When I think of sufganiot, I think of my childhood and these doughy, hockey-puck, fried doughnuts filled with raspberry jelly. Even 25 years later, I can still taste these yearly concoctions that inevitably were always a part of our Chanukah celebration at my day school.
While the health kick has certainly steered us away from eating such delicacies daily, what does it hurt to enjoy a good sufganiah to celebrate Chanukah? And who says that it needs to be raspberry jelly filled?
Frying was never done in my mom’s kitchen; it was unheard of. While I continue the tradition, I stray just once a year at Chanukah. The taste of a just-fried, warm, sufganiah that makes your hands sticky from the sugar, just cannot be beat.
Each morning during the week of Chanukah I find myself in my kitchen at the Harry & Rose Samson Family Jewish Community Center at 4 a.m., coffee in hand, and fryers warming. I spend the next 4-5 hours straight frying hundreds of donuts for orders throughout the city.
While most, if not all, orders are classic jelly-filled, there are so many options out there. In different parts of the world, chefs and home cooks alike, have filled their donuts with an array of fillings.
In Mexico, chefs are creative with their sufganiot and fill them with dolche de leche or make “buñelos,” fried fritters drenched in sugar syrup. In South America, you may find a spicy banana crème filling.
While in Israel classic jelly filling is the norm, bakeries can be found there baking an array of flavor-filled donuts including chocolate, vanilla, and different fruit fillings. My favorite, however, is adding a Mediterranean flair with a sweet pomegranate filling (shared below).
As a new dad, I look forward to sharing the many joys of Chanukah, in particular the foods, as my son, Jaron and I “travel” through the world through its sufganiot. He may not be able to eat them this year, but I will be sure to enjoy it for him.
From my family to yours, have a meaningful Chanukah.
2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting the baking sheet and rolling out the dough
2 Tbsp. unsalted butter at room temperature
frying, plus more for
coating the bowl
2/3 cup pomegranate filling (see below)
Place the flour, sugar, yeast, and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer and whisk to combine. Add the yolks and milk and mix, using the hook attachment, on medium-low speed until a shaggy dough forms, about one minute. Add the butter, increase the speed to medium high, and mix until the dough is smooth, shiny, and elastic, about five minutes.
Coat a large bowl with oil. Form the dough into a ball, place in the bowl, and turn to coat in the oil. Cover with plastic wrap or a damp towel and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about one to one-and-a-half hours.
Lightly flour a baking sheet; set aside. Punch down the dough, transfer to a lightly floured work surface, and roll until about 1/4 inch thick. Using a two-inch round cutter, stamp out as many dough rounds as possible and place on the prepared baking sheet about 1/2 inch apart. Gather the dough scraps into a ball and roll out again, stamping rounds until you have 30 total on the baking sheet.
Cover loosely with plastic wrap or a damp towel. Let rise in a warm place until puffy and about 1/2 inch thick, about 30 minutes.
Place the vegetable or canola oil in a Dutch oven or a large, heavy-bottomed pot and set over medium heat until the temperature reaches 350°F on a candy/fat thermometer. Meanwhile, line a second baking sheet with paper towels and place a wire rack over the paper towels; set aside. Place the jam or jelly in a piping bag fitted with a 1/4-inch round tip; set aside.
Using a flat spatula (don’t use your hands — this will deflate the doughnuts), carefully transfer the dough rounds, one at a time, into the oil. You should be able to fit about six at a time, leaving at least 1 inch of space in between and keeping the oil temperature at 350° F.
Fry until the bottoms are golden brown, about 90 seconds. Carefully flip with a fork and fry until the second side is golden brown, about 90 seconds more. (If air bubbles appear in the doughnuts, pierce with the tip of a paring knife.) Remove with a slotted spoon to the wire rack. Repeat with the remaining dough rounds.
When the doughnuts are cool enough to handle, use a paring knife to puncture the side of each to form a pocket in the center. Place the tip of the piping bag into the pocket and pipe about one teaspoon of filling inside. Dust with powdered sugar before serving.
½ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 2/3 cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted
1 Tbsp. POM Concentrate (found at Sendik’s)
In bowl of electric stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, beat the butter on low speed for 30 seconds. Add the confectioner’s sugar, and beat until smooth. Add POM Concentrate, and beat until combined and completely smooth.
Chef Jonah Levenberg is director of food services at the Harry & Rose Samson Family Jewish Community Center.
Loading ...