December rolls around and the countdown begins for both Christmas and Chanukah. Both these festivals are rich in meaning, spirituality and with foods that may be tasty in the moment, but their consumption is more often than not regretted the next day.
Israel becomes the land of deep-fried foods during Chanukah: latkes (a grated potato, carrot and onion patty) are the symbolic savory food and sufganiyah, a deep fried doughnut filled with jam and dusted with icing sugar, is the symbolic sweet.
I wrote a previous post about the Yemenite, North African, version of the doughnut called the zalabiyah, which is traditionally flavored with cinnamon and sugar.
This recipe is a bit like a deep-fried brioche, being fluffy and light on the inside. I make them with 30 g of dough, so they are small and leave room for other foods to be eaten.
Ingredients:
- 500 g bread flour
- 8 g dry yeast
- 8 g baking enhancer
- 60 g sugar
- 5 g salt
- 190 ml milk
- 1 egg
- 1 yolk
- 30 g canola oil
- 5 ml vanilla essence
- 30 g butter
- canola oil, for deep frying
- strawberry jam, for filling
- icing sugar, for dusting
Method:
The sufganiyah is a deep-fried bread, so its preparation is much the same as making bread rolls. If you want larger doughnuts then use 40 or 50 g of dough for each doughnut. These quantities should make around 30 doughnuts at 30 g per doughnut.
Mix dry ingredients in a bowl using a whisk. Separately mix all wet ingredients together in a measuring jug. Cube the butter and keep it separate. Add the dry ingredients to a mixer and using the hook attachment, slowly add the wet ingredients a bit at a time until the dough comes together, then add a little butter at a time and mix for 7–8 minutes on slow-medium speed.
Remove from the mixer and roll in a circular motion to tighten it into a ball. Return to the mixing bowl and cover with cling wrap to rest for 30 minutes. Once rested weigh out 30 g of dough for each ball. Roll each 30 grams of dough into a tight ball, using a cupped hand to roll in a circular motion on a table. Brush canola oil on the baking paper covering your trays, then add the balls and leave to rise for an hour or until the ball has doubled in size.
Heat at least one and half inches of oil in a low sided saucepan until it reaches 150–155ºC, then place a number of sufganiyah, top down, very gently into the oil. After a couple of minutes roll the sufganiyah over in the oil so both sides are light brown. It should take no longer than 5 minutes for each batch of sufganiyah. Remove to kitchen paper to soak the excess oil.
Once all have been deep fried and cooled, place on a tray tightly together. Using a fine sieve, dust with icing sugar. Use a piping bag with a very small nozzle to inject a little jam into the top of each doughnut. Enjoy, but don’t overdo it.
Let the light of Chanukah cast out the darkness that has fallen on our lives.
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