A sufganiyah is a ball-shaped doughnut

Doughnut

A doughnut or donut is a fried dough food and is popular in many countries and prepared in various forms as a sweet snack that can be homemade or purchased in bakeries, supermarkets, food stalls, and franchised specialty outlets...

 that is first deep-fried, then pierced and injected with jelly

Fruit preserves

Fruit preserves are preparations of fruits and sugar, often canned or sealed for long-term storage. The preparation of fruit preserves today often involves adding commercial or natural pectin as a gelling agent, although sugar or honey may be used, as well. Prior to World War II, fruit preserve...

 or custard

Custard

Custard is a variety of culinary preparations based on a cooked mixture of milk or cream and egg yolk. Depending on how much egg or thickener is used, custard may vary in consistency from a thin pouring sauce , to a thick pastry cream used to fill éclairs. The most common custards are used as...

, and then topped with powdered sugar

Powdered sugar

Powdered sugar, also known as confectioners' sugar or icing sugar, is very fine sugar. When intended for home use, it typically contains a small amount of anti-caking agent....

. It is similar to the German Berliner

Berliner (pastry)

A Berliner Pfannkuchen is a predominantly...

, the Polish pączki

Paczki

Pączki are pastries traditional to Polish cuisine . Pączki is the plural form of the Polish word pączek , though many English speakers use paczki as singular and paczkis as plural. In English, the common pronunciation imitates the Polish pronunciation, but some speakers pronounce the word or...

, or the Russian ponchik. In Yiddish, sufganiyot are known as ponchkes. They are usually eaten warm.

The Hebrew word sufganiyah derives from the Hebrew word for sponge (sfog). This is supposed to describe the texture of a sufganiyah, which is somewhat similar to a sponge.

The sufganiyah was originally made from two circles of dough surrounding a jam filling, stuck together and fried in one piece. Although this method is still practiced, an easier technique commonly used today is to deep-fry whole balls of dough and then inject them with a filling through a baker's syringe (or a special industrial machine).

Hanukkah treat

Sufganiyot are widely consumed in Israel

Israel

The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

 in the weeks leading up to and including the Hanukkah

Hanukkah

Hanukkah , also known as the Festival of Lights, is an eight-day Jewish holiday commemorating the rededication of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem at the time of the Maccabean Revolt of the 2nd century BCE...

 holiday. At Hanukkah, Jews observe the custom of eating fried foods in commemoration of the miracle associated with the Temple oil. While potato pancakes

Potato pancakes

Potato pancakes are shallow-fried pancakes of grated or ground potato, flour and egg, often flavored with grated onion or garlic and seasoning. Potato pancakes may be topped with a variety of condiments, ranging from the savory to the sweet , or they may be served ungarnished...

 (latkes or levivot) are also eaten in Israel, sufganiyot are considered a more "Israeli" Hanukkah treat.
Bakeries and grocery stores build excitement for the approaching holiday by selling sufganiyot individually and by the box; they have become a favorite for school and office parties. Angel Bakeries

Angel Bakeries

Angel Bakeries , also known as Angel's Bakery, is the largest commercial bakery in Israel, producing 275,000 loaves of bread and 275,000 rolls daily and controlling 30 percent of the country's bread market...

, the largest bakery in Israel, reportedly fries up more than 250,000 sufganiyot every day during the eight-day Hanukkah festival. Each batch uses 100 kilograms of dough and makes 1,600 sufganiyot. Local newspapers add to the excitement by sending out food critics each year to rate the "best sufganiyah in town."
As a result of the national hubbub, some purveyors have elevated the basic filling recipe to an art form. The least expensive version (priced at about 30 cents) is stuffed with plain red jelly, while more expensive versions (priced at up to $2 per sufganiyah) are piped with dulce de leche

Dulce de leche

Dulce de leche is a thick,creamy, caramel-like milk-based sauce or spread.Literally translated, dulce de leche means "sweet from milk". It is prepared by slowly heating sweetened milk to create a product that derives its taste from caramelised sugar. It is a popular sweet in Latin America, where...

, chocolate cream, vanilla cream, and cappuchino, and even Arak. Outside Israel, there are many variations on the basic dough, including chocolate, no-yeast, and raised potato.

In recent years, Israeli bakeries began downsizing sufganiyot to appeal to health-conscious consumers. The usual 100-gram size, packing 400 to 600 calories, now appears in 50-gram size with different fillings and toppings, earning the name "mini".

External links

• Making non-traditional sufganiyot: a demonstration video with Phyllis Glazer
• Sufganiyot - The Best (Heb.)