Eva's Sufganiyot Recipe

Hanukkah is coming and that means Sufganiyot!

If you've always wanted to make them at home, here is Eva's homemade Sufganiyot recipe.

The Jewish holiday version of doughnuts are everything you want in winter comfort food – sweet, hot and full of carbs :)

My master-chef Hungarian-born landlady lives across the lawn from me, and I just happened to walk in as she was making her own version of them.

She generously agreed to share her secret recipe – time to take notes!

The Secret, Eva says, is to make them small.

Ingredients for Sufganiyot Recipe:

1 Kg self-rising white flour, or 1kg flour+ 1 bag of "Shimrit" ready-yeast
3 egg yolks
3 spoons of sugar
Grate the peel of 1 lemon
3 spoons of oil, or 50 gr melted butter
Pinch of salt
Lukewarm water or milk – she couldn't tell me exactly how much – only that you need to add it slowly to the mix until you get a rather soft and sticky dough.
A bit of Cognac or 2 spoons of Drambuie or something else that's alcoholic.

Tip: The alcohol prevents the Sufganiyot from soaking up too much oil when you fry them.

You will also need:

Canola oil in a spray bottle
Canola oil for deep frying
A medium sized pot
A good lid for the pot, preferably transparent
Small bowl with water to wet your hands and for steaming the pot
Extra flower for flouring your work surface
A rolling pin / pastry board
A cookie-cutter or a glass for cutting round circles from the dough
A long spoon with holes in it, with which to fish the Sufganiyot from the hot oil
Paper towels for soaking the excess oil after frying
Powdered sugar
Jam or chocolate for filling – optional!

Mix everything together in a mixer.

Add the water or milk slowly to the mix until you get a rather soft and sticky dough.

Continue mixing until the dough comes off the mixer prong.

Ball it up in a bowl (the mixer bowl is fine) spray lightly with oil, cover with cloth and let the dough rise until it doubles in volume.

Spread a lot of flour on your working surface.
Roll out the dough to a thick layer.

Cut out SMALL circles.

They must be small because they will double in size on the second rising and once again when you fry them!

Eva makes "Birds" from the leftover dough.

Place the circles on a well-oiled tray, cover with a cloth and let them rise again for about half an hour.

Heat up a medium-sized deep pot with canola oil.

Test the oil temperature – dip a spoon in the oil: if small bubbles appear around it, it's the right temperature.

You can also try putting a small piece of dough in the oil – if the bubbles are too big, the oil is too hot!

In that case, either add more cold oil or take the pot of the stove for a bit.

Fry only 3-5 Sufganiyot at a time, so you have control over them.

The frying happens very fast, and you'll need to keep up – turn then over in time and take them out in time before they burn!

Put a bunch in the pot and cover with the lid.
Best to have a transparent lid so you can see what's happening.

Optional: Only for the experienced and the brave:

CAUTION! This is dangerous!

If you are brave – and quick! – try steaming them:

Prepare a bowl with a bit of water.
Hold the lid in one hand.
With your free hand – wet your fingers and drop a bit of water into the pot, and IMMEDIATELY cover it with the lid.
The steam will build up inside the pot and fluff up your Sufganiyot.

I must again caution you that this stage is optional and dangerous!

Eva's been doing it "for a million years" and she knows what she's doing.

When one side is golden, quickly turn them over.