Quarkbällchen (literally, “little quark balls”) are a deep-fried confection sweetened with vanilla sugar. Their batter incorporates quark, a fresh cheese made with curdled sour milk, so though Quarkbällchen look like golf ball-sized doughnuts, they’re much lighter and softer.

You can buy Quarkbällchen at festivals and in cafés or restaurants around Germany throughout the year, but they’ve become a classic Christmas market treat, deep-fried to order and served dusted with white sugar on rectangular paper plates.

Q is also for…

Quarkstollen: an alternative type of Stollen, one of Germany’s traditional Christmas fruit breads, made with quark.