Fasnachtskiechli or merveilles de carnaval

Around here in Basel, Alsace and Baden, Fasnacht or carnaval or Fasching (it all depends which country you’re in) is a big deal. You can tell carnival’s in the air when the houses sprout jolly carnivalesque figures on their roofs, and those gorgeous sugar-dusted, deep-fried wonders called Fasnachtskiechli or merveilles de Carnaval start popping up in the shops.

Food during this season is famously calorie-laden – it’s midwinter here and we’ve had zero temperatures for weeks, along with endless grey skies :-(. Besides, you need to build up strength for the rigours of Lent ahead – at least that was traditionally the rationale for all those deep-fried, deeply fattening foods.

The naughty torte featured here is no exception to the calorific order of the day. It’s super-speedy and ultra-simple – all you do is lay one of those fragile, sugar-dusted wonders in the bottom of a springform tin, arrange scoops of coffee (or other) ice…