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Welcome! I’m Zehorit and I am passionate about flavorful, seasonal and healthy dishes. Cooking is how I express love to my family and how I welcome friends into my heart and home. Sharing the Mediterranean goodness I was fortunate enough to grow up with through entertaining and cooking classes is how I pay homage to my mother, the kitchen queen. Here - is where I share it all with you! Let’s roll our sleeves up and get cooking!

Hanukkah has begun and I have stocked up on the holiday’s three major food groups: oil, potatoes and flour. Yes, frying potatoes and dough is about to take over my kitchen…. There are Potato Latkes in my future, or Levivot, as they are called in Israel, and of course there will be Sufganiot! Sufga - what? You might ask, but let me reassure you - these are pillowy, doughy goodness that is fried, sometimes stuffed (jam, chocolate, pastry cream, just to name a few) and usually coated (powdered sugar, chocolate ganache, caramel anyone?) In other words: doughnuts, people!

***Traditional Sufganiot: Jelly Doughnuts***

Over the years I have fried my share of Sufganiot, which my kids traditionally loved. What they did not love was the traditional manner of serving them: stuffed with strawberry jam. So, instead we made Nutella stuffed Sufganiot, creamy caramel stuffed Sufganiot and sometimes just plain with a sprinkling of powdered sugar. However, since in my heart, I am basically a spice-girl, my personal favorite became the plain Sufgania (Sing.), glistening with granulated sugar that is laced with fragrant cinnamon & cardamom.

***American style Sufganiot: Cinnamon Sugar***

Now that my four kids are all out of the house, I look for easier, smaller yield recipes that will still deliver loads of flavor. I came across a recipe in the Israeli digital publication Hashulhan, for beer batter Sufganiot. Needless to say, I was intrigued… I measured, stirred, fried and tasted, accommodating for the international differences in flour, adding spice and zest, experimenting with types of beer. Then I sent tests out to a few friends and the votes came in - this recipe is the winner.

Don’t be alarmed by the use of beer in this batter/dough. You can not taste it, it just an honored member of the leavening party here, joined by the yeast and the baking powder. This trio help create a light and airy Sufgania that stays delicious overnight, which most fried doughs will NOT do.

So have I piqued your curiosity? Go ahead, try it and let me know what you think!

Have a happy Hanukkah and a beautiful and SAFE holiday season!