It’s that time of year, so today I offer a special edition of the Doughnut Diaries. After all, you do know what today is, right?

If you guessed the end of the krapfen season in Bolzano, you’re correct, as today is the first day of Lent. And that, of course, is  the day that krapfen (“jelly doughnuts”) disappear from the bakeries in Bolzano. (Click here to access a few old blog posts about krapfen traditions in Bolzano).

In Tübingen that style of doughnut was called a Berliner. While their disappearance wasn’t quite so complete in Germany as it was in Bolzano, the special only-for-Carnival kinds of Berliners available between Christmas and  Fat Tuesday did always disappear during Lent. [Click here to see a few old blog posts about Berliners in Tübingen].

Now I don’t know about you, but this season snuck up on me this year. I’m not used to thinking about the last day for doughnuts happening in early February!  But fortunately for the Doughnut Diaries I did manage to remember just in the nick of time yesterday evening. I went to a branch of Tim Hortons, the Canadian doughnut shop, in oder to purchase a couple of their krapfen-like varieties.

Raspberry & Maple Canadian krapfen

The one on the left is a jelly doughnut, filled with raspberry jam, and covered in powered sugar.  That one was remarkably like the ones found in Bolzano and Germany (in form at least). That surprised me, as I thought North American jelly doughnuts were traditionally covered in granulated sugar, instead of powdered sugar like they are in Europe. But this Tim Hortons model was covered in powdered sugar; it was the only style of jelly doughnut they had at 6:30pm.

The other doughnut was called a Canadian Maple.  It was topped with a maple-flavored glaze, but filled with a regular (non-maple) custard creme.  Interesting to try, but not my favorite.

Anyway,  I don’t think that Tim Hortons stores are closed starting today, so I don’t think we’d have trouble finding jelly doughnuts here, even though it is now Lent.  So it wasn’t quite as critical to make it there yesterday. But it is tradition, after all – at least the tradition we learned living in Italy and Germany, and one we were happy to keep alive last night with a couple of Candian krapfen.