Berlin Pancakes for New Year’s Eve: Why, When and How to Eat Them

For many people, pancakes are as much a part of New Year’s Eve as raclette, dinner for one or fireworks. We’ll tell you where this tradition comes from and how you can best enjoy the delicious fat pastry.

Pancakes are a traditional dish – not only on New Year’s Eve

They are called Berliner pancakes, Krapfen, Kreppel or simply Berliner. This always refers to the delicious round yeast dough balls. They are fried in fat and usually have a jam filling in the middle. According to legend, a Berlin confectioner invented it for a regiment of Frederick the Great in the 18th century. Their shape is said to be reminiscent of cannonballs.

• Berlin pancakes are particularly high in fat. Depending on the filling, they have around 300 calories. There are no exact records, but it is assumed that for this reason people used to like to eat them around the turn of the year. Because: In the past, people fasted during Advent. In addition, food was often scarce in the winter months. The Berliner offered a substantial and invigorating change on the menu.
• Today, party-goers also take advantage of the calories in Berliners. A lot of alcohol is traditionally drunk on New Year’s Eve. Since the donuts offer a good basis, so that the dreaded hangover does not strike quite so badly. This is also one of the reasons why Berliners are also very popular at carnival.
• Berliner food can be great party fun at the same time. Because many bakeries increase their range of this specialty on New Year’s Eve. Then there are the donuts not only with jam, but also with eggnog, cocoa cream or other delicious fillings.
• Sometimes there is also a joke filling. Because some pastry chefs will also fill a Berliner with mustard on request. The surprise is usually written all over the face of the party guest who catches this Berliner. This is especially fun for the other party guests. You can also make such a surprise donut yourself. To do this, carefully remove the jam and fill in mustard instead.
• Incidentally, fat pastries as a New Year’s tradition are not only found in Germany. In the Netherlands, fried oliebollen are eaten at the turn of the year. Some regions of Italy serve chiacchiere on New Year’s Eve, which are strips of dough baked in fat.

This is how Berlin pancakes are eaten properly

On New Year’s Eve, Berliners are usually eaten in the afternoon or after dinner. The filling in the middle makes this pastry really tasty. At the same time, however, it can also make eating a challenge. There are these techniques:

• With cutlery: a plate, fork and maybe a knife make eating in Berlin accident-free. That way the filling doesn’t leak out. However, many buyers want to enjoy their donuts on the go immediately after buying them – and don’t have any cutlery with them.
• Halve: Remove the top half of the donut from the bottom half. Then you can see the filling and eat carefully around it.
• Quarters: To do this, cut the donut into four equal pieces. These bites are bite sized. You can now just eat them with your fingers.
• At the opening: professionals bite into the opening of the Berliner. Because that’s where the filling is. So you won’t experience any surprises, but eat the Berliner without dripping or spilling.