Sufganiyot

Jelly doughnuts called sufganiyot in Israel, are a popular Hanukkah treat. Although fried foods are often associated with this holiday, these are baked. I have eaten these when I was a little girl but have never seen a baked version. After trying them, I can tell you they are really delicious. I filled some with apple butter (thanks Julianna!), some with lime curd (thanks, Laura!) and some with doctored Nutella (just add some powdered sugar, cocoa and a little water to Nutella to get it the right consistency). See directions on how to fill them...if you have piping bags for cake decorating, that would be easiest. But if worse comes to worst, I suggest just splitting them and making little doughnut sandwiches. This recipe makes 16. The recipe comes from The Good Housekeeping Cookbook 125th Anniversary edition.

Sufganiyot

3 cups flour
1/4 cup sugar
5 teaspoons yeast (2 packages)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup milk (preferably whole, but I used 1%), warm (120-130 degrees)
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 cup filling (jam such a sour cherry or see above)
2 tablespoons powdered sugar

In electric stand mixer bowl, combine flour sugar, yeast cinnamon, and salt. With paddle attachment add oil and milk, and beat medium low for 3-5 minutes (mixture will be stiff). Add eggs one at a time and beat 10 minutes, scraping sides of bowl (mixture will be quite soft, to sticky...if too sticky to work with knead in a little flour by hand). Transfer to large greased bowl and cover loosely with plastic wrap and allow to rise in warm place 40 minutes or until doubled.

Lightly grease 2 large cookie sheets. Gently punch down dough and roll into a 16" log. Cut into 16 pieces and shape each piece into a ball. Place each ball on cookie sheet (8 per sheet). Let rise 20-30 minutes or until slightly puffed.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Brush tops of dough with milk. Bake one sheet at a time, 12-15 minutes or until pale golden. Cool on sheets on wire racks 5 minutes.

To fill, cut off corner of self-sealing plastic bag to make 1/4" diameter hole; fit with 1/4-1/2" plain piping tip, and fill bag with filling. Slide paring knife horizontally into one side of each doughnut and, using sawing motion, carefully cut pocket in pastry. Fit piping tip into hole, and pipe filling into it until filled. Repeat. Dust doughnuts with powdered sugar to serve.

Ono Butter Mochi

On campus at the Seasider Snack Bar, a common delicacy are these little cake-looking little square things that are easily one of the most delicious things I've ever eaten.  Or as they say in pidgin Hawaiian, it 'broke da mouth!'  The texture is so unusual.. it looks like a square cupcake but it's much chewier and the flavor much milder and less sweet than a cupcake.  Me and my friend Kaitlyn bought one as a little treat earlier this week and decided we should try making our own. So thanks to allrecipes.com, we found this recipe for ono (or 'the best' in Hawaiian) butter mochi.

• 1 pound mochiko (glutinous rice flour, can be found at your local asian market or pretty much anywhere in Hawaii)
• 2 1/2 cups white sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 3 cups whole milk
• 5 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup sweetened flaked coconut (optional, if you're like me and hate coconut)

-Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9x13 inch baking dish.

-In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, vanilla and milk. In a separate larger bowl, stir together the rice flour, sugar, and baking powder. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, and stir to blend. Mix in the melted butter and coconut (again, optional). Pour into prepared pan.

-Bake for 1 hour in the preheated oven. Cool completely, then cut into squares. Serves 12.

This is just an image from google, but that's what it looks like.  If you don't like mochi or other squishy foods, then this probably would not be the best recipe to try.