Krapfen

Name: Krapfen
Prep time: 60 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 80 min
Yield: 25
Ingredients: Manitoba flour 2.9 cups; Type 00 flour 1 ¼ cup; Whole milk at room temperature 1 cup; Butter softened 1 cup; Sugar 4 tbsp; Fresh brewer's yeast 0.5 oz; Lemon peel 1; Vanilla bean 1; Honey 2 tsp; Fine salt 1 tsp; Egg yolks 4; Eggs medium 1; Apricot jam 7.1 oz; Peanut seed oil 4 ¼ cups; Powdered sugar powdered sugar as needed

Vegetarian

Difficulty: Average
Prep time: 60 min
Cook time: 20 min
Makes: 25 pezzi
Cost: Low
Note + the dough resting times

PRESENTATION

The Krapfen is an ancient sweet characterized by a very soft dough which, after cooking, is filled with delicious apricot jam. Its origins are Austrian but it is also known in Bavaria as "Faschingsk krapfen auf Grazer art," meaning "Carnival sweet in Graz style," because it was prepared for Carnival celebrations when krapfen were fried and sold on the streets. From Graz, it was soon exported to Vienna, and then spread to Lombardy-Veneto and especially in Trentino, where in the Dolomite centers you can still eat the best krapfen you can find in Italy.
What a krapfen absolutely must have to be considered as such is the jam filling, although you could also fill them with custard, chocolate, as is done for bomboloni... and a dusting of powdered sugar!

Have fun experimenting with other tantalizing variations such as savory krapfen with potatoes and Emmentaler or mini krapfen!

If you don't like fried foods, try our oven-baked bomboloni!

INGREDIENTS

Ingredients for about 25 krapfen: Manitoba flour 2.9 cups (350 g); Type 00 flour 1 ¼ cup (150 g); Whole milk 1 cup (250 g) - at room temperature; Butter 1 cup (120 g) - softened; Sugar 4 tbsp (50 g); Fresh brewer's yeast 0.5 oz (15 g); Lemon peel 1; Vanilla bean 1; Honey 2 tsp (10 g); Fine salt 1 tsp (5 g); Egg yolks 4; Eggs 1 - medium

for the filling: Apricot jam 7.1 oz (200 g)

for frying: Peanut seed oil 4 ¼ cups (1 l)

for sprinkling: Powdered sugar - powdered sugar as needed

Preparation

How to prepare Krapfen

To prepare the krapfen, start by dissolving the yeast in half a glass of warmed milk, taken from the total 1 cup 1 and add 2 tsp of honey 2. Pour the granulated sugar into the remaining milk 3.

Add the seeds extracted from the vanilla pod 4, the salt 5, the egg yolks 6

Also add the whole egg 7. Beat everything with a fork 8. Meanwhile, sift the flours and pour them into a stand mixer equipped with a paddle attachment 9.

Add the grated zest of an untreated lemon 10, start the machine at low speed and gradually add the mixture of milk, yeast, and honey 11 and when it is incorporated, continue with the mixture of milk, sugar, and eggs 12. Work all the ingredients well at initially low speed, then move to medium speed.

When the dough is homogeneous, add the softened butter piece by piece 13. Let the first piece be incorporated before adding the next one 14. Work the dough until it becomes smooth and elastic 15.

Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface 16, work it just enough to give it a spherical shape 17 and then place it in a lightly floured bowl, cover with plastic wrap 18. Let it rise for at least 2 hours or until the dough has tripled in volume.

After the rising time 19, transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface. Wait about 10 minutes and roll it out slightly with a rolling pin to form a rectangle about 0.8 inches thick 20. Now it's time to make the folds: fold one of the shorter sides inward 21

so that when you fold the other side, it aligns with the first fold 22. Let it rest for 5 minutes covered with a cloth to prevent the dough from drying out. After 5 minutes, rotate and roll out the dough again with the rolling pin, still giving it a rectangular shape 23. Apply two more folds as done previously, starting from the other edge this time 24

and close as before to align the fold (25-26). Let the obtained dough rest 26 for another 5 minutes, making sure to cover it again with the cloth. After the second resting time, roll out the dough on the work surface with a rolling pin to a thickness of about 0.4 inches 27. Let the rolled-out dough rest again for about 10 minutes

before cutting, as the dough tends to shrink. Using a 2.4 inch diameter cutter, cut out dough discs 28. With these quantities, you will get about 25 krapfen. Transfer the krapfen onto a tray with parchment paper, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise for another hour 30.

After the rising time, fry one or two krapfen at a time in hot oil at a temperature of 340°F (measured with a kitchen thermometer) 31. Turn the krapfen after 1-2 minutes (check that the part in contact with the oil is golden) for uniform cooking 32. Drain the krapfen on a sheet of absorbent paper 33.

When you have finished frying all the krapfen, fill them with apricot jam or with your favorite jams or creams 34. Sprinkle with powdered sugar 35 before serving your krapfen 36.