Street Food - Sfenj

 

These Moroccan doughnuts are named from the Arabic word for 'sponge'. Often eaten for breakfast or in the afternoon with tea they can be sprinkled with sugar or drizzled with honey.

Ingredients:

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon yeast

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 tablespoon sugar

1 egg yolk

3/4 cup warm water

Place all the ingredients in a bowl and add the water last.

Stir until a dough forms. Knead in the bowl for a few minutes. The dough will be quite sticky so use oil on your hands if needed.

Cover with clingfilm and leave for a couple of hours to rise.

Come back to the dough, split it into 8 pieces and place on a greased tray. Cover again and leave for an hour to rise.

Heat up some oil in a frying pan, about an inch deep. Oil your hands and lift each dough ball in turn, pinching a hoe in the centre before placing in the hot oil.

Fry on each side for roughly 3 minutes, until they're golden brown in colour. Drain on kitchen paper and eat as soon as they don't burn you. We had ours with honey.

These were the best doughnuts I've ever made. I messaged everyone when they were ready and it felt so gratifying to hear my family flock to the kitchen! We all enjoyed them with honey. The dough had puffed up in the hot oil giving a crisp outer layer around a soft spongy centre. They soaked up the honey perfectly and a mouthful of these warm was like pure heaven. I'm not even exaggerating! I can see I'll be making these often.