search in

Nuns' puffs

Nuns' puffs
© Ian Ehm & Pierre Reboul
Home Food & Drinks Recipes Cooking Nuns' Puffs

Nuns' Puffs

Dessert

This southern German carnival speciality has the most beautiful name. Perhaps the first written reference to it is found in the kitchen accounts of the Abbey of Klosterneuburg dating back to the 14th century.

Preparation time: 00:35

Ingredients (6 servings)
200 ml milk
zest from one organic lemon
40 g butter
100 g flour
3 egg
20 ml orange blossom water
40 g caster sugar
1 pinch(es) ground cinnamon
neutral oil, for frying
  • In a saucepan, bring the milk to a boil. Add the lemon zest and the butter, cut into chunks.
  • Sift in the flour and stir briskly over a medium heat using a spatula until the dough comes away from the sides of the pan. Transfer the dough to a bowl and leave to cool a little, then add the eggs one at a time, beating vigorously between additions. Add orange blossom water to taste.
  • Heat the oil to 160°C in a deep fryer or a saucepan filled one-third full. Cut a sheet of baking paper lengthwise into two strips.
  • Fill a piping bag fitted with a smooth 1 cm nozzle with the dough and press small, even-sized balls of the dough onto the two sheets of baking paper.
  • Carefully dip the end of one sheet of the paper into the hot oil, detaching the nuns' puffs from the baking paper. Fry the puffs, turning, and lift out when they have a nice caramel colour.
  • Drain on kitchen paper and keep warm. Fry the second batch in the same way.
  • Mix the cinnamon and sugar together and sprinkle over the nuns' puffs. Enjoy warm.


Find out more
Strawberry Gin Cake
Dessert
Strawberry Gin Cake
If you think strawberries and gin are a match made in heaven, you need to make this cake. Fitness...
Candied Beets by top chef Norbert Niederkofler
Dessert
Candied Beets
A sweet bite for in between meals – top chef Norbert Niederkofler reveals how to make small...
By Norbert Niederkofler
Crostata di marmellata. 
Baking
Crostata di Marmellata
Wonderfully fruity: Letitia Clark's 'Crostata di marmellata' from the book 'La Vita è Dolce'.
By Letitia Clark
How to make your own watermelon granita.
Dessert
Watermelon Granita
Refreshingly fruity – especially on hot summer days, a watermelon granita can improve your day.
Homemade almond granita
Dessert
Almond Granita
Ice meets rich almond purée – mixed together and scraped up into icy flakes, it makes an almond...
Granita al Limone
Dessert
Granita al Limone
Several ingredients can be combined to make lemon granita, which is refreshing and easy to make.

The best

The best restaurants in Hamburg The Best White Wines from Germany – Vintage 2003 The Best Sweet Wines from Burgenland, Austria - Vintage 2014 The Best Sparkling Wines from France – Vintage 2007 The Best Red Wines from Austria
Blauer Portugieser: the best wines of the vintage 2016 from Germany Syrah: the best wines of the vintage 2014 Pinot Noir: the best wines of the vintage 2021 from Austria €€ : the best wines from Salta, Argentina Sparkling Wine 2017: the best wines from Vienna, Austria
Credit Cards accepted – restaurants in Piedmont Credit Cards accepted – restaurants in Lower Austria The best restaurants in Mainz Beer Selection – restaurants in Vorarlberg Credit Cards accepted – restaurants in Canton of Basel-Country
Rosé Wine 2010: the best wines from Provence-Alpes-Côte-d’Azur, France White Wine 2019: the best wines from Canton of Ticino, Switzerland Red Wine: the best wines of the vintage 1996 Sauvignon Blanc: the best wines from Carinthia in Austria Corvina: the best wines of the vintage 2011 from Italy