I'm in Berlin. Where are the Berliners?

I haven't eaten many donuts in the last few years. When my sister and I were little, my family would pick up donuts after mass every Sunday morning (mainly, I think, to get us all through the mass). I remember really liking the donuts with the rainbow sprinkles. Anyway, what with a certain lapse in our church-going practices and growing consciousness of the donut effect on the waistline, this weekly ritual had pretty much fallen off by the time I was in junior high.

Lately, though, I've been getting back on the donut train. Not because my broken laptop forces me to use the internet cafe above the Dunkin' Donuts; I'd have to be much more homesick than I am to resort to one of the confections here. Since I've been in Berlin, I've stopped every so often at a bakery and gotten a jelly donut that's covered in sugar. It goes very well with a cup of milky coffee on a cold day.

Now, most people know that when JFK gave his famous "Ich bin ein Berliner" speech, he got it wrong. In German, there's no article in front of a nationality; whereas in English I would say, "I am an American," the German is just, "Ich bin Amerikanerin." And most people learn that "ein Berliner" is a name for a jelly donut, and that JFK actually said, "I am a jelly donut."

Except that they don't call them Berliners in Berlin! Only in other parts of Germany. When I bought such a donut in Cologne, before orientation, it was called a Berliner. When I buy them here, though, they're called Pfannkuchen (which can also mean "pancake"). I don't know what people would do if I asked for a Berliner here. I'm sure they'd understand, but they'd probably roll their eyes a little.

There's also a cookie called an Amerikaner, but I haven't worked up the courage to ask for one of those yet.