A little bit of heaven
Sour cherry jam is a key ingredient in this ricotta doughnut
Our cookbook of the week is Carpathia: Food from the Heart of Romania by Irina Georgescu.
Sour cherry jam gives iconic Romanain doughnuts a sweet-tart edge, and crème fraîche a tanginess.
“We say that these doughnuts are a bit like life,” says Irina Georgescu . “Sweet, sour, round and imperfect.”
Papanaşi are actually a pair of doughnuts — rings filled with jam and crème fraîche, and topped with tiny round doughnuts.
“I don’t think they’re made like this anywhere else in Eastern Europe, in this shape. It’s a little pair that’s very, very nice,” she adds.
The pastries aren’t very sweet on their own — most of the sweetness comes from the jam — and the ricotta renders an exceptionally tender dough. When the weather gets warm, Georgescu likes to swap the crème fraîche with a scoop of ice cream.
PAPANAŞI
Ricotta doughnuts served with sour cherry jam and crème fraîche
For the doughnuts:
1 1/4 cups (300 g) fresh ricotta
Scant 1/2 cup (100 g) plain yogurt
1 egg
2 tbsp (30 mL) sugar
2 tsp (10 mL) vanilla extract
Salt
2 cups (250 g) all-purpose flour, plus extra for flouring
1 tsp (5 mL) baking powder
Zest of 1 orange
For frying:
Scant 1/2 cup (100 mL) vegetable oil or sunflower oil
To serve:
1/3 cup (75 g) crème fraîche 1/4 cup (75 g) sour cherry jam Icing sugar, for dusting
Step 1
To make the doughnuts, mix together the ricotta, yogurt, egg, sugar, vanilla extract and a pinch of salt. Add the flour, baking powder and orange zest, mixing until you see the dough coming together and away from the sides of the bowl. It will be a bit sticky, but refrigerate for 30 minutes to make it easier to work with. Though the dough will remain sticky throughout the whole process — it’s what gives the doughnuts their fluffiness and lightness.
Step 2
Flour your hands and roll the dough into 20-24 balls. Half of the balls should be 2 inches (5 cm) in diameter (2 oz/60 g), the other half 1/2 inch (1.25 cm) in diameter (1/2 oz/15 g). These will be your papanaşi pairs. Take one larger ball and use the handle of a wooden spoon to make a hole in the centre, then rotate the spoon with a stirring action to create a doughnut ring. Repeat with the remaining larger balls. Leave the smaller balls as they are — they will go on top of the larger ones.
Step 3
Heat the oil in a deep pan (or a fryer) until piping hot, then reduce the heat to medium. If you havea thermometer, the temperature should be 350F (180C). Working quickly, fry both the rings and balls for 2-3 minutes. They will get quite dark, but this is what you are looking for. Set aside to drain on paper towels.
Step 4
To serve, place the doughnut rings on a plate and cover each with a generous dollop of crème fraîche, then top with a spoonful of jam. Add a small doughnut ball on top of each ring and dust with icing sugar. Serve warm and enjoy!