Currently it is Fasching, Karneval or Fasnacht in Germany. The name varies from region to region. During this Zeit (time) people dress in costumes, funny or traditional (at least different) and have a big party. There are parades, people sing and dance together…and of course there´s a lot of alcohol. Maybe it´s a little bit vergleichbar (comparable) to American Halloween.

The traditional Brauch (habit) was to scare and banish the winter with scary dresses like Hexen (witches) and Teufel (devils). And as often, traditions come along with special food. In southern Germany we have the Fasnachtsküchle during this time. And only during this time!

If you want to know what it is, just try it! Here´s the Rezept (recipe):

What you need is:

– 500 g of Mehl (flour)
– ½ cube of Hefe (yeast)
– 50 g of Zucker (sugar, maybe powdered)
– 125 ml of lukewarm Milch (milk)
– 2 Eier (eggs)
– 1 teaspoon of Salz (salt)
– 50 g of soft Butter (butter)
– 250 g of concentrated butter for baking/cooking

Zubereitung (Preparation)

Take a big preheated Tasse (cup), fill it with 4 tablespoons of lukewarm milk, 1 tablespoon of flour and the crumbled yeast and stir it. Leave it at a warm place for approx. 20 minutes until the sponge is ready.
Sieve the flour to a Schüssel (bowl) and push a little crater into it. Put the eggs, the salt and the soft butter in the crater.

Now mix everything (the sponge as well) with the dough hook of your kitchen machine until it gets bubbles and easily releases itself from the bowl. Leave the Teig (dough) in the bowl, cover it with a towel or something similar and let it rest at a warm place for another 30 to 40 minutes.
Put some flour on a Holzbrett (wooden board) and roll out the dough until it´s approximately as thick as a finger. Take a glass with a diameter of circa 5 cm and cut the Fasnachtsküchle out of the dough. Cook them in the concentrated butter until they get a golden brown color. When they´re finished put some powdered sugar on them. That´s it!

Guten Appetit!
(Enjoy your meal!)

Vocabulary:

Zeit – time
vergleichen – to compare
der Brauch – habit
Hexe – witch
Teufel – devil
Rezept – recipe
Mehl – flour
Hefe – yeast
Zucker – sugar
Milch – milk
Ei(er) – egg(s)
Salz – salt
Butter – butter
Zubereitung – preparation
Tasse – cup
Schüssel – bowl
Teig – dough
Holzbrett – wooden board