Sufganiyot Beignets

A New Orleans style chanukah doughnut.

straight from the source, c/o marc

My first encounter with the delicious beignet was with none else than the fabulous writers of this here blog. A week of gutting walls, removing roofing, bonding with katrina survivors and avoiding crocs in the bayou was highlight by some fabulous New Orleans food, including a trip to Cafe du Monde. Their famous square, sugar-covered doughnuts are heavenly so it’s no surprise that they are a tourist hotspot. Since chanukah begs us to embrace the oiliest of foods, I thought this would be a fun twist on the french treat–you can let me know what you think. Wikipedia shares lots of fun facts about the beignet (did you know they were originally made with chestnut flour?!) but I’ll leave the rest of the researching to you. Let’s get eating…
p.s. for a more detailed explanation of sufganiyot, check out Amiee’s post.

Because Marc is wonderful and brought me a pre-made mix, I don’t know exactly what went into my beignets. I DID however find a yummy sounding recipe for beignets on this new orleans cuisine blog.

method after the break

method:

make your beignet dough (with the mix or from another recipe!) and roll it out until it is 1/8″ thick. cut the dough into large rectangles and place a dollop of jam on one half. fold the remaining dough over the jam and seal it along the edges. drop them into a skillit with hot oil and cook them on each side for ~10-20 seconds or until lightly browned. cafe du monde recommends using cottonseed oil but since that may be challenging to find unless you are in the south, feel free to use whichever veggie oil is most convenient for you. cover in powdered sugar and enjoy! (but be careful because the jam inside gets really hot!)

straight from the source, c/o marc

making the dough

make sure you use lots of flour, it gets sticky

rollin’ out

cutting and dolloping

frying in the oil

browned on one side

you can’t have too much powdered sugar!

yummy jelly in the middle!

happy chanukah!