Sufganiyot
Sufganiyot are jam-filled doughnuts traditionally fried in Israel for Hanukkah, the Jewish festival of lights commemorating a historical miracle involving a small jar of oil that burned uninterrupted for eight days. For this reason, all traditional Hanukkah foods are cooked by frying in abundant oil, and sufganiyot became the go-to sweet choice for this symbolic practice. While jam-filled doughnuts have roots in many European cuisines, sufganiyot were aggressively popularised in modern Israel through a sustained marketing campaign by the bakers' union in the 1920s, turning a relatively obscure dessert into a national holiday symbol. Today, Israeli bakeries compete every year to create the most extravagant sufganiyot variants, with fillings ranging from hazelnut cream to exotic apricot preserves, while the classic raspberry jam version remains most people's favourite nostalgic choice.
Fluffy dough
A yeasted dough, soft on the inside
Raspberry jam
Sweet jam injected into the centre of the doughnut
Deep fried
Deep fried, a symbol of the Hanukkah holiday
Icing sugar
Generously dusted with icing sugar on top
Ingredients 4 servings
- 500 g flour
- 25 g fresh yeast
- 150 ml warm milk
- 60 g sugar
- 3 egg yolks
- 50 g soft butter
- 200 g raspberry jam
- Oil for frying
- 100 g icing sugar
How to make it
- 1Dissolve the yeast in the warm milk with a teaspoon of sugar and let it foam for 10 minutes.
- 2Beat the egg yolks with the remaining sugar, then add the dissolved yeast and flour, mixing well.
- 3Knead the dough, gradually adding the soft butter, for 10 minutes, until smooth and elastic.
- 4Cover and let rise in a warm place for an hour, until doubled in size.
- 5Divide the dough into small, equal balls and roll them smooth on a floured surface.
- 6Let the balls rise again for 30 minutes on a tray, covered with a towel.
- 7Heat the oil to 175°C and fry the doughnuts a few at a time, for 2-3 minutes on each side, until evenly golden.
- 8Drain on paper towels, let cool slightly, then inject raspberry jam into the centre of each doughnut using a piping bag with a thin nozzle.
- 9Dust generously with icing sugar before serving.
Nutritional info
per serving (~350 g)
Estimated nutritional values.
Pairs perfectly with
