Andrew Spiegel, from New York and New Jersey, shows how to make sufganiyot (jam doughnuts), a favourite sweet for the Jewish festival of Hanukkah.
There he met his New Zealand-born wife and they moved to New Zealand in 2001.
He was executive chef at Edgewater for six and a-half years and then worked at Relishes in Wanaka before moving to Dunedin, where he spends his time looking after two small boys while his wife pursues her career.
Hanukkah is the eight-day Jewish festival of lights, which this year starts on November 27.
It commemorates a miracle in the second century BC when the holy temple in Jerusalem was rededicated after being looted.
There was only enough consecrated oil for the eternal lamp for one day but, by a miracle, it lasted eight days until more oil could be pressed and consecrated.
It is celebrated by lighting a candle each night, saying special prayers, sometimes giving presents, playing a gambling game called dreidel, and eating food cooked in oil, particularly potato latkes (potato pancakes) and sufganiyot (jam-filled doughnuts).
Ingredients
1½ Tbsp dried yeast
¾ cup lukewarm water (40-46degC)
1 cup granulated sugar
4 cups plain flour
1 tsp salt
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 Tbsp lemon zest (about 1 medium lemon)
yolks of 3 large eggs
¾ cup lukewarm milk (40-46degC)
70g (5 Tbsp) butter, softened
6 cups (1500ml) vegetable oil for frying
jam
For dusting
icing sugar, granulated sugar or a mix of sugar and cinnamon
Method
Put the yeast in a bowl, add the lukewarm water and sugar. Stir to mix and dissolve the sugar, then leave for 5-10 minutes until it is starting to froth and bubble.
Put the flour, salt and cinnamon in a bowl and grate in the lemon zest. Stir with a whisk to mix and aerate.
When the yeast is starting to bubble, add the egg yolks and mix. Then combine the flour, yeast and egg mixture, warm milk and butter, and mix until a sticky dough forms.
Because it is so sticky, it's easiest to use a stand mixer or to make and proof the dough in a breadmaker on dough setting.
Put the sticky dough into an oiled bowl and cover with cling film. Allow to rise for 1 hours in a warm place or until doubled in size.
When ready to finish, dust the bench with a little flour and turn the risen dough out of the oiled bowl or breadmaker. There are two ways to shape the sufganiyot and get the jam into them.1.
Roll the dough out thinly to about 0.5-1cm thickness. Use a biscuit cutter or glass to cut rounds about 5cm in diameter. Place a scant teaspoon of jam in the middle of half of them. Brush the edges with the reserved egg white, and top with the remaining rounds. Pinch the edges together to seal and push them inwards neatly.2.
Roll the dough a bit thicker and cut into small shapes - squares or triangles, about 2-2.5cm. Put the jam in a squeeze bottle or big syringe to fill the doughnuts when they are cooked.
Put the sufganiyot on a lightly floured baking sheet and cover with a tea towel. Leave in a warm place to rise for about - hour.
When ready to cook, heat oil in a pot or deep frier to 175degC-180degC.
Drop the doughnuts in the oil, four or five at a time and cook for about 2-3 minutes on each side.
When nicely golden brown, remove from the oil and allow to drain on kitchen paper.
When cooled slightly, use the syringe or squeeze bottle to pump jam into the centre of those that are not yet filled.
Sift icing sugar or sprinkle sugar mixed with cinnamon or plain sugar over the cooked sufganiyot.
Serve hot or cold.
Tips
• Andrew recommends using an instant thermometer to test the temperature of the water and milk, and of the frying oil.
• A microplane grater is best for grating lemon or other citrus zest. If you roll the fruit down the grater as you grate, you will get only the zest and none of the bitter white pith. A microplane is also good for grating Parmesan, nutmeg and garlic.
• To put jam in the syringe, push the piston down, put the nozzle in the jam and suck it up into the cylinder.
To get the jam into the squeeze bottle easily and cleanly with little wastage, lay a double layer of cling film on the bench. Spoon jam in a heap in the middle, gather the edges up and twist together. Hold the bundle over the mouth of the squeeze bottle and cut a hole in the bottom of the film with a knife. Squeeze the jam into the bottle. This is also useful for aioli, mayonnaise or other thick substances you want to squeeze from the bottle and beats trying to push it through a funnel, he said.
• Thanks to Afife Harris and Centre City New World.
