Monday, December 22, 2008

Baked, Not Fried....and a Mazon Giveaway

For those of you not familiar with this truly incredible food, soufganiyot are jelly-donuts, deep fried and usually doused in powdered sugar. What could be bad about such a delicacy? And not only a delicacy, but a mitzvah! In Israel, where potatoes are not really native, these jelly-filled-fried-dough-balls are the delightful alternative for latkes (levivot), a food fried in oil. And, since oil is really the heart of the Chanukah matter, oily foods rule the day.

This month's issue of Cooking Light had this recipe for Baked Soufganiyot.

Baked!? How can you bake something that's meant to be fried? I have no idea. But they sure were yummy.

Yield 8 servings (serving size: 2 rolls)
Ingredients
  • 1 1/2  teaspoons  dry yeast
  • 3/4  cup  warm 1% low-fat milk, divided
  • 6  tablespoons  granulated sugar
  • 1  tablespoon  butter, softened
  • 1  teaspoon  grated orange rind
  • 1/2  teaspoon  vanilla extract
  • 1/2  teaspoon  kosher salt
  • 1  large egg
  • 14.5  ounces  all-purpose flour, divided (about 3 1/4 cups)
  • Cooking spray
  • 3/4  cup  strawberry jam
  • 1  tablespoon  powdered sugar

Preparation

1. Dissolve yeast in 1/2 cup warm milk in a large bowl; let stand 5 minutes or until foamy. Add remaining 1/4 cup warm milk, granulated sugar, and next 5 ingredients (through egg); beat with a mixer at medium speed until blended (butter will not be completed melted). Weigh or lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Add 9 ounces (about 2 cups) flour to yeast mixture; beat at medium speed until smooth. Stir in 4 1/2 ounces (about 1 cup) flour to form a soft dough. Turn dough out onto a floured surface. Knead dough until smooth and elastic (about 8 minutes); add enough of remaining 1 ounce (about 1/4 cup) flour, 1 tablespoon at a time, to prevent dough from sticking to hands (dough will feel sticky).
2. Place dough in a large bowl coated with cooking spray, turning to coat top. Cover and let rise in a warm place (85°), free from drafts, 1 hour or until doubled in size. (Gently press two fingers into dough. If indentation remains, dough has risen enough.) Punch dough down; cover and let rest 5 minutes. Divide dough into 16 portions, rolling each portion into a ball.
3. Place dough balls on a large baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Cover and let rise 45 minutes or until dough is doubled in size.
4. Preheat oven to 375°.
5. Uncover balls. Bake at 375° for 14 minutes or until browned. Remove from pan; cool completely on a wire rack.
6. Make a pocket in each roll using the handle of a wooden spoon, pushing to but not through the opposite end. Fill with about 2 teaspoons jam, using plastic condiment bottle or a piping bag. Sprinkle rolls with powdered sugar. (Don't sprinkle until you're ready to eat, though, or the sugar seems to disappear and you have to do it again. Not that I know.)

I did not use jam. My oldest child doesn't like fruit-filled sweets (I'm not the hugest fan either) and since I've had soufganiyot filled with chocolate, I know it can be done. I used chocolate pudding. Delish!!! Plus I served up some extra chocolate pudding on the side to dip the extra dough (each donut had a little more dough than filling) into.

A truly delightful, if time-consuming, new holiday tradition for our family!

Mazon, which means "food" in Hebrew, is an organization working to stop hunger in the world. They do so by particularly linking simchas, celebrations, with helping the hungry. This connection is not new in Jewish life, but Mazon has worked very hard to institutionalize the concept of giving 3% of the cost of life-cycle and other celebratory events to Mazon to help those in need.

In honor of the food of Chanukah, I will donate $1 for every comment on this post to Mazon!

Happy Chanukah!

P.S. Thanks to my colleage Rabbi Paul Kipnes for pointing out this post on the NY Times Well Blog: ReThinking the Latke....interesting roundup of the healthification (a word?) of Chanukah food

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

ok, it really doesnt seem too complicated...maybe i will even try baking them for KoD and his kids when they come up this weekend.

chanukah sameach!

Leora said...

They certainly look good! I'm going to add this to KCC.

I do make them deep-fried, with no dairy products (I basically take my challah dough and add more sugar). My kids love 'em. They also have no interest in the jelly.

Brittany said...

You're so sweet for donating money to hunger-- especially when the world is in such shambles, right now. Praises to you! :)

Also- can I tell you that I was meant to be Jewish? How I love the food. OH how I love the food.

Latkes for dinner tonight! Seriously. :) haha.

Anonymous said...

Oh, those do look tasty! I may try those tonight.

Anonymous said...

One of my favorite charities. It inspired me to go and make a donation. Also, you can make Hammenstash using chocolate (as you know I've done this for years as your brother doesn't like fruit filling either.

Anonymous said...

The photo is engaging but I am not overfond of deep-fried food, and even less so in my own kitchen.

Tanya said...

Yum! Thanks for the recipe. I'm not sure I can convince my family that anything baked can take the place of fried, though. Sorta defeats the purpose of why we're eating doughnuts on Hanukkah, right?

Marci said...

OOOOOH! I've gotta try this!! Thanks for sharing the recipe :)

Chag Urim Sameach!!

valerie2350 said...

recipe looks good and this is a fabulous giveaway!

Crunchy Domestic Goddess said...

oh my sweet yummy goodness! chocolate filling sounds much better than fruit anyway. ;)

proudmommy0f4 said...

I've got a jelly-adverse kid here too! I thought she was the only one :-)

Anonymous said...

here's a comment back atcha. I'm thinking of leaving hundreds of comments tonight so that Mazon receives much tzedakah from you.

Seriously though, my blogging rebbe, thanks for the inspiration for both the shout out and for putting the idea of commenting for charitable donations into my blogging mind.

Holly said...

I'm going to try these! My first attempt at frying some last year turned out awful, but these sound yummy and possible to get right! Holly

Sharon said...

Thank you for the recipe. I've been interested in baking some of the traditional Chanukkah recipes, such as sufangiyot & latkes. I'm so excited to try the chocolate pudding filling, as fruit jams are not my favorite either. Happy Hanukkah:>