I had noticed an odd-looking Berliner doughnut recently in one of the bakeries here in Tübingen.

BTW, as part of my due diligence to uncover as many secrets of the Berliners here as possible, I have discovered that there are special types of Berliners that are only made during this pre-Lent Carnival season here in Tübingen.

Just by way of review, a Berliner is something like a North American jelly doughnut, typically filled with a red (maybe raspberry?) marmalade and covered in powdered sugar. However, during the period between January 6th and the start of Lent, there are many more varieties available, most with different kinds of fillings, such as cream or chocolate, and most topped with colorful icing.

And then there’s the one with the cherries on top:

For the record, the icing here is more of a glaze than an icing per se, IMHO. But OK, that’s not so odd on a doughnut in general, I guess; it’s just not common here.

The “cherries on top” thing is actually like a gummi bear candy. Not standard on a doughnut anywhere, and really not at all necessary, IMHO.

But if you overlook that, the filling – a dark-cherry flavored jam – in this type of Berliner is quite good.

IMHO. 😉

So oddly enough, although I was skeptical of a gummi candy-topped Berliner, I think this one is my favorite so far, as long as you don’t try to eat that cherry thing. Just set it aside so you can  focus on the filling.

Still a few more weeks to go and more Berliners to try. I’ll keep you posted.