Jelly doughnuts, also called sufganiyot, have turn out to be a basic Hanukkah deal with, one in all a lot of meals fried in oil which are common on the vacation (latkes, or potato pancakes, are one other).

They’re doughnuts with no central gap, fried and filled with jelly or jam. In Israel, jelly doughnuts for Hanukkah are particularly common and are typically stuffed with chocolate or halvah. In addition they could be ready in savory variations, filled with meat or greens.

The story goes that over 2,000 years in the past, after the Second Temple of Jerusalem was ransacked by invaders, there was solely sufficient oil to maintain the temple candles lit for at some point and evening. Inexplicably, the oil burned for eight days and eight nights, a feat now celebrated as Hanukkah, the eight-day “pageant of lights.”

There are two methods to fill jelly doughnuts. You’ll be able to fill them earlier than frying (the jelly is sandwiched between two disks of yeast dough, sealed and fried). Or you’ll be able to fry them first after which inject them with filling, which is what I do right here. This method removes the danger of not-properly-sealed doughnuts coming aside within the pan and leaking their filling.

The normal yeast dough used to make doughnuts requires two risings, one for the ball of dough itself and the opposite for the formed doughnuts earlier than they’re fried. Each risings are needed for gentle and fluffy doughnuts.

You should use any kind of jam you want; strawberry and raspberry jelly are common.

PHOTOS: Jelly doughnuts: Easy methods to make the last word Hanukkah pastry

Jelly Doughnuts

Serves 16

Substances:

1 (.25-ounce) bundle lively dry yeast or 1 tablespoon dry yeast
¾ cup heat milk (about 100° F)
¼ cup melted butter
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
½ cup sugar
1 giant egg and 1 egg yolk, evenly crushed
2 ½ to three cups all-purpose flour, divided
¼ teaspoon floor nutmeg, mace or cinnamon
Vegetable oil for frying
¾ cup jam or jelly, any taste

For the coating:

1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon floor cinnamon

Instructions:

Generously flour a clear work floor and evenly oil a medium-size bowl.

In a big bowl or the bowl of a standing mixer, add the nice and cozy milk, then sprinkle the yeast over the milk. Utilizing an electrical mixer, or the dough hook for a standing mixer, stir to dissolve and permit it to take a seat till it will get foamy, about 10 minutes. Add the butter, salt and sugar, and stir or mix to mix. Mix within the egg and egg yolk, then beat in 2 cups of the flour. Beat till the dough begins to drag away from the perimeters of the bowl, then beat in one other ½ cup of the remaining flour plus the nutmeg, mace or cinnamon.

When the batter has fashioned right into a cohesive ball, flip it onto the floured work floor and knead the dough for 2 minutes. Add extra flour as wanted if the dough feels too sticky. Type the dough right into a ball, and place within the oiled bowl. Cowl with a dishtowel or plastic wrap and let sit in a heat, draft-free place till the dough has doubled in quantity, about 1 hour.

Clear and re-flour your work floor. Flip the dough onto the floured floor and roll it out with a floured rolling pin to a ½-inch thickness.

With a 3-inch biscuit or cookie cutter, lower as many rounds as you’ll be able to, minimizing the house between every spherical. Collect the scraps, allow them to sit for an additional quarter-hour, then roll the dough out once more, and lower as many extra circles as potential. Place the circles on a really evenly floured baking sheet with a few inches between every doughnut, cowl with a clear dishtowel or free plastic wrap, and let sit for about 1 hour, till they’re fairly puffy, about 1 inch thick.

About quarter-hour earlier than you’re going to fry the doughnuts, place paper towels on a clear floor. Make the sugar coating: In a shallow bowl, combine collectively the 1 cup sugar with the cinnamon. And pour no less than 2 inches of oil right into a deep skillet or pan. Warmth to 375° F over medium warmth.

Use a spatula to switch two or three doughnuts into the pan. They may rise and bob on the floor; fry for about 1 minute, till golden brown on the underside, then flip them and prepare dinner till the second aspect is golden brown, one other 1 to 2 minutes. You’ll be able to often gently press the doughnuts down into the oil to prepare dinner the perimeters evenly. Take away the doughnuts, permitting extra oil to empty again into the pan, and allow them to relaxation for a minute on the paper towels.

Then place them within the bowl with the sugar coating and switch to coat utterly.

Use a chopstick or picket dowel to poke a gap into the aspect of every doughnut, and as you slide it in, give it a wiggle to create a small pocket within the middle of the doughnut. Fill a pastry bag or sturdy plastic bag with the jelly. If you’re utilizing a plastic bag, lower a really small triangle from one in all its backside corners. Insert the pastry bag or snipped nook of the plastic bag into the opening on the aspect of the doughnut. Gently squeeze a few teaspoons of jelly into the center of the doughnut. Take away the bag rigorously from the doughnut, and repeat till all of the doughnuts are stuffed.

Serve heat or at room temperature.

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Katie Workman writes often about meals for The Related Press. She blogs at She could be reached at Katie@themom100.com.

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