had always wondered why they laughed at his comment (in Oz, we don't call them Berliners), and only worked it out by Googling it.

    Thanks Lorraine.

    LOL Clivia - I think I abandoned mine long ago.

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Thanks for dropping by!