Fašiangové šišky

The story

Fašiangy is the Slovak carnival season, running from Three Kings Day on January 6 to Ash Wednesday, a carnival time of costumes, parties and traditional foods; in 2027 it ends with Shrove Tuesday on February 9, the day before Ash Wednesday. Šišky, round doughnuts of fried yeast dough, are the sweet that belongs to it. Wikipedia's overview of Slovak cuisine describes the šiška as a jam doughnut, and the news site Startitup, which explains them to readers as pastries of leavened dough fried in oil or a deep fryer, points out that the American donut is their closest relative. The dough is richer than ordinary bread dough: Recipes for fašiangové šišky on the Slovak portal Varecha.sk use egg yolks and whole eggs, butter, sugar, milk and dark rum, and one adds grated orange peel. The rounds are cut from the risen dough and fried in oil kept at a low heat so the dough cooks through. Lubos of the site Slovak Cooking fills his with apricot jam and finishes them with powdered sugar. Fry them on the morning of the party; they are at their best within a few hours.