Frying for Hanukkah? Try sweet or savory doughnuts

It might seem that getting eight nights worth of presents is the best thing about Hanukkah, but it isn’t. The doughnuts are.

Here in the U.S., as well as in Europe, crispy, fried potato latkes are the best-known food for celebrating the legendary miracle of one day’s worth of oil that burned in the temple for eight days. But, puffy doughnuts called sufganiyot (which means “sponge,” describing the texture) can rival potato pancakes in popularity, especially in Israel.

Many food historians say that in the past, potatoes were more abundant in Northern and Eastern Europe, while in the Middle East and Africa, wheat and other grains were more widely available. Not surprisingly, when it came to celebrating Hanukkah by cooking foods in oil, people fried what was easiest to get.

However, given Americans love of doughnuts, sufganiyot are growing in popularity stateside.

Sweet varieties usually are made in the traditional filled doughnut fashion, but savory versions are made with either a less sweet yeast dough or a light pate a choux pastry stuffed with fillings such as seasoned pumpkin or sauteed Swiss chard with raisins and tomatoes.

Sufganiyot are delicious when served hot out of the fryer and Dennis Wasko, a kosher personal chef and instructor at Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts in Chicago, offers some tips for success when making them:

 • Be patient and give the yeast dough plenty of time to rise. Wasko says the texture as well as flavor will be better. He even recommends letting the dough rise slowly, wrapped in plastic in the refrigerator. This allows the yeast to develop a fruity flavor.

 • Wasko prefers using cold-pressed canola oil, which he likes for its neutral to slightly nutty flavor. But he says that if you want to be really traditional, use extra-virgin olive oil.

 • Make sure to use a frying thermometer to monitor the oil temperature. Most people, he says, forget that when you add pieces of dough to the hot oil you need to adjust the temperature to keep the oil from cooling down. Cool oil will give you greasy results.

SUFGANIYOT FILLINGS

These sufganiyot are more toothsome than traditional yeast doughnuts and can be filled or topped and served with a knife and fork. To fill them, either use a syringe-like pastry filling tool to inject them with jam, or simply slice open one side with a paring knife and use a spoon to fill them.

Some suggested fillings:

 • A few slices of fresh banana and a generous spoonful of hot fudge.

 • Jarred lemon or lime curd sprinkled with toasted sliced almonds.

 • Ricotta cheese mixed with chopped walnuts, golden raisins and a drizzle of honey.

 • Drained chunked or crushed canned pineapple with a few teaspoons of coconut creme (not coconut milk).

 • Thick-cut Seville orange marmalade and a smattering of dark chocolate chips.

 • Canned poppy seed filling (look for it with other pie fillings at your grocers) and some finely grated lemon or orange zest.

 • Cream cheese topped some chunky strawberry jam.

 • A chocolate-nut spread (such as Nutella), topped with chopped peanuts and marshmallow spread.

 • Chunky peanut or almond butter and a few squares of dark chocolate.

 • Marzipan or almond paste with a drizzle of chocolate sauce.

 • Dulce de leche (a type of milk caramel that can be found in the Hispanic section of most markets) and chopped toasted pecans.

 • Mango chutney sprinkled with chopped salted cashews.

 • A few spoons of your favorite cheesecake.

RECIPE

Buttermilk Sufganiyot

1 hour, 50 minutes from start to finish

Makes 24 large or 48 small sufganiyot

4 1/4 cups bread flour, plus more for dusting work surface

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup whole milk

1 1/4 cups buttermilk

4 teaspoons dry active yeast

3 tablespoons sugar

Vegetable oil, for frying

Powdered sugar, for dusting

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

In a small saucepan over medium, heat the milk until steaming but not boiling. Remove the pan from the heat and add the buttermilk. Pour the mixture into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook. Whisk in the yeast and sugar. Let stand for 5 minutes.

Coat a large bowl with vegetable oil, then set aside.

Add the flour mixture to the milk mixture and mix on low speed until the dry ingredients are moistened and form a ball, about 3 minutes. Increase speed to medium and continue mixing for 2 minutes more. The dough will be quite sticky. Transfer the dough to the prepared bowl, cover with plastic wrap and set aside in a draft-free spot.

Let the dough rise until doubled in size, about 1 hour.

Fill a deep saute pan or large pot with about 3 inches of oil. Heat over medium to 375 F. Line a large plate or sheet pan with paper towels for draining.

Lightly flour a work surface, and turn the dough out onto it. Dust the top of dough with flour, then press to flatten. Fold the dough in half and tuck the ends under to create a ball. Dust with flour again and use a rolling pin to roll the dough into an 11-by-17-inch rectangle about 1/4-inch thick.

Using a sharp knife, cut the dough lengthwise into 4 equal strips, then cut horizontally, at an angle, to create 24 or 48 diamond-shaped pieces.

Working in batches, drop pieces of dough into the hot oil, being careful not to crowd the pan. Fry, turning them often with a slotted spoon or tongs, until puffed and golden brown, 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer to the prepared baking sheet to drain while frying the remaining sufganiyot. Fill or top as desired and serve warm, dusted with powdered sugar.

Nutrition information per serving (based on 24 servings, without fillings) (values are rounded to the nearest whole number): 190 calories; 90 calories from fat (49 percent of total calories); 10 g fat (1 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 0 mg cholesterol; 20 g carbohydrate; 4 g protein; 1 g fiber; 80 mg sodium