Spritzkuchen – German Crullers

Spritzkuchen are fried pastries topped with powdered sugar or cinnamon or lemon icing. They are made of dense dough similar to that of doughnuts, but they are piped from a pastry bag.

Ingredients:

Dough:
250 ml milk
a pinch of salt
1 tablespoon sugar
50 g butter
200 g flour
4 eggs
1 packet of vanilla sugar
700 ml oil for deep frying
parchment paper

Icing:
300 g powdered sugar
3 dessert spoons lemon juice

Preparation:

1. In a pot over medium-high heat add milk, salt, sugar and butter and wait till they melt.
2. Reduce the heat a little bit and add the flour and stir with a spoon till you have a thick yet smooth dough.
3. Remove from heat and let it cool for 5 minutes, then add the eggs one by one and the vanilla sugar while mixing with an electrical mixer.
4. You will now have a sticky, thick but smooth dough. Fill it in a pastry bag with a wide star tip.
5. Cut 12 10×10 cm squares out of parchment paper and brush them with a thin layer of oil.
6. Pipe the dough into circles over the small paper squares.
7. Heat the oil on medium heat and fry the piped pastry around 2-3 minutes on each side till golden brown.
8. Once cooked remove with a slotted spoon and drain on kitchen paper and then leave to cool on a wire rack.
9. Sieve the powder sugar and mix with the lemon juice and some hot water. Mix until smooth, then brush the glaze over the crullers.