To Life!

A Chanukah Tradition

"Doughnuts"
take the cake
as a Chanukah
favorite.

Annabel Cohen
Special to the Jewish News

W

hat is it about suf-
ganiyot that has
Israelies consuming
huge amounts of what are, essen-
tially, jelly doughnuts during the
Festival of Lights? After all, any
food associated with oil should do.
More sufganiyot are consumed,
so I'm told, than our American
culinary Chanukah choice, potato
latkes. But, Americans are catch-
ing up. And if three local kosher
bakeries are any indication,

sell sufganiyot all year round,
but we sell 10 times as many,
if not more, during Chanukah,"
said owner Yossi Adler. "If we
normally sell 100 a day all year,
during Chanukah we sell 1,000 a
day. We all love doughnuts, espe-
cially during Chanukah. Even
people who won't eat another one
until next year, eat them for the
holiday"
What's the difference between
sufganiyot and plain old jelly
doughnuts? For some, noth-
ing. According to Marilyn Rice,
co-owner with Pam Salba of
Sunshine Treats in Farmington
Hills, their recipe for doughnuts
and sufganiyot is the same.
"I don't find a difference
between sufganiyot and dough-
nuts," she said. "The difference
is the holiday. In general, we sell
more Chanukah cookies. We find
that our Orthodox customers

Yossi Adler's doughnuts fly off Zeman's shelves during Chanukah.

we're drawing near fast. It's a
Chanukah miracle that our local
bakeries are ready for the suf-
ganiyot onslaught. They've been
gearing up for weeks.
Steven Katz, owner of the Bake
Station in Southfield, already has
more than 450 dozen sufganiyot
pre-ordered. "It's a tradition
that a lot of people hold by," he
explained. "And it's gained popu-
larity over the last seven, eight
years. The reason, I think, is that
people are becoming aware of
them, which has prompted us, as
bakery owners, to make them."
The staff at Zeman's New York
Bakery in Oak Park agrees. "We

are bigger sufganiyot customers
than our Conservative or Reform
customers:'
Bake Station's Katz differs.
"What we do is make them
richer," said Katz. "The dough
is richer and we offer an Israeli
filling, caramel, along with our
other flavors. Last year, our big
sellers were caramel and rasp-
berry Most people say they're
very addictive:'
Doughnut or not, not all
sufganiyot look alike. Some are
nearly balls, like the Polish paczi
(pronounced poonch-ki), eaten
on Fat Tuesday, before Easter.
Some have the flattened look of

minutes (until bubbly).
Pour the water or milk
mixture into a large bowl
and using a wooden spoon
or the dough hook of an
electric mixer, mix in 2 1/2
cups of the flour, plus but-
ter or margarine, eggs and
yeast to make a very soft
dough.
Spread 1 cup flour on a
clean surface and place the
soft dough on top. Roll the
dough on all sides in the
flour and using both hands,
knead the dough, incor-
porating all the flour (plus
more if needed) to create
a smooth and elastic dough (it
should stretch when you pull a
piece of the dough off).
Transfer dough to a clean bowl
and dust it lightly with more
flour. Cover bowl with a cot-
ton dishtowel and plastic wrap
and allow the dough to rise in a
warm, draft-free place for 1 1/2
hours.
Place the risen dough on the
floured surface and roll out with
a floured rolling pin to 1-inch
thickness. Cut out rounds with
2- or 3-inch cutter. Repeat with
Sufganiyot
all the dough. Place the rounds
Dough:
on a floured baking sheet (not
1 cup water or milk
sprayed with nonstick cooking
3 Tbsp. sugar
spray). Cover the rounds with a
1 tsp. salt
clean cotton dishtowel and let
1 package active dry yeast
rise in a warm, draft-free place
(2 1/2 tsp.)
for a half hour more.
2 Tbsp. warm water
Line a baking sheet with
(90-100F)
several layers of paper towel for
3 1/2 cups flour
draining the sufganiyot.
2 Tbsp. melted butter
Heat oil in a deep fryer or
or margarine
pot until very hot (375F on
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
thermometer). Fry sufganiyot
Other ingredients:
in batches, turning them once
1-2 cups flour for rolling
during cooking, until puffy and
oil for frying
golden brown. Use a slotted
1 cup good quality jam, or
spoon to transfer the sufganiyot
cooked condensed milk (dulce
to the prepared baking sheet to
de leche), or prepared pudding
or custard, any flavor powdered cool.
Fill a pastry bag with a large
sugar, garnish
round tip with jam, dulce de
Bring water or milk to a sim-
leche or custard and inject the
mer in a small saucepan over
medium heat. Remove from heat tip into a sufganiya. Squeeze
and stir in sugar and salt. Cool to a tablespoonful of filling into
the pastry. Repeat with remain-
lukewarm (about 90F).
ing pastry. Serve dusted with
Dissolve yeast by stirring it
powdered sugar. Makes 12-14
into warm water in a small bowl
sufganiyot.
and letting it stand for about 5

American-style doughnuts and
are sprinkled with confectioners'
sugar.
Other versions of doughnuts,
such as the sweet, honey-dipped
Sephardic bimuelos, are also
customary for the holiday. But
the modern Hebrew word suf-
ganiya has Greek origins, com-
ing from the Greek word sufgan,
which means "puffed and fried:'
The sufganiyot we gobble up
today most likely boast Eastern
European origins — another
reason they resemble paczi, no
doubt.
There's still time to send this
Chanukah tradition to loved ones
around the state and country
"We ship them all over the coun-
try',' said Katz. "We've got orders
going out to Minnesota, North
Carolina and Ohio."
Zeman's, too, has mailed
sufganiyot around the country
"People include our sufganiyot
in gift boxes," said Adler. "It gets
everyone in the Chanukah spirit:'
• If you're ambitious, attempt the
sufganiyot recipe below. They're
delicious when very fresh.

Sufganiyot for Chanukah

Come And
Get 'Em

The Bake Station
(kosher pareve)
Owner: Steven Katz
30760 Southfield Rd.
Southfield
(248) 723-9000
Hours: Sunday through
Thursday, 7 a.m.-6 p.m.,
Friday, 7 a.m. until 3 p.m.
Saturday, closed

Sunshine Treats
(kosher dairy)
Owners: Pam Salba and
Marilyn Rice
29960 West 12 Mile Rd.
Farmington Hills
(248) 851-2920
Hours: Monday through
Friday, 7 a.m.-2 p.m.,
Saturday and Sunday,
closed

.

Zeman's New York Bakery
(kosher pareve)
Owner Yossi Adler
25258 Greenfield Rd.
Oak Park
(248) 967-3905
Hours: Sunday, 7 a.m. - 6
p.m.
Monday through Thursday,
6 a.m.-7 p.m.
Friday, 6 a.m.-3 p.m.
Saturday, closed

December 14 a 2006

39