Fantastic Glazed Doughnuts
Every year we go to visit my sister for Chanukah. My sister, Raizel, is really a lot of fun. Aside from my mother, and my Aunt Perel (A”H), my sister is also one of the best cooks I know.
By training, Raizel is actually a chef. However, once she got married, she transferred her cooking skills to being a “Baal Chessed.” For those who may not already know, “chessed” translates as “loving kindness.” It is an action, as well as a character trait. So, if someone is a “Baal Chessed,” they are a charitable person who is constantly engaged in acts of kindness. That is my sister, to a “T.”
In addition, my sister is also a “Baal Hachnasat Orchim.” “Hachnasat Orchim,” is the Hebrew word for “hospitality” or “welcoming guests.” This mitzvah, in its purest form, consists of hosting and serving the needs of those who are destitute and have no place to eat or sleep.
My sister and her husband used to host up to 20 people per meal for Shabbat and holiday meals. All of their guests were treated to homemade, all natural, healthy, kosher food. Many of them were people who genuinely needed a place to eat.
It was a delicate balancing act. Yet, my sister and her husband excelled at this mitzvah of Hachnasat Orchim (welcoming guests), all while raising 6 beautiful children, 3 of whom are now married. One of my wonderful nieces, Eli, shared this recipe for doughnuts.
Fantastic Glazed Doughnuts
Ingredients
2 1/4 teaspoons dry yeast
2 tablespoons warm water
3/4 cup warm milk
Alternative: use water, coconut or nut milk instead
2 1/2 tablespoons butter
Alternative: use coconut oil or palm shortening instead
1 egg
1/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoons salt
2 3/4 cup flour
Instructions:
In a large bowl, dissolve the yeast in a small amount of warm water. Add the milk (or substitute), butter, egg, sugar and salt. Blend this until its smooth.
Add the remaining flour and knead until the dough is smooth. Cover the dough with a plastic bag and leave the dough to rise, until the dough has doubled, about 1/2 – 1 hour.
Punch the dough down and roll out a half inch thick.
Using a cup or biscuit cutter (or even a dry empty can to cut out the doughnuts. If you want to make the doughnuts with the traditional hole in the middle, use a shot glass or similar sized object to cut out the holes. (The holes will later become doughnut holes)
Place these on cookie sheets and let them rise for about 30 to 60 minutes.
Heat oil in a pot, and then fry the doughnuts, approximately, 30 seconds on each side. Once the oil becomes hot, this process is very quick.
The trick is to have the oil hot, but not too hot. Our friend, Judith, said that in the days before there were thermometers, you knew the oil was hot enough when it would take 1 minute to cook a piece of bread. I thought that was a nice trick!
My sister simply put in one of the doughnut holes, and waited until it started to brown nicely.
Regulating the temperature correctly is critical to making doughnuts successfully. If the oil is too hot, the outside will burn but the inside will be too raw. If that happens, bake the doughnuts in the oven so that they will cook nicely.
Remove from oil and place in pot of sugar syrup and coat on each side.
Sugar Glaze
The trick to making doughnuts taste completely awesome is to dip the doughnuts into the glaze right after they have been fried. Unfortunately, my sister is an intuitive cook, and she does not need to follow recipes. So, this an approximation of what she did.
Ingredients
Equal amounts of water and sugar, i.e. ½ water and ½ cup sugar.
Instructions:
To make a glaze using granulated sugar, place equal amounts of sugar and water to a cooking pot and bring the mixture to a boil. Cook the sugar and water over high heat, stirring occasionally until the sugar is completely dissolved.
If you want a thicker glaze, continue to cook the glaze and stir occasionally until it reduces to a thicker consistency, or add more sugar.
Once the doughnuts are cooked, quickly drop them into the simmering glaze, and turn to coat both sides and then remove and place on plate.
Decorate as desired.
Here are the pictures. My sister laughs at me that I need things explained so exactly. But, that is why I am writing this blog in the first place. I am so grateful that I have her and my mother to learn from.
The final outcome was a work of art. The downside of doughnuts is that they are only good fresh. So, make sure you invite lots of people over to share them with you! You can tell them it’s a mitzvah.
My sister tells me that the reason why she is able to make these so well is that she is not afraid of making a mistake, and every year she keeps on trying to improve. So, now you know why she is not only an awesome cook, but an awesome person as well. She is truly our family tzedakis (righteous soul).
I love that you give alternatives for the ingredients ! So helpful! I haven’t dared yet to try in my kitchen ( I feel like the smell would stick forever) but there is nothing like a fresh fried doughnut !
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They are great, in limited quantities. I would love to try a recipe for 2, because doughnuts don’t really freeze well. My sister has it down to an art!
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Glazed donuts are my favorite. Especially Krispy Kreme. I can never leave without a dozen!
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Enjoy! The problem is, they have to be eaten right away. So, best to make with friends and family around.🎉
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I just emailed that to myself.
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Enjoy! They were a hit!
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Love your content! And the name is awesome 😘
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The doughnuts look wonderful .I made doughnuts a few times years ago with my mother, but have never attempted them on my own. This post is motivating me to give them a try. You explained who to make them so clearly.
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I am so happy! I need very specific instructions as doughnuts are one of those things that do not come easy for me. There is a definite art to frying well.
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Those look so good! There is nothing better than a fresh, warm donut!
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There is nothing else like it. Does not compare to commercial ones.
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Carol, you are so right. Nothing like fresh doughnuts. Get ’em as soon as they’ve cooled down a bit. Delicious. Your sister sounds like she has a great attitude about cooking…and life.
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She is exceptional!😍
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Lovely recipe. I will try making this.They look so tempting.
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This is great, and the glaze also really makes it.
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Very true.Thanks for the share.
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😊
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Such a heart warming post, and the doughnuts look perfect! חג שמח! 🙂
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חג שמח! Thank you. My sister is really a great cook! (I am finally able to use a Hebrew keyboard)
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🙂
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Those donuts look awesome! You are blessed to have such a wonderful sister (and cook!)
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She is awesome, you can’t imagine.
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Your sister sounds like a true Baalas Chessed, together with her family. You are truly blessed to have a family like that!
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I tell you, my sister is truly a special person. Really, almost other worldly. Her kids are awesome too, each in their own special way.
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And you are obviously an apple that grew on the same tree…
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😊
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Thank you, now we need to daven that my wonderful niece will be privileged to find a wonderful shidduch and build a beautiful home.
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Omein. Give her name to a cohen to have her in mind when he does Birkas Cohanim, but the next time it will be on Pesach, unless you know a cohen in Eretz Israel where they dukhan every Shabbos.
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My husband is a Cohen, and we both daven for her everyday. Plus, my Tehilim group is in her (and others) merit. Tefila is the answer.
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Yes, of course. However, Birkas Cohanim has a special power for shidduhim if a cohen has a specific name in mind. My husband is also a cohen, and he always gets requests before Yomim Tovim. It never failed!
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I will try it. What do I have to lose? I am going to find a Cohen in Israel to daven for her.
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How old is she? And something else just occurred to me: my husband has had his twins (by first marriage) in mind for a few years already, and it hasn’t worked the ways it has always worked with other people. Still looking!
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She is 26. Adorable and cute as a button. I think very highly of her.
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With H-shem’s help! What does she do and what kind of a young man is she looking for?
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I can email you a picture and resume.
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Good idea – maybe, with H-shem’s help…
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She is a teacher, getting a MA in special education and looking for a boy who works and learns.
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Is she willing to relocate? Would she be interested in a Baal Tshuvah? Only Lubavitch or might be Sephardic?
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Yes to all. She used to do kiruv in the Ukraine. She can get along with anyone. Her social skills are amazing. I cannot praise her enough.
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Where in Ukraine? Getting along is one thing, sharing a life is another. my husband, a graduate of Ner Israel yeshiva, used to make fun of my “chassidishe shtick” until he was told by a Rov that he was lucky to have found a woman who knew how to run a kosher kitchen, and to get out of my kitchen unless I ask him to take out garbage or something. My son Dovid had to adjust to his wife’s Moroccan minhagim. The paradox is that it is a wife that runs the kitchen, the way she was brought up to do it, but traditionally, the husband’s minhagim should prevail in the house. It is sometimes even easier with Baalei Tshuvos, as they have no family minhagim.
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I think that things are more fluid than we like to think. The most important thing is to communicate well and show mutual respect and compassion.
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That’s true. 🙂
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I have to find out where in the Ukraine.
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I am assuming that this is a second marriage? Where would you find someone who graduated from Ner Israel in Russia?
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It is, and my husband was brought here as a child, made Tshuva before his Bar Mitzvah, and went to Baltimore to learn, despite his parents’ objections.
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Wow!
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All due to the influence of Rabbi Yitzhok Gutman, Z’T’L. I was privileged to know him and his wife A’S’ for a few years, and I still miss his guidance.
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Very extraordinary. Your husband must be a very special man.
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Daven for me and I’ll daven for you!
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Give me the name, please. My step-twins are Efraim Dovid ben Esther and Hannah Rochel bas Esther.
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Elisheva Hadassah bat Rachel Bryna
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Im’Mirtse H-Shem!
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How old are they?
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29 K’Y’H, but it’s a challenging situation. She is completing her doctorate, teaches at NYU, a cute little blonde, looks about 15, but with the brain of an Einstein. No shidduch dates worked so far because, in the immortal words of my comedian friend, “what kind of a fool wants to have a wife smarter than him”?
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My mother used to say that “the smartest girls have the hardest time getting married and that the reverse is true for men.” Which let my grandmother to say, “never let a man know how smart you are.” (This is a joke.)
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It’s not much of a joke, and my grandmother used to say the same. It’s kind of hard to hide a brain that shines behind every word.
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She would only be happy with someone who she respects. But, she is in the right place!
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Certainly; mutual respect is the foundation, with communication to follow.
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What about an MD/Ph.D or a Rabbi??
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My email is cookingfotthetimechallenged@gmail.com
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Mine is dolly.aizenman@yahoo.com
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Will do.
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