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Community Corner

It's Time To Make (About 3,000 Dozen) Fastnachts

Patch's Megan Kutulis joined volunteers at Goodwill Fire Company #1 in Trexlertown to whip up the pre-Lenten treats. And now it's time to eat them.

Editor's Note:  Accompanying video and photos were shot by Betty Cauler.

“Time to make the donuts.”

That was the first thing that crossed my mind Saturday morning as I walked into Goodwill Fire Co. # 1 of Trexlertown, where groups of dedicated volunteers filled the firehouse’s banquet hall.

The only difference between them and the iconic Dunkin’ Donuts baker was that these volunteers weren’t here to make the donuts -- they were here to make the fastnachts.

The fire company volunteers bake 3,ooo dozen of the Fat Tuesday treats every year for fund-raising purposes and they're so popular that orders are taken well in advance.

The popular German breakfast pastry dates back to early Lenten celebrations, when the Pennsylvania Dutch would use up extra lard, sugar, fat and butter before Ash Wednesday, as they were forbidden during the religious season.

Although that ban was lifted, the fire company has been following roughly the same recipe since 1965, when it first started producing the Pennsylvania favorite in-house. Now, the only ingredients are potatoes, eggs, sugar, yeast, flour and a Crisco/margarine mix.

But don’t let the abbreviated list of ingredients fool you. Whipping up one or two dozen batches of these delicacies might take you a few hours. But if you’re filling orders that total 3,000 dozen, as the volunteers at the fire company were, you’re going to have to clear your weekend.

For most, that means willingly sacrificing a little shut-eye, too.

“Volunteers are working six-hour shifts (that) started (last) Friday night,” explained Linda Gorr, who helped oversee the operation. “Some people are staying eight or 10 hours just because they enjoy it, and then there are some who come when they can. We take what help we can get, and we appreciate it all.”

Friday night's volunteers were in charge of skinning and cutting potatoes in preparation for the baking process that kicked off in the wee hours of Saturday morning. Once the potatoes are prepped for cooking, the March Madness began.

In an effort to give a few sleep-deprived bakers a break, I manned the front lines at some of the stops along the production line to see what kind of work goes into making the fastnachts in a single weekend.

Pre-Mixing

My first stop on the assembly line was the pre-mixing station. Here, the potatoes are mashed and the excess water from cooking the taters, referred to as ‘potato water,’ is poured into large pitchers. Both the mashed potatoes and the potato water are used in the dough mixture. I started off easy, mashing the potatoes and transferring the secret potato water ingredient into pitchers.

As I mashed and poured, volunteers at the Mixer Helper station prepared eggs, yeast, flour and sugar for the mixer. The mixer combined all of the ingredients to create the fastnacht dough. The dough is then kneaded, a job I know my pathetic excuse for biceps weren't willing to take on.

The Hot Room

Instead, I followed a pan of freshly-kneaded dough to what the volunteers affectionately refer to as The Hot Room -- and rightfully so. The same hall that hosts hungry patrons at the fire company’s monthly breakfasts transforms into a sauna for fasnacht-baking weekend. Here, the dough is given 90 minutes to rise. Then, it will go through the fasnacht roller machine, which gives the pastries their shape.

Let me just reiterate just how warm it gets in The Hot Room. About 10 to 15 volunteers are dressed for the middle of August and sweating to match it. In between trying to stay cool and monitor four banquet tables  worth of rising dough, they’re delivering fasnachts to the fryer, picking them up from the rolling station and doing their best not to trip over each other.

Still, in the midst of the heat and chaos, there are no complaints or remarks about the temperature. Everyone is happy to be there, happy to help out, and thankfully, happy to take in a fastnacht-making newbie.

The Rolling Machine

My next job was at the receiving end of the fasnacht roller machine. I carefully lifted the thick, freshly cut dough from the roller and transferred them to rows of large baking sheets.

After having gone through the process a few times, I’ll admit I got cocky, trying to lift three or four fasnachts at a time from the roller to the baking sheet in an effort to make a new personal best. So I guess it served me right when I dropped a few on the floor. Luckily, the pros I was working with laughed it off with me, but from then on, I only took two at a time. Lesson learned.

After the fasnachts go through the roller and make it onto the baking sheets, they’re left to rise again in The Hot Room before heading to the frying station.

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The Frying Station

I’m someone who’s intimidated by their own stove and oven, so when the crew suggested I try my hand at the fryer, I stressed the likelihood of serious third-degree burns to myself or an unlucky bystander.

But with some encouragement from my fellow fasnacht fryers, I found myself on the side of the fryer doing what turned out to be my favorite job of the day.

Typically, fastnachts don’t have holes in the center, one of the main differences between them and donuts. But fire company volunteers opt to put holes in theirs. So someone is responsible for standing at the fryer and ensuring that there is a small hole in the middle of every fastnacht.

Using long wooden sticks, I drilled holes in the middle of each and flipped them over to brown on both sides. I equate it with a game of whack-a-mole -- you have to make sure they’re holed and flipped in time to be taken out.

Once the tray of fasnachts is taken out the fryer, they are placed on platters to cool for about two hours. It's quite the waiting game. After they’ve cooled, volunteers bag them and prepare them for pickup.

If surprised about the length of the process, you’re not alone. I was expecting a couple of hand mixers and rolling pins. What I got was a makeshift fastnacht factory that runs like a well-oiled machine and an education on what goes into making one of my favorite pre-Lenten indulgences.

The machines and the volunteers at the firehouse may have just finished producing an insane quantity of fastnachts, but they’re already planning for next year.

As customers filed in to pick up their orders, most took note of the flyer that announced Feb. 18-20, 2012, as the weekend the fastnacht madness will return.

Until then, there should be enough to hold everyone over.

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