A cruller () is a deep-fried pastry like a

doughnut A doughnut or donut () is a type of food made from leavened fried dough. It is popular in many countries and is prepared in various forms as a sweet snack that can be homemade or purchased in bakeries, supermarkets, food stalls, and franc ...

popular in Europe and

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

often made from a rectangle of dough with a cut made in the middle that allows it to be pulled over and through itself, producing twists in the sides of the pastry. The cruller has been described as resembling "a small, braided torpedo". Some other cruller styles are made of a denser dough somewhat like that of a cake doughnut formed in a small loaf or stick shape, but not always twisted. Crullers may be topped with powdered sugar (sometimes mixed with

cinnamon Cinnamon is a spice obtained from the inner bark of several tree species from the genus ''Cinnamomum''. Cinnamon is used mainly as an aromatic condiment and flavouring additive in a wide variety of cuisines, sweet and savoury dishes, breakfa ...

) or icing. A French cruller is a fluted, ring-shaped doughnut made from choux pastry with a light airy texture. The German '' Spritzkuchen'' is very similar, while the Dutch and Belgian '' sprits'' is baked instead of being fried.

History

The name ''cruller'' comes from the early 19th-century Dutch , from 'to curl'. In northern Germany they are known as ('deer horns'). They are traditionally baked on

New Year's Eve In the Gregorian calendar, New Year's Eve, also known as Old Year's Day or Saint Sylvester's Day in many countries, is the evening or the entire day of the last day of the year, on 31 December. The last day of the year is commonly referred to ...

as a family project, with the kids doing the labor-intensive shaping and the grown-ups handling the deep fat frying. In Danish they are known as '' klejner'' and in Swedish as ''klenäter'', both names deriving from

Low German : : : : : (70,000) (30,000) (8,000) , familycolor = Indo-European , fam2 = Germanic , fam3 = West Germanic , fam4 = North Sea Germanic , ancestor = Old Saxon , ancestor2 = Middle L ...

. In Scandinavia, these types of crullers are common at Christmas. In the US, various shapes of pastries are known as "crullers". Some forms of those crullers are what is traditionally eaten in Germany and some other European countries on Shrove Tuesday, to use up fat before

Lent Lent ( la, Quadragesima, 'Fortieth') is a solemn religious observance in the liturgical calendar commemorating the 40 days Jesus spent fasting in the desert and enduring temptation by Satan, according to the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke ...

. The term "Chinese cruller" is occasionally applied to the youtiao (), a similar-looking fried dough food eaten in East and Southeast Asia. The term cruller is also associated with the mahua (). Mahua is a type of twisted fried dough much denser and sweeter than youtiao. The "Aberdeen crulla" is a traditional Scottish pastry made in the same way as the rectangular, plaited cruller of New England. It is first attested in Edinburgh in 1829 and is thought to copied from the 'cruller' of the United States according to the Scottish National Dictionary (1931–1976). Distinct from this, the "yum-yum" is a commonly available treat in Scotland, which resembles a straightened French cruller coated in thin glacé icing. In 1909, a US author published her belief that crullers were invented in the New World in 1617 by

Sebastian Croll Sebastian Croll was a Dutchman said to have been made the first commissary of Fort Orange in 1617, which was built on the site of the present-day city of Albany, New York. He was also an elder in the "Church in the Fort," which was founded by t ...

; according to her, this was due to the perceived similarity of the names.

''Spritzkuchen''

In Germany, ''Spritzkuchen'' are said to have originated in Eberswalde as part of carnival celebrations that take place before

. In past times supplies of animal fats had to be used up before Lent so they would not spoil and go to waste and ''Spritzkuchen'' was one of the dishes created to meet this need.

Availability

Crullers are most commonly found in Canada, New England, the Mid-Atlantic and North Central states of the United States, but are also common in California. The German origin is probably why traditional crullers can be found more easily in the

Midwest The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four Census Bureau Region, census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of ...

, where many German immigrants settled. Some family-owned bakeries still call them "krullers." In 2003, the

Dunkin' Donuts Dunkin' Donuts LLC, also known as Dunkin' and by the initials DD, is an American multinational coffee and doughnut company, as well as a quick service restaurant. It was founded by Bill Rosenberg (1916–2002) in Quincy, Massachusetts, in 195 ...

chain of doughnut shops stopped carrying traditional crullers, claiming that the hand-shaped rectangular treats were too labor-intensive, and couldn't be simulated with new machines for mixing doughnut batter. The company still sells "French crullers"Joseph P. Kahn
"With Progress, a Cruel Twist"
'' Boston Globe'', 25 October 2003. which can be formed by a kind of extruding nozzle. Tim Hortons,Tim Hortons Snacks & Baked Goods
/ref> and Honey Dew Donuts still sell the Cruller doughnut. Krispy Kreme sell a similar doughnut the company refers to as a cruller, but in reality it is just a molded/formed cake (or Old Fashioned) doughnut. In place of the traditional cruller, Dunkin' Donuts now sells several variations of a substitute product it calls a "cake stick" which is a simplified, machine-made rectangular version of the elaborately twisted, hand-made variety. In the southeastern U.S., French crullers are a fresh-baked everyday bakery item at

Publix Publix Super Markets, Inc., commonly known as Publix, is an employee-owned American supermarket chain headquartered in Lakeland, Florida. Founded in 1930 by George W. Jenkins, Publix is a private corporation that is wholly owned by present and ...

grocery stores. In 1973, the French cruller became available in Mister Donut stores in Japan.

References

External links

* {{Doughnut Carnival foods American doughnuts German-American cuisine Canadian doughnuts German pastries

History

''Spritzkuchen''

Availability

See also

References

External links