BERLINER PFANNKUCHEN
30 grams (1 oz) fresh yeast
about 3/4 - 1 cup warm milk
70 grams (2.5 oz) sugar
400 grams (14.1 oz) flour
2 eggs at room temperature
65 grams (4 1/2 tablespoons) soft, unsalted butter
grated zest of 1/2 lemon
1 dash salt
strawberry jam
oil to fry the Berliner in
fine granulated sugar
Break the yeast into small pieces into a bowl. Dissolve the yeast and some sugar in some
tablespoons of the warm milk.
Sift the flour into a big bowl, form a crater in the middle of the flour, fill the
yeast-milk into the crater and dust some flour onto the mixture. Let rise for several
minutes in a warm spot.
When you see cracks in the flour you dusted onto the yeast mixture, combine the flour,
yeast mixture, eggs, butter, lemon zest, salt, sugar and as much milk as the dough absorbs
without getting to thin (so it might be best to spoon in the milk as you knead the dough
so you can see when you added enough to have a smooth dough). Knead the dough until it
stops sticking to the walls of the bowl. Butter the bowl and roll the dough in the bowl to
cover it with a thin film of butter. Leave the dough in the bowl, cover the bowl with a
clean dish towel and let rise in a warm spot until double in bulk.
Briefly knead the dough again.
IF YOU WANT TO FILL THE BERLINER BEFORE DEEP-FRYING THEM:
On a flour-dusted board or table roll out the dough to 1 cm (2/5 inch) thickness.
Using a biscuit cutter with a diameter of about 8 cm (3 inches)cut into rounds.
Place half of all the dough rounds onto a board and place a little bit of jam into the
middle of these dough rounds. Moisten the edges of the rounds with some water and place
the remaining half of dough rounds onto the prepared rounds. You should end up with
something like "raw dough sandwiches filled with some jam". Cover them with a
clean dish towel, place them in a warm spot and let rise again.
Heat the oil to 180ºC (360ºF). Place 2 - 3 of the risen dough rounds into the oil at a
time (more dough rounds placed into the oil at one time would lower the temperature of the
oil to much, so stick to 2 - 3 at a time). Fry the Berliner doughnuts until golden-brown
turning them only once while frying them. Remove from the oil, let oil heat up to ideal
temperature, before placing more dough into it again.
Drain the fried Berliner on paper towels and roll them in sugar while still hot.
IF YOU WANT TO FILL THE BERLINER AFTER YOU FRY THEM:
You proceed almost as said before, only roll out the dough thicker and omit
filling half of the cut out dough rounds and placing other dough rounds on them. Instead
cut out rounds from the dough and let them rise. Fry them until golden brown, turning them
once in the hot oil.
Drain them on paper towels then fill them (bakers use something that looks like a big metal soap dispenser that is filled with jam, they just insert the nozzle of this jam dispenser into the fried Berliner and press down on the nozzle - as I said looks and works almost like a soap dispenser you have at home - and then they cover the doughnut with sugar.