Carnival Celebrations Part II "Krapfen-Kuchen" (Doughnut Cake)

Today is the second day of Carnival ("Karnevalsfreitag"). The Carnival involves thousands of spectators dressed up that yearly watch and cheer the famous parades with their colorful floats, dance groups and ...

...music groups.

German "Carnival Parades" ("Karnevalszüge") are held mostly on the weekend before "Rose Monday" ("Rosenmontag"), or on the Monday itself.

Along the Rhine every town has a "Carnival Prince and Princess" ("Karnevalsprinz und Prinzessin") who command a uniformed guard, the "Prince's Garde" ("Prinzengarde").

To celebrate the second day of Carnival today,  I am featuring a "Krapfen-Kuchen" (Baked Doughnut Cake) which consists basically of a straightforward sweet yeast dough. It is easy to prepare and it is certainly nice to decorate it with some colorful Carnival decorations, such as these paper clowns.

Recipe for "Krapfen-Kuchen"
(Baked Doughnut-Cake)

Ingredients for the Cake

• 750 grams plain/AP flour
• 1 1/2 fresh yeast cakes (you can substitute active dry yeast: one package or 2 1/4 tsp for each 6 ounce package of fresh yeast)
• 350 ml warm milk (I use whole milk)
• 150 grams sugar (I use superfine white sugar)
• 1 pinch of salt (I use sea salt)
• zest of one organic orange
• 150 grams unsalted butter, room temperature
• 120 grams seedless jam of your choice
• 100 grams powdered sugar
• 3 tbs freshly squeezed lemon juice
• some colorful sprinkles and paper decoration (optional)

Preparation of the Cake

1. Put the flour into a large bowl. Make an indentation in the flour, put the crumbled yeast cakes in that indentation, add 1 tbsp sugar and pour the warm milk over the yeast and the sugar. 
2. Let the flour with the yeast mixture rest in a warm place for about 10 minutes.
3. Add the remaining sugar, milk, salt, orange zest and 100 grams soft butter and knead until a soft dough forms.
4. Cover and let the dough rest in a warm place until it has doubled in volume. 
5. Divide the dough into 24 pieces. Roll each piece into a ball and place on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper.
6. Cover the baking sheet and let rest again in a warm place for about 30 minutes.
7. Preheat oven to 175 degrees Celsius ( 350 degrees Fahrenheit). 
8. Melt remaining butter and brush the top of the cake. Bake for about 30 minutes.
9. Let cake cool on rack. Using a tip and a pastry bag fill every second piece with a bit of jam.
10. Stir together confectioner' s sugar and lemon juice and ice every other piece of cake. Dust other pieces with remaining sugar.
11. Decorate with confetti sprinkles and little paper clowns (optional).

Part III of my Carnival Celebrations Series will feature three different traditional Carnival pastries that are all dressed up for the Carnival season, the so-called "Quarkbällchen" (Quark Doughnut Holes) and my favorite type of waffles that my beloved grand-mother used to bake, namely "Eiserkuchen" (Waffle Rolls). So, let the celebrations continue!