sufganiyot

Set out a plate of these fabulous sufganiyot and watch faces light up. With the first mind blowing bite, eyes will glow as brightly as a menorah on the eighth night of Chanukah.

There are lots of recipes for Jelly Donuts out there. These are the best. If they weren’t, I’d be giving you a different recipe.

Lucky for you, I’ve put in all the hours of tweaking and twisting in order to get to fabulous. All you need to do is follow these directions and you will be the star of the holiday celebration.

This recipe is easier than many others. There’s no rolling out and cutting the dough, no multiple bowls, and no mixer required. But, I didn’t cut those steps at the cost of ultimate quality. It’s just that I found them to be unnecessary.

You may find yourself making these long after Chanukah is over.

This recipe contains dairy. I think they’re better made with milk and butter than with water and oil. But…feel free to use your favorite plant milk and plant butter to make them pareve or suitable for dairy-free diets.

Through my multiple tests, I’ve discovered that I prefer the way the yeast activates better in water than it does in milk, so we start with water and then add the milk.

When living in Norway, I discovered the joy of adding a touch of cardamom to baked goods. I highly recommend doing that here. Remember, the better the ingredients, the better the final result.

To make the most tender sufganiyot, use only unbleached unbromated all-purpose flour, as it absorbs liquid differently from the way bleached flours will. The addition of vodka also improves the texture. Have no fear—the alcohol will cook out and your donuts won’t have any booze in them when they come out of the fryer. Also, it will leave no residual taste of smell. Just tender, light sufganiyot.

Strawberry jam is the most traditional filling. Raspberry also works. Just be sure to buy seedless jam or strain out the seeds. It’s critical that your jam be perfectly smooth. A quick blitz in the food processor will ensure that there are no fruit pieces that will get stuck. I like using Kirkland’s Organic Strawberry Spread (Costco), but any high quality jam will do. Stay away from products that include corn syrup or anything artificial.

There are other, perhaps less traditional fillings that are also delicious. It’s not my personal favorite, but nutella is a popular choice. Using a rich vanilla or chocolate pastry cream is also lovely. And filling your sufganiyot with pistachio cream is heavenly. If you go that route, a bit of finely chopped pistachios is a nice garnish on top.

Sufganiyot are most often coated in lots of confectioner’s sugar. If you have a problem with your face, clothes, and kitchen covered in white powder, you could use a combination of granulated sugar and cinnamon.

Happy Chanukah!

This recipe will make 10, 12, or 14 donuts, depending upon how big you want them to be. It can easily be doubled.

Ingredients:

• 2 ¼ teaspoons yeast

• 1/3  cup warm water (should be warm, not hot, to the touch) + 2 teaspoons room temperature water

• ½ cup milk at room temperature

• 1/4 cup white granulated sugar, plus a pinch for the yeast

• 6 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled

• 1 large egg room temperature

• 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 500 grams all purpose unbleached flour (18 ounces, about 3 ¾  cups) plus more for dusting

• ½  teaspoon salt

• ¼ teaspoon cardamom

• 1 tablespoon vodka

For filling and finishing:

You’ll need about 1 ½ cups of jam or other filling and about ½ cup confectioner’s sugar for dusting.

For frying:

Use a deep fryer filled with a high smoke point oil for frying—I prefer avocado or grapeseed. Organic peanut oil is also good, but bear in mind that there are people with peanut allergies.

If you don’t have a deep fryer, use a tall pot with about 1 ½ quarts of oil. Use a thermometer to insure that you keep the temperature consistent.

I find that the proper temperature for the oil is about  365°. If your oil is too hot, the donuts will be burned on the outside before the insides are fully cooked, and if it’s too cool, they will be greasy.

Method:

• Spoon the yeast into a large mixing bowl with the ¼ cup water and a pinch of sugar. Let rest until yeast blooms, 5-10 minutes.

• In this order, add the  milk, the sugar, the vodka, the melted butter, the egg, the vanilla, the flour, and the salt.

• Turn the shaggy mass out onto a board. Add the extra teaspoon or two of water, and knead until you have a smooth dough. This will take about 5 minutes—it goes faster than bread dough. It should be somewhat sticky; avoid adding more flour if you can. (You’ll probably want to lightly flour your hands.)

• Transfer dough to a lightly oiled bowl, cover, and let rise for about 2 hours, or until doubled.

• Punch down the dough and transfer it to your work surface. Weigh the dough and separate into 14 equal portions.

• Roll each portion into a smooth ball.  Set them on a tray lined with parchment. It’s not necessary, but you can flatten each one a bit for shaping. Cover them with a clean, dry tea towel. Let the donuts rise again until doubled in size, about 45 minutes.

• Preheat a deep fryer to 350° and fry the sufganiyot until golden on the bottom, about 1 ½ minutes, then flip them and brown them on the other side for another 1 ½ minutes. Only turn them once.

• Remove them from the oil and let them drain on a rack while you make the rest of the donuts.

• When they’re all fried and cooled, stick a straw in the center of the top of each one, going down about to the middle, to make a cavity.

• Fill a squeeze bottle with your filling. Stick the point of the bottle into the cavity and squeeze out just enough jam until it pops out from the center a bit.

• Roll the sufganiyot in confectioner’s sugar and serve.