Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Fasnacht Kuechle

Thank you to Mary's husband Don for bringing us fresh kuechles today! I shared them with my Graphics class, and we enjoyed every deep fried sugary bite. 

My Oma made them every Fat Tuesday, and we would eat so many that we felt sick, vowing to never eat them again. Until next year.


Fasnacht (pastry)
From Wikipedia

A Fasnacht, sometimes spelled Fastnacht or Faschnacht, is a fatty doughnut treat served traditionally on Fastnacht Day (Shrove Tuesday), the day before Lent starts. Fasnachts were made as a way to empty the pantry of lard, sugar, fat, and butter, which were traditionally forbidden during Lent.

Basel, Switzerland conducts an annual fasnacht festival. The Pennsylvania Dutch territory surroundingLancaster, Pennsylvania, celebrates the custom as well. Most chain supermarkets in the eastern Pennsylvania offer fasnachts, although WalMart offers Pączki instead. The pączki is traditionally eaten in Poland on the Thursday prior to Fasnacht Day, although in Polish communities of the US, the tradition is more commonly celebrated on Fasnacht Day. Commonly pączki are round, rather than having straight sides, and they are filled with jelly, or sometimes creme filling.

In parts of Maryland, the treats are called Kinklings, and are only sold in bakeries on Shrove Tuesday. The German version is made from a yeast dough, deep fried, and coated or dusted in sugar or cinnamon sugar; they may be plain or filled with fruit jam. Pennsylvania Dutch fasnachts are often made from potato doughnuts, and may be uncoated, powdered with table sugar, or dusted with confectioner's sugar.

The term is synonymous with the Carnival season Fasnacht in southern Germany, Switzerland, Alsace and Austria. Although usually written "Fastnacht", there are many local spoken varieties: Fasnacht, Fassenacht, Fasnet etc.

~ my oma's were always rectangular, but like these with powdered sugar on top ~

1 comment:

  1. My grandmother made Fasnacht's every year around Easter. I never knew the story behind it, I just knew that I loved them. Now, I make them every Easter for my children so we can keep the tradition going. I use my grandmother's original recipe.

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