Carnival has just started in Cologne – it’s exactly 11h11 – the elften elften elf uhr elf is an age old institution in Cologne and there’s been huge excitement for the past few weeks. Costumes are planned, bought and stored away for the great day, leave is requested and given and arrangements are made to get to the city on time. Nobody drives (it’s Germany after all) but trains, busses and trams will be full so planning is essential. Few people will sleep tonight and work will be slow tomorrow. Most of the citizens of Cologne will go into the streets to join in the festivities and throngs of people will crowd into every ally, street

and pub – nobody works and for a country like Germany, that’s saying something. In 1814, after the French Revolutionary troops had left and the Prussians appeared in their stead, it was felt that order had to be restored to the street Carnival that had been getting completely out of hand. For this reason, in 1823 the Festordnendes Komitee was founded and became the predecessor of today’s Festive Committee. I can imagine, if I look at today’s street festivities, that it was necessary to get the citizens of Cologne back to normality. Could it have been more rowdy than today?

Could they possibly have drunk more beer than today? On the 10^th of February 1823 Cologne celebrated her first Rosenmontag (Rose Monday) which paved the way for today’s Carnival. The Street Carnival is the first great event but there are a myriad of other things happening at the same time – not forgetting the Dreigestirn (the Triumvirate) that consists of the Prince, the peasant and the maiden who lead the Grand Parade! Over 100 Carnival Organisations are responsible for a myriad of games and what have you that all end on Ash Wednesday. We were looking for something suitable to use as a recipe for today and immediatley thought of these since Fastnachtskrapfen has to provide the perfect lining that will be so vitally necessary today. They are fried in oil and are quite substantial.  Just the way to go!!!

FASTNACHTSKRAPFEN

Ingredients

• 500ml cream
• 2 eggs
• 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
• 200g flour
• 1.5 litres oil to deep fry
• 3 tablespoons caster sugar

Method

• Whisk the cream and the eggs until well incorporated and then add the caster sugar and salt. Sift the flour and add it to the liquid – tablespoon by tablespoon.
• Knead the dough with your hands and allow it rest for an hour, covered with a moist dish cloth.
• Divide the mixture into 12 pieces and use a rolling pin to form the pieces as thin as possible.
• Heat the oil to about 180°C (medium heat) and fry the dough for about a minute on each side.
• Sprinkle with sugar.