( he, סופגנייה or ; plural: , he, סופגניות ) is a round jelly doughnut eaten in

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

and around the world on the

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

festival of

Hanukkah or English translation: 'Establishing' or 'Dedication' (of the Temple in Jerusalem) , nickname = , observedby = Jews , begins = 25 Kislev , ends = 2 Tevet or 3 Tevet , celebrations = Lighting candles each nig ...

. The doughnut is deep-fried, injected with jam or

custard Custard is a variety of culinary preparations based on sweetened milk, cheese, or cream cooked with egg or egg yolk to thicken it, and sometimes also flour, corn starch, or gelatin. Depending on the recipe, custard may vary in consistency fr ...

, and then topped with

powdered sugar Powdered sugar, also called confectioners' sugar, or icing sugar, is a finely ground sugar produced by milling granulated sugar into a powdered state. It usually contains between 2% and 5% of an anti-caking agent – such as corn starch, p ...

. The doughnut recipe originated in Europe in the 16th century, and by the 19th century was known as a Berliner in Germany.

Polish Jews The history of the Jews in Poland dates back at least 1,000 years. For centuries, Poland was home to the largest and most significant Ashkenazi Jewish community in the world. Poland was a principal center of Jewish culture, because of the l ...

, who called it a '' ponchik'', fried the doughnut in

schmaltz Schmaltz (also spelled schmalz or shmalz) is rendered (clarified) chicken or goose fat. It is an integral part of traditional Ashkenazi Jewish cuisine, where it has been used for centuries in a wide array of dishes, such as chicken soup, l ...

rather than

lard Lard is a semi-solid white fat product obtained by rendering the fatty tissue of a pig.Lard
entry in the ...

due to

kashrut (also or , ) is a set of dietary laws dealing with the foods that Jewish people are permitted to eat and how those foods must be prepared according to Jewish law. Food that may be consumed is deemed kosher ( in English, yi, כּשר), fr ...

laws. The ''ponchik'' was brought to

by Polish Jewish immigrants, where it was renamed the based on the

Talmud The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law ('' halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the ce ...

's description of a "spongy dough".

Background

On Hanukkah,

Jews Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

observe the custom of eating fried foods in commemoration of the

miracle A miracle is an event that is inexplicable by natural or scientific lawsOne dictionary define"Miracle"as: "A surprising and welcome event that is not explicable by natural or scientific laws and is therefore considered to be the work of a divi ...

associated with the

Temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...

oil. The tradition of eating deep-fried pastries on Hanukkah was considered ancient even in the time of the 12th-century rabbi

Maimonides Musa ibn Maimon (1138–1204), commonly known as Maimonides (); la, Moses Maimonides and also referred to by the acronym Rambam ( he, רמב״ם), was a Sephardic Jewish philosopher who became one of the most prolific and influential Torah ...

, whose father, Rabbi Maimon ben Yosef, wrote that "one must not make light of the custom of eating ''sofganim'' ritterson Chanukah. It is a custom of the ''Kadmonim'' he ancient ones. These ''sofganim'' were likely syrup-soaked fried cakes, akin to modern ''

zalabiya Zalabiyeh ( ar, زلابية) or Pitulici is a fritter or doughnut found in several cuisines across Europe, the Middle East and West Asia. The fritter version is made from a semi-thin batter of wheat flour which is poured into hot oil and dee ...

'' in the

Arab world The Arab world ( ar, اَلْعَالَمُ الْعَرَبِيُّ '), formally the Arab homeland ( '), also known as the Arab nation ( '), the Arabsphere, or the Arab states, refers to a vast group of countries, mainly located in Western A ...

Etymology

The Hebrew word ''sufganiyah'' is a

neologism A neologism Ancient_Greek.html"_;"title="_from_Ancient_Greek">Greek_νέο-_''néo''(="new")_and_λόγος_/''lógos''_meaning_"speech,_utterance"is_a_relatively_recent_or_isolated_term,_word,_or_phrase_that_may_be_in_the_process_of_entering_com ...

for pastry, based on the

ic words ''sofgan'' and ''sfogga'', which refer to a "spongy dough". The word is built on the same root as the Modern Hebrew word for sponge (ספוג, ''sfog''), which is derived from

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic pe ...

σπόγγος ''spóggos''. Sfenj, a Moroccan doughnut, comes from the same root. A popular Israeli

folktale A folktale or folk tale is a folklore genre that typically consists of a story passed down from generation to generation orally. Folktale may also refer to: Categories of stories * Folkloric tale from oral tradition * Fable (written form of the a ...

holds that the word "''sufganiyah''" comes from the Hebrew expression "''Sof Gan Yud-Heh''" ("סוף גן יה"), meaning "the end of the Garden of the

Lord Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power (social and political), power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The appellation can also denote certain persons who hold a title of the Peerage ...

" (referring to the

Garden of Eden In Abrahamic religions, the Garden of Eden ( he, גַּן־עֵדֶן, ) or Garden of God (, and גַן־אֱלֹהִים ''gan- Elohim''), also called the Terrestrial Paradise, is the biblical paradise described in Genesis 2-3 and Ezekiel 28 ...

). According to the legend, when

Adam and Eve Adam and Eve, according to the creation myth of the Abrahamic religions, were the first man and woman. They are central to the belief that humanity is in essence a single family, with everyone descended from a single pair of original ancestors. ...

were cast out of the Garden by the Lord, He cheered them up by feeding them ''sufganiyot''. No known commentator on the

Tanakh The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
''

History

According to food historian

Gil Marks Gilbert Stanley Marks (May 30, 1952 – December 5, 2014) was an American food writer and historian noted for his reference and cookbooks on the subject of Jewish food. He was the founding editor of ''Kosher Gourmet'' magazine. He moved to Israel ...

, the recipe for a filled jelly doughnut was first published in a 1485 cookbook in

Nuremberg Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ...

. The "Gefüllte Krapfen" consisted of "a bit of jam sandwiched between two rounds of yeast bread dough and deep-fried in lard". This doughnut became popular in northern European countries from Denmark to Russia during the 16th century. In 19th-century Germany it began to be called a Berliner or a Bismarck, after German Chancellor

Otto von Bismarck Otto, Prince of Bismarck, Count of Bismarck-Schönhausen, Duke of Lauenburg (, ; 1 April 1815 – 30 July 1898), born Otto Eduard Leopold von Bismarck, was a conservative German statesman and diplomat. From his origins in the upper class of ...

. Among

, the jelly doughnut was fried in oil or

rather than lard, due to

laws. In Poland, these doughnuts were known as '' ponchkis''. Polish Jewish immigrants to

Mandatory Palestine Mandatory Palestine ( ar, فلسطين الانتدابية '; he, פָּלֶשְׂתִּינָה (א״י) ', where "E.Y." indicates ''’Eretz Yiśrā’ēl'', the Land of Israel) was a geopolitical entity established between 1920 and 1948 ...

brought along their recipe as well as the tradition of eating them on Hanukkah. In

, however, they took on a new name—''sufganiyot''—based on the Talmud's description of a "spongy dough" (see the Etymology section).

Description

The ''ponchik''-style ''sufganiyah'' was originally made from two circles of dough surrounding a jelly 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). Modern-day ''sufganiyot'' in Israel are made from sweet yeast dough, filled with plain red jelly (usually strawberry, sometimes raspberry), and topped with powdered sugar. Fancier versions are stuffed with

dulce de leche ''Dulce de leche'' (; pt, doce de leite), also known as caramelized milk, milk candy or milk jam in English, is a confection from Latin America prepared by slowly heating sugar and milk over a period of several hours. The resulting substance, ...

, chocolate cream, vanilla cream, cappuccino,

halva Halva (also halvah, halwa, and other spellings, Persian : حلوا) is a type of confectionery originating from Persia and widely spread throughout the Middle East. The name is used for a broad variety of recipes, generally a thick paste made f ...

, creme espresso,

chocolate truffle A chocolate truffle is a type of chocolate confectionery, traditionally made with a chocolate ganache centre coated in chocolate, cocoa powder, coconut, or chopped and toasted nuts (typically hazelnuts or almonds), usually in a spherical, coni ...

, or '' araq'', and topped with various extravagant toppings, from coconut shavings and tiny vials of liquor to

meringue Meringue (, ; ) is a type of dessert or candy, often associated with Swiss, French, Polish and Italian cuisines, traditionally made from whipped egg whites and sugar, and occasionally an acidic ingredient such as lemon, vinegar, or cream o ...

and fruit pastes. In 2014 one Jerusalem bakery produced ''sufganiyah'' dough saturated with flavored

vodka Vodka ( pl, wódka , russian: водка , sv, vodka ) is a clear distilled alcoholic beverage. Different varieties originated in Poland, Russia, and Sweden. Vodka is composed mainly of water and ethanol but sometimes with traces of impuriti ...

. File:Deep-frying sufganiyot.jpg, A baker deep-fries ''sufganiyot'' at the Mahane Yehuda Market, Jerusalem File:Sufganiyot at Mahane Yehuda shuk.jpg, Powdered and iced sufganiyot for sale in Jerusalem before Hanukkah 2014 File:Sufganiyot-roladin.jpg, Sufganiyot from

Roladin Roladin or Roladin Bakery & Café ( he, רולדין) is the largest bakery chain in Israel, with 99 locations around Israel. History The concept for Roladin was created in 1987 by two brothers Kobi and Avi Hakak. Homemade cakes were sold from ...

, an Israeli bakery chain.

Mini sufganiyot

In 2016, Israeli bakeries began downsizing ''sufganiyot'' to appeal to health-conscious consumers, following an anti-junk food campaign by Health Minister Yaakov Litzman. The usual size, packing 400 to 600 calories (1,700 to 2,500 kJ), now appears in size with different fillings and toppings, earning the name "mini."

Popularity

In Israel

Until the 1920s, ''sufganiyot'' and

latkes A latke ( yi, לאַטקע ''latke''; sometimes romanized ''latka'', lit. "pancake") is a type of potato pancake or fritter in Ashkenazi Jewish cuisine that is traditionally prepared to celebrate Hanukkah. Latkes can be made with ingredients ot ...

were of comparable popularity among Jews in

during the Hanukkah holiday. The

Histadrut Histadrut, or the General Organization of Workers in Israel, originally ( he, ההסתדרות הכללית של העובדים בארץ ישראל, ''HaHistadrut HaKlalit shel HaOvdim B'Eretz Yisrael''), is Israel's national trade union center ...

, Israel's national labor union formed in 1920, pushed to replace the homemade latke with the ''sufganiyah'' as Israel's quintessential Hanukkah food in order to provide more work for its members. Commercial bakeries began selling ''sufganiyot'' days and weeks before Hanukkah began, lengthening the employment period. Their effort was successful, and ''sufganiyot'' became the most popular food for Hanukkah in Israel. By the 21st century, more Israeli Jews report eating ''sufganiyot'' on Hanukkah than fasting on

Yom Kippur Yom Kippur (; he, יוֹם כִּפּוּר, , , ) is the holiest day in Judaism and Samaritanism. It occurs annually on the 10th of Tishrei, the first month of the Hebrew calendar. Primarily centered on atonement and repentance, the day' ...

. Today ''sufganiyot'' are sold by Israeli bakeries as early as September.

Angel Bakeries Angel Bakeries ( he, מאפיות אנג'ל ''Ma'afiyot Anjel''), also known as Angel's Bakery, is the largest commercial bakery in Israel, producing 275,000 loaves of bread and 275,000 Hot dog bun, rolls daily and controlling 30 percent of the c ...

, the largest bakery in Israel, reportedly fries up more than 25,000 ''sufganiyot'' every day during the eight-day Hanukkah festival itself. Each batch uses of dough and makes 1,600 ''sufganiyot''. Local newspapers add to the excitement by rating the "best ''sufganiyah'' in town". The

Ministry of Defense {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in state ...

buys upwards of 400,000 ''sufganiyot'' for its soldiers each Hanukkah. As the troops overwhelmingly prefer jelly-filled doughnuts, the Defense Ministry purchases 80% with jelly filling and 20% with chocolate filling. File:Sufganiyot at Mahane Yehuda shuk.jpg, ''Sufganiyot'' for sale at a stall in the Mahane Yehuda Market. File:Safed Jewish Boy.jpg, A

haredi Haredi Judaism ( he, ', ; also spelled ''Charedi'' in English; plural ''Haredim'' or ''Charedim'') consists of groups within Orthodox Judaism that are characterized by their strict adherence to ''halakha'' (Jewish law) and traditions, in oppos ...

boy eats a ''sufganiyah'' in the old city of

Safed Safed (known in Hebrew as Tzfat; Sephardic Hebrew & Modern Hebrew: צְפַת ''Tsfat'', Ashkenazi Hebrew: ''Tzfas'', Biblical Hebrew: ''Ṣǝp̄aṯ''; ar, صفد, ''Ṣafad''), is a city in the Northern District of Israel. Located at an elev ...

. File:Flickr - Israel Defense Forces - 2011 Hanukkah Celebrations.jpg, Israeli soldiers enjoying ''sufganiyot'' as part of their Hanukkah festivities.

In other Jewish communities

Sufganiyot are a relatively recent introduction to the United States, where

are the traditional Hanukkah food. According to

, latke was still the dominant choice in American Jewish homes in 2012. Rabbi Levi Shemtov in 2019 said "Latkes used to dominate in the U.S., while doughnuts dominated in Israel. Now, I think both are equally popular in the U.S." The ''sufganiyah'' was introduced by American Jews who had visited or studied in Israel, and by Israeli Jews who had settled in the U.S. While ''sufganiyot'' were not commercially available in the United States before the 1970s, today bakeries in many Jewish communities sell ''sufganiyot'', as do non-kosher bakeries. The doughnut chains

Dunkin' Donuts Dunkin' Donuts LLC, also known as Dunkin' and by the initials DD, is an American multinational coffee and doughnut company, as well as a quick service restaurant. It was founded by Bill Rosenberg (1916–2002) in Quincy, Massachusetts, in ...

and

Krispy Kreme Krispy Kreme, Inc. (previously Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, Inc.) is an American multinational doughnut company and coffeehouse chain. Krispy Kreme was founded by Vernon Rudolph (1915–1973), who bought a yeast-raised recipe from a New Orleans c ...

purvey ''sufganiyot'' in their kosher-certified outlets. ''Sufganiyot'' are also sold in kosher shops in Europe. Smaller Jewish communities in Russia and Ukraine organize special "community bakes" to prepare ''sufganiyot'' for school and kindergarten parties.

Savory varieties

Savory ''sufganiyot'' also exist. In 2018, ''

The Jerusalem Post ''The Jerusalem Post'' is a broadsheet newspaper based in Jerusalem, founded in 1932 during the British Mandate of Palestine by Gershon Agron as ''The Palestine Post''. In 1950, it changed its name to ''The Jerusalem Post''. In 2004, the pap ...

'' reported on a new trend of savory ''sufganiyot'' in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

eateries, in which the dough is filled with chicken

schnitzel A schnitzel is a thin slice of meat. The meat is usually thinned by pounding with a meat tenderizer. Most commonly, the meat is breaded before frying. Breaded schnitzel is popular in many countries and is made using veal, pork, chicken, mutt ...

, lamb bacon, liver, or pastrami. Other savory varieties include: *''

Panzerotti A panzerotto (; plural panzerotti , also known as panzarotto ), is a savory turnover that originated in Central and Southern Italian cuisine which resembles a small calzone, both in shape and dough used for its preparation. The term usually ap ...

'' in Italy, filled with mozzarella and tomato sauce. * ''Lachmazikas'' in Spain, filled with everything from lamb and mushrooms to whitefish, ricotta, peppers, and herbs. * ''

Sambusa A samosa () or singara is a fried Indian pastry with a savory filling, including ingredients such as spiced potatoes, onions, and peas. It may take different forms, including triangular, cone, or half-moon shapes, depending on the region. Sam ...

''-inspired savory ''sufganiyot'', filled with lentils and peas, are popular among

Iraqi Jews The history of the Jews in Iraq ( he, יְהוּדִים בָּבְלִים, ', ; ar, اليهود العراقيون, ) is documented from the time of the Babylonian captivity c. 586 BC. Iraqi Jews constitute one of the world's oldest and mos ...

in Israel.

Gallery

File:Mini sufganiyot.jpg, Elegantly-styled "mini" ''sufganiyot'' File:Sufganiyah-Roland.jpg, Fancy sufganiyot File:Sufganiyot at Jerusalem Central Bus station.jpg, Sufganiyot from a bakery in

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

Explanatory notes

References

External links

Making non-traditional sufganiyot
a demonstration video with Phyllis Glazer
Sufganiyot – The Best

The best Hanukkah sufganiyot in Israel
{{Doughnut Doughnuts Hanukkah foods Hanukkah traditions Israeli desserts Jewish baked goods Jewish cuisine Hebrew words and phrases