Krapfen Tirolesi — Tyrolean Jam Doughnuts

Trentino-Alto Adige — the krapfen tradition throughout the region reflects the centuries of Hapsburg Austrian rule. The word krapfen is documented in Austrian sources from the 8th century; the specific Tyrolean version with jam filling and vanilla sugar dusting was established in the 18th-century Viennese pastry tradition.

Krapfen are the Tyrolean deep-fried yeasted doughnuts, filled with jam (typically preiselbeeren — lingonberry or rowanberry jam, or apricot jam) and dusted with vanilla icing sugar. They are prepared throughout the Alpine arc (Austria, Bavaria, Trentino, and Alto Adige) for Carnival, fat Tuesday, and winter celebrations. The Trentino-Alto Adige version uses the typical Austrian-origin formula: a very enriched dough (flour, eggs, butter, sugar, yeast, a small amount of lard) that produces a light, pillowy, golden doughnut with a white equator (the un-fried band at the middle) that indicates correct frying.

A properly fried krapfen is one of the great simple pleasures of Alpine winter — the exterior is golden and yields slightly to the touch; the interior is pillowy and soft; in the centre, the jam is warm and fruity. The vanilla icing sugar dissolves against the warm dough. It is the taste of Carnival in the Dolomites.