eGCI Demo: Sufganiyot / Soovganiot

[Pam R]

Sufganiyot

Every year, at some point between late November and late December, Jewish families celebrate Chanukah. In the most basic (and food related) way, this holiday celebrates a miracle - the miracle of oil. A small vessel of oil meant for a very important oil lamp, contained only enough oil to last one day. The miracle was that it lasted for eight days, enough time for more pure olive oil to be made.

To remember the miracle, Jewish homes stock up on oil for frying traditional foods throughout the eight nights. Perhaps the best known Chanukah treat is the latke (potato pancake). But there are other traditions - in Israel (and my hometown), sufganiyot are popular. Better known (in English) as jelly-doughnuts or jam-busters a sufganiya is a yeast doughnut (no hole), fried until golden brown, filled with sweet fillings and rolled in sugar (or iced).

Preparing the Dough

Click here for the recipe in RecipeGullet.

Ingredients: all-purpose flour, sugar, instant yeast, kosher salt, cinnamon, allspice, eggs, vegetable oil, warm water (missing from picture, oil for frying, jam or jelly for filling and extra sugar for rolling).

Place all of the dry ingredients into the bowl of a food-processor. (This may also be done by hand or using a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, but I prefer the food-processor.)

Buzz it for about 5 seconds, to mix everything together.

In a small bowl or measuring cup, whisk the egg, egg yolk, oil, and water together. The water should be just warm to the touch - not hot. With the food processor running, carefully pour the liquid into the machine.

Let the machine work for 1-2 minutes, or until you have a well-mixed, soft dough. You may need to hold onto the machine as it does it's work. If it's too dry, add a little water; too wet and sticky, add a little flour.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work-surface.

Knead until you have a smooth ball of dough. If the machine did enough of the work for you, it should only take a minute or so of kneading to get it to the proper state.

Oil a large bowl, turning the dough over in the bowl so it's lightly coated with oil.

Cover with plastic wrap and set aside to rise for 1 to 1 ½ hours, or until doubled in volume.

Tested - it's at least doubled in volume and nicely relaxed. Ready to proceed.

Cut the dough in half so it's easier to work with. Then choose one of the following techniques for making Sufganiyot.

Technique #1 - Frying and THEN Filling

Lightly flour your work-surface and rolling pin. Roll the dough out so that it's approximately ½" thick. Use a round cookie cutter to cut the dough into circles. You can make these whatever size you like - I usually use a 2" round.

Place the rounds onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, cover with plastic wrap and let them rise for about 20 minutes, or until they've almost doubled in thickness.

While the rounds are rising, heat about 1" of oil to 350 degrees for frying. I always make these in a large electric frying pan - there's a lot of surface area and I find that it keeps a constant temperature. If you don't have one, this can be done in a pot on the stove - just use a thermometer to make sure the oil is 350 and be very careful while frying.

When the oil is hot and the rounds have risen, carefully transfer a few of them to the oil. Don't overcrowd the pan - they should be in a single layer and have a little floating room around each one. Cook for 1-2 minutes , or until golden brown, and then carefully use two large spoons to turn them over.

Fry the second side until golden brown.

Using a slotted spoon, remove the sufganiyot from the oil and place on a baking sheet lined with paper towel to drain. Cool just until you can handle them.

Fit a pastry bag with a 4 mm 30-5 Kaiser Pastry tip (this is a tip that has a long, narrow tube with an angled end that is easy to insert into the doughnut).

Fill the bag with a jam or jelly of your choice (you can use icings, pastry creams, Nutella - whatever you like).

Holding a sufganiya in one hand, and the pastry bag in another, insert the tip into the side of the doughnut. Gently squeeze the bag as you slowly pull the tip out of the sufganiya.

Immediately roll the sufganiya in icing or granulated sugar (place a layer of sugar onto a large plate for this step).

Do the same with the rest of the sufganiyot and serve as soon as possible. These are best eaten right away - or within the same day.

Technique #2 - Filling and THEN Frying

On a lightly floured work-surface, roll the dough out until it's approximately 1/4". Use a circular cutter to cut the dough into rounds (same as above, but the dough is half the thickness with this technique).

Brush the edges of ½ of the rounds with the egg white

Then place about 1 tsp. of jam or jelly in the centre of each round that's been brushed.

Place another round of dough on top of the filling.

Then carefully pinch the two pieces together.

Make sure the two halves are completely sealed. Do the same thing with the rest of the rounds and then place them all on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and cover with plastic wrap.

Let them rest for about 20 minutes, until they've risen again.

While the sufganiyot are resting and rising, heat the oil the same way you would for technique #1. Follow the instructions for frying them as well.

Once they've been fried and drained on paper towel, roll them in sugar, serve and enjoy.

[mukki]

Yum, I love sufganiyot. I use the recipe from Martha Stewart Living's December 2003 issue (which is not the same recipe listed on the website). They're the only doughnuts I make now.

[Desiderio]

Pam , thank you so much for taking the time to explain this tradition and everything comes with.The result is very similar to what we make in Rome ( and that might be for the Jewish community , very large in Rome ) we call them Bombe ( bombs ).I almost forgot how good they are .

Thank you

[K8memphis]

Oooh, I love that!!!

But I see a stray doughnut hole floating in one of the photos--busted!!!

But seriously that is very cool. I love demo's. This one works my cyber olfactory senses especially--yeasty air, warm oil, pungent dough, crispy browned surface, warm sweetness in the air <sniiiiffff>, smells sooo good.

Umm, how do you pronounce Sufganiyot and Sufganiya???

Thanks for posting. I especially love the white or lemon color stripes around each sufganiyot's middle. The oil had just thought to reach out and toast that little stripe when it was foiled and the stripe bellied pastry was snatched out of the oil to be stuffed and smothered with sweet juju surviving handily. I bet they taste amazing.

Thanks, Pam!

Edited November 29, 2006 by K8memphis (log)

[bloviatrix]

Pam, thanks for the demo. Maybe I'll actually make them this year.

[snowangel]

Pam, which way is easier -- pre or post-filling?

[Pam R]

But I see a stray doughnut hole floating in one of the photos--busted!!! 

Shh.. I had to use up the scraps!

Umm, how do you pronounce Sufganiyot and Sufganiya???

I'll attempt it:

Sufganiyot (plural) - soof-gah-nee-yote (the last o is somewhere between a hard and soft o - can't think of an English word it rhymes with)

Sufganiya (singular) - soof-gah-nee-ya

[Pam R]

Pam, which way is easier -- pre or post-filling?

←

I'm always afraid that the pre-filled ones will open when I'm frying them (though they never have). And they're also more time consuming. But, I think they may be a little bit easier. You don't have to deal with filling the piping hot doughnuts.

The added bonus with filling them after is that you can use things like pastry cream - fillings you wouldn't want to fry (though do let them cool a little before filling).

Now, for filling them after frying, I've used several different things. Last year I used squeeze bottles - but found it difficult to get the tips inserted enough to fill the doughnut well. Finding the tip I posted above helps a lot. You need something sharp. If you don't have / can't find that tip, use a small paring knife to cut a small hole into the side, then use a squeeze bottle or plain tip for filling.

[alanamoana]

Thanks so much for the great demo Pam. Beautiful sufganiyot!

I will add though that I've never heard of that particular piping tip called a Kaiser tip before. Could that be the brand? I've always heard of it as a "Bismarck" tip. That might help when looking it up on-line.

More 2 cents...when you fry doughnuts (sufganiyot ) already filled, there is a tendency for the dough around the filling to not cook completely...particularly if the filling is cool. This happened where I worked because we would fry them to order and they had to be kept in a refrigerator after the final proofing. The filling would get too cold in the fridge. This obviously didn't happen with yours, but just a warning...you might have to fry filled ones a bit longer.

[Swisskaese]

Those look beautiful Pam. I have been trying very hard to stay away from them. They have already been available for a few weeks.

I have only tried making them once. I tried the second method and about have of them opened up. I would recommend frying an then filling.

[duckduck]

Great demo, Pam! And thanks helping us learn to say it and telling us a bit about Chanukah. It's always good to learn how food ties in to someone's celebration. Great info! And they look delicious!

[Pam R]

Thanks so much for the great demo Pam.  Beautiful sufganiyot!

I will add though that I've never heard of that particular piping tip called a Kaiser tip before.  Could that be the brand?  I've always heard of it as a "Bismarck" tip.  That might help when looking it up on-line.

More 2 cents...when you fry doughnuts (sufganiyot  ) already filled, there is a tendency for the dough around the filling to not cook completely...particularly if the filling is cool.  This happened where I worked because we would fry them to order and they had to be kept in a refrigerator after the final proofing.  The filling would get too cold in the fridge.  This obviously didn't happen with yours, but just a warning...you might have to fry filled ones a bit longer.

←

Thanks for the tips Alana - and the tip name! That was buried in the deep recesses of my brain.

[bripastryguy]

Pam,

my wife has been nagging me every year to make jelly doughnuts for hanukkah to sell in my shop. I blew it off every year but not this one....I made the sufganiyot last night. Couldnt wait until they were cool to try one. I made a "boston cream" out of it, the ganache was melty, the filling creamy and the shell. oh my lord, that is the best thing i have ever tasted. I plan on stuffing them with a variety of fillings. I froze some (un filled) to see how they freeze and thaw (I have to do such things, if they become popular, im a small shop so we need to prep in advance for busy times ) I will let you know how they come out after thawing. Thank you so much for the great recipe and demo, i know my 5 year old son is going to love them,,,,hes crazy for jelly doughnuts especially sufganiyot, he saw them on an episode of Shalom Sesame

[Pam R]

Pam,

my wife has been nagging me every year to make jelly doughnuts for hanukkah to sell in my shop. I blew it off every year but not this one....I made the sufganiyot last night. Couldnt wait until they were cool to try one. I made a "boston cream" out of it, the ganache was melty, the filling creamy and the shell. oh my lord, that is the best thing i have ever tasted. I plan on stuffing them with a variety of fillings. I froze some (un filled) to see how they freeze and thaw (I have to do such things, if they become popular, im a small shop so we need to prep in advance for busy times ) I will let you know how they come out after thawing. Thank you so much for the great recipe and demo, i know my 5 year old son is going to love them,,,,hes crazy for jelly doughnuts especially sufganiyot, he saw them on an episode of Shalom Sesame

←

Brian, I'm so glad you made some! I wish my parents made them when I was 5 years old..

They should freeze fine for you. Last year I had to make them live on a morning TV show, so I froze some, I put some in the fridge, I had all mutations of the dough ready to go in case anything happened. The frozen ones thawed and fried beautifully. Since it was a success my mom, er, I mean boss, had me do some at work as well.

I'll be doing the same as you this year, people are already placing orders. Chag Sameach!

[bripastryguy]

my son wasnt thrilled with them (he is my toughest critic and a fan of dunkin donuts), but everyone especially my customers loved them

[Lior]

It is nearly Hanukah here and the traditions include eating food fried in oil to emphasize the story of hanukah and the connection to oil. For whoever is interested:

About Hanukah

So, our newspaper had a confiseur make 19 different donut (soovgania) recipes and the best one was published. I will translate for you:

Ingredients:

2 and a half cups of sifted white flour

6 tablespoons sugar

1/2 tsp salt

50 grams fresh yeast (the freshest you can find)

3/4 cup lukewarm milk

2 Tablespoons melted butter

2 egg yolks

1 tsp real vanilla extract

Canola and olive oil for frying

powdered sugar

Jam or whipped cream or Dulce de Leche

For the filling: An injection without the needle from a pharmacy or a pastry bag with a very thin tip.

Method:

1. Crumble the yeast into a bowl. Pour the lukewarm milk onto the yeast and add 1 and 1/2 tsp sugar. Mix a bit and wait about 10 minutes. If there are children at home, call them to see.

2. Put the flour rest of the sugar and salt in a bowl. The next step can be done by hand or in a mixer. Make a hole in the middle of the flour mixture and pur the yeast mixture into it. This is only if you are doing it by hand. By mixer use the kneading attachment. Add the yolks, the vanilla, and the butter. Knead well for at least 7 minutes. The dough must be soft, comfortable to knead and pleasant to the touch.

3. Put the dough in to a bowl and cover with a towel and leave out for 4 hours. The dough needs to rise a lot and double itself. Have the children peek every now and then.

4. Roll out the dough with a roller on a floured surface- lightly floured-make sure it is lightly floured. Roll out to about 3 cm. With the help of a cup, cut out circles. The cup;s diameter should be 8-10 cm. Similar to a plastic cup diameter(the kind used once and then thrown out). Roll each circle into a ball, a smooth one. (You probably should oil your hands a bit).

5. Allow the balls to rise for about 20 minutes, and in the meanwhile heat up the oil. Fry one suvganiah for a trial run. It needs to have a bit of foam like stuff around it and turn golden almost immediately, but not burn or get dark golden. I suggest putting the suvganiah in very hot oil and then making the flame lower so that the inside will cook and the outside won't burn. Each suvganiah needs to be in the oil for about 4 minutes.

6. Take out of oil onto a papertowel to absorb the oil.

7. When the suvganiah is not hot enough to melt your thumb, fill with jam. If you want to fill with whipped cream wait until the suvganiah has cooled down. Sprinkle the tops with powdered sugar.

8. In order to fill with jam or Dulce de Leche, use the injection or pastry bag. For the whipped cream a squeeze bottle will do. You can even cutinto half and make like a sandwich with the whipped cream.

Fillings:

Jam or Dulce de Leche, ganache, whipped cream with 2 tablespoons of powdered sugar, or one tablespoon fruit filling or a teaspoon of instant coffee.

Enjoy!

Edited December 3, 2007 by Lior (log)

[ohmyganache]

Nice demo. We're making them for the local Jewish Federation, and we're filling and then frying. It's working out well, and only a few have leaked.