European Doughnuts (Gogosi, Paczki, Beignets, Berliner)

These doughnuts are a traditional Romanian dessert better known in the US as Paczki. I guess each European country has it’s recipe and they are all delicious; I’ve tasted them as paczki, beignets, berliner. When I bite into one I can see myself in my grandmother’s kitchen waiting for them to be ready so I can indulge.  They are best when served warm and nothing beats a home-made doughnut.

If you have them plain, the way you tell they came out right is that they have a big air pocket inside and I remember always asking my grandmother how do they come out with that air pocket inside. The answer was always the same – The air pocket comes with the age. The truth is, there is probably no grandmother in Romania that does not master this recipe, so I really trust my grandma is correct.

Ingredients:

• 6 cups flour (4 to start the dough and 2 extra for kneading and when rolling the dough)
• 1/3 cups sugar
• ¼ cups melted butter
• 4 egg yolks
• 3 TBS dry yeast
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 3 TBSP rum
• 1 TBS oil
• 1 TBS vanilla essence
• 1 1/2 cups warm milk
• 1/2 cups sparkling water
• lemon zest from 1 lemon
• oil for frying the doughnuts
• Confectioner’s sugar to dust the doughnuts
• Optional for Paczki and Berliners – jam, nutella

Preparation:

• In a bowl mix the yeast with 2-3 TBS flour and 1/2 cups warm milk, set aside to rise (1)
• Using an electric mixer combine the egg yolks, salt, and sugar (2)
• Add (1) and (2) mixtures over 4 cups of flour and start kneading the dough, add the rest of the milk gradually. Add the vanilla and sparkling water. Keep kneading the dough for 2-3 minutes until everything is well combined. (you can also use an electric mixer with the hook attachment to knead)
• Add the melted butter, the oil,  lemon zest and rum and knead the dough until everything is incorporated
• Make the dough into a ball and place it in a bowl (use more flour if it’s too sticky), Dust flour over the dough, cover it and let it rise for about 1 hour
• Once it doubled its size, punch it down and knead the dough for a couple more minutes
• Roll the dough in a ½” thick sheet
• Take a glass or a large round cookie cutter and cut the dough in round shapes
• Heat oil and fry the doughnuts until golden on each side (frying should be done over low-medium heat so the doughnuts don’t burn)
• Drain on paper towel and dust with confectioner’s sugar

Optional you can fill the doughnuts with jam or nutella. To fill them you poke a hole on the side and pipe the jam or nutell inside.

ENJOY warm!