Add the egg yolks and the remaining sugar into a large bowl. Whisk for 1-2 minutes until fluffy. Add brandy/rum, salt, lemon zest, and flour. Add the yeast mixture.

Stir with a spoon until roughly combined then start kneading by hand or with a stand mixer using a dough hook attachment. Knead the dough until soft, elastic, and no more sticky. It will take 7 minutes on speed 2 in Kitchen Aid or about 15 minutes by hand. If kneading the dough by hand you can find the mixture too sticky, try not to add additional flour.

After 7 minutes of kneading with a mixer, you will see that the dough starts to clean off the sides of the bowl, it will be soft and a little bit sticky. Scrape the dough from the sides of the bowl with a spatula and knead it by hand for a minute. After this time the dough should be smooth, soft and should no longer stick to your hands. If you have used a kitchen scale to measure out the flour you can trust the recipe and use the exact amount written in the ingredient list but if you’re using measuring cups you have to assess the texture of the dough and add more flour/liquid if necessary.

Transfer the dough to a lightly-floured rolling mat/counter and roll it out to a thickness of 2/3 - 3/4 of an inch (1.7-1.9cm). Cut out rounds using a 2 3/4 to 3-inch biscuit cutter (I used a 2 3/4 which is 7cm). You can knead the leftover dough into a ball, roll it out, and again cut out rounds. You can also simply divide the dough into 70-80g pieces, and roll each piece of dough into a ball.

Fry Krapfen in batches (3-5 Krapfen, depending on the size of the pot). Gently lower the Krapfen into the oil, I like to pick them up and slide them off of a lightly floured bench scraper.

It’s important to control the temperature of the oil – if it’s too hot, Krapfen will brown too quickly and will be raw in the middle, if it’s too low, they will soak up fat and be dense and greasy. Fry Krapfen for about 2-3 minutes per side or until golden.

Transfer to a plate lined with paper towels. Let them cool down.

Enjoy!