Doughnuts. Cinnamon Doughnuts.
Sufganiot (another name for doughnuts)
We love this time of the year when tradition dictates that we eat doughnuts.
We have the most beautiful recipe for sufganiot – small free-form cinnamon doughnuts – in The Feast Goes On which we are sharing for this special time of year. (And a big shoutout to Justine Cohen from Adelaide, South Australia for sharing her recipe with us.)
What we love about these sufganiot is there is no rolling pin or cookie cutter needed, or waiting hours and hours for the dough to rise. It is a quick batter which sits on the bench for an hour before you spoon it into hot oil, drain and roll in cinnamon sugar. And if you need to let it sit for longer because an hour doesn’t suit, just pop it in the fridge till you get back to the kitchen. Simple, quick and beyond delicious.
Doughnuts. Cinnamon Doughnuts.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1 cup water
- 70 ml vegetable oil (our preference is Grape Seed)
- 1 egg
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon Caster (Superfine) Sugar
- 300 g plain flour (all purpose) (2 cups)
- 11/2 sachets active dried yeast (10g/3 teaspoons)
- vegetable oil for frying
- 1 cup Cinnamon Sugar (see note)
Instructions
- Place the milk, water, oil, egg, salt, sugar, flour and yeast in the bowl of an electric mixer. Whisk on low until combined, then turn up to medium-high and beat for several minutes until the mixture is glutinous and shiny.
- Leave to stand for one hour, or up to several hours in the fridge.
- To cook the donuts, pour the oil to a depth of 10cm in a large saucepan and heat to 180 C, or until a cube of bread turns golden brown in 15 seconds. Use two soup spoons to shape a donut; one to scoop the mixture out of the bowl, one to scrape it into the hot oil. Test one doughnut to check the oil temperature is correct; it should be golden brown after about 2-3 minutes on each side. Fry in batches of 3 - 4 doughnuts to not crowd the pan. Gently flip using a fork and when cooked, remove with a slotted spoon. Drain on paper towel.
- Toss the doughnuts in the cinnamon sugar and serve immediately.
- NOTE: To make the cinnamon sugar, combine 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon with 1 cup caster sugar
Chanukah, known as the ‘festival of light’, starts on the 18th December 2016 for 8 days. It commemorates the miracle of the oil back in the time of the destruction of the first temple in Jerusalem (around 165 BCE). There was only enough of the ritual olive oil (yes, oil from olives!) to light the sacred candle for one day, but miraculously it lasted for 8 days – the time needed to replenish the stores of oil. To celebrate, we light the special 9-stem candelabra (chanukiah) for 8 consecutive days. And eat fried food. For us, it’s always about the food.
Since we’re celebrating the oil, we make sure we are REALLY cooking in it; it is certainly not the festival to be watching the calories. In our family, we make potato latkes (small potato cakes, like roesti, hash browns, potato cakes…) and cinnamon or jam (jelly) doughnuts. Latkes are not only made over Chanukah. In fact, we make them in the weeks (errr…months) leading up to Chanukah…just to practice, and because we absolutely adore them! We eat them just with a little salt or with smoked salmon. It has now become a family favourite to eat them salmon pastrami (recipe in The Feast Goes On) and horseradish creme fraiche. Yum.
you girls are just absolutely amazing. What you have accomplished in so short a time is the greatest credit to all of you , Mazel tov
Ruth Glick
Thanks very much Ruth, we really appreciate your comment 🙂
Thank you!!
Best,
Lisa
The sugar amount has been left out of the doughnuts ingredients list.
Thanks so much Greg, I’m really pleased you spotted that. I have now inserted 1 tablespoon caster (superfine) sugar in the ingredients list. Many thanks! Lisa
I would love to try the donuts.
What is the measurement of dry yeast? (?11/2)
So very Happy for you 5 girls You certainly deserve the adulations People do not realise the hard work that goes into putting a cookbook together So CONGRATULATIONS on the success of your cookbook I actually bought a copy at the BELLEVUE HILL SCHOOL FETE After I tried several of your Almond Kifli that a young woman was promoting at the fete I knew then that I HAD TO HAVE YOUR COOKBOOK NO MATTER the price ($60 when you first published your book) they took me back to when I was a young Polish girl when my best childhood friend VERA’S Yugoslav mother would bake them when they celebrated their traditional Orthodox Christmas Holiday in January Vera’s mother was an excellent baker & we would delight in her beautiful Walnut Torte, Chocolate Salami, “Field Roses” & Dobos Torte amongst some of her beautiful pastry My (late) mother used to make her own PLUM JAM from our fruit trees & make Polish Ponzki/Doughnuts especially for the Catholic Polish Nuns at Maryong NSW along with her Pierogi It appears that it does not matter what faith we are The one thing that brings us all together is a plate of good food Once again thank you for my memories & your great boook
Thanks for this beautiful message Barbra – wow! We were there at the Bellevue Hill Fete (in 2011 I think?) and we are thrilled you thought we were young girls 🙂
We totally agree that food brings us together, no matter what faith. We love that line you wrote.
We are so pleased that you have enjoyed our first book – have you seen our others?
Lisa x