On the Sunday after Ash Wednesday, villages across Liechtenstein build a tall tower of wood and old Christmas trees, crown it with a witch figure known as the Funkenhexe, and set the whole thing alight after dark. This is Funkensonntag, bonfire Sunday, a custom shared with Vorarlberg and eastern Switzerland, and the crowd that gathers to watch is fed by festival kitchens frying Funkaküachle. The pastries are so central to the evening that the day has a second name, Küachlesunntig, pastry Sunday.

Each Küachle is a ball of soft yeast dough stretched by hand until the middle is nearly see through and the edge stays plump, then fried until it puffs and blisters and rolled in sugar while hot. Recipes change from village to village, which locals regard as a feature rather than a flaw. They are best eaten standing up, outdoors, in a cold wind, which makes them an excellent fit for any race weekend spent on a grass bank.

The yeast dough

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cups (300 ml) whole milk
• 3 1/2 tablespoons (50 g) butter
• 4 cups (500 g) bread flour
• 2 1/4 teaspoons (7 g) instant yeast
• 2 tablespoons (25 g) sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
• 1 large egg

Stretching and frying

Ingredients

• 2 quarts (2 liters) neutral vegetable oil
• 3/4 cup (150 g) sugar

More from Liechtenstein