Irina Georgescu is a food writer, 2023 James Beard Award Winner in the Baking Category. Books: Carpathia, food from the Heart of Romania and Tava – Eastern European Baking and Desserts from Romania and Beyond.
Makes 10
For the doughnuts:
300g curd cheese or ricotta
1 large egg
20g sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
Pinch of salt
150g-175g plain flour, plus extra for flouring
7g baking powder
Zest of 1 orange
For frying:
100ml vegetable or sunflower oil
To serve:
75g crème fraîche
75g sour cherry jam
Icing sugar, for dusting
To make the doughnuts, mix all the ingredients together and knead lightly until the dough comes away from the sides of the bowl. It is a bit sticky at this stage, but refrigerate for 30 minutes, and it will be easier to work with. The dough will remain sticky throughout the whole process, giving the doughnuts their fluffiness and lightness.
Flour your hands and the work surface. Divide the dough into pairs of 50g and 15g balls. These will be your papanaşi pairs. Take one 50g ball and use the handle of a wooden spoon to make a hole in the centre, then rotate with a stirring action to create a doughnut ring. Repeat with the remaining 50g balls.
Heat the oil in a deep pan (or a fryer) until hot, around 170o -180o C. Working in batches, fry both the rings and the smaller doughnut balls for 2–3 minutes. They will get quite dark, but this is what you are looking for. Set aside on kitchen paper.
To serve, place the doughnut rings on a plate and cover each with a generous dollop of crème fraîche, then top with a spoonful of jam. Add a small doughnut ball on top of each ring and dust with icing sugar. Serve warm.
Photo credit: Jamie Orlando Smith for ‘Carpathia’ 2020
Irina Georgescu – 2023 JAMES BEARD AWARD WINNER IN THE BAKING CATEGORY
Irina Georgescu is a UK food writer and author from Romania whose work draws on her Eastern European heritage. Her writing and recipes are a love letter to Romania, a country explored very little from the culinary point of view. She writes with integrity and respect towards this rich heritage, raising the profile of Romanian culinary identity through her books and culinary tours.
Her first book, ‘Carpathia, food from the Heart of Romania’ was shortlisted by the UK Guild of Food Writers for the Best International Cookbook Award. At the same time, the German Culinary Academy awarded its German translation a Silver Feather. The book was also translated into Hungarian and Dutch.
Her latest book, ‘Tava, Eastern European Baking and Desserts from Romania and Beyond’ is a meticulously researched baking book celebrating centuries of diversity and overlapping cultures that form today’s cuisine in Romania. Irina also aims to share the story of those dishes that have come to represent the identity of different cultural communities across the country.
Irina was born in Bucharest, Romania, where she lived for 30 years before she moved to Wales, UK. Keep in touch with her through her website and social media.
