Guanti And Or Chruscik Recipes

POLISH ANGEL WINGS {CHRUSCIKI}

Steps:

• Place oil in a large deep pot or deep fryer and heat over medium heat. Use a candy thermometer so you know what your oil temperature is for best results. Heat oil to about 350-360 Degrees F.
• In a medium bowl cream egg yolks,salt and sugar together with a hand mixer on high speed until smooth and pale yellow in color.
• Add sour cream, vanilla, lemon zest and flour and mix on low speed until dough comes together. **You may need to add another tablespoon or two of flour if dough still seems too sticky.
• Place dough on a floured work surface and knead for about one minute.
• Cut dough in half and wrap one half in plastic wrap while you work with the other.
• Roll dough out with a rolling pin on a floured surface. Keep turning the dough as you roll it out and adding more flour to surface as needed. You don't want your dough to stick to the work surface.
• Roll dough out so that it is paper thin.
• Cut dough into strips about 1-1 1/2 inches wide.
• Cut a 2 inch long slit in the center of each strip.
• Push one end of the strip of dough through the slit.
• Pull the end through the other side and shake a bit to let it form a twist or bow tie.
• Continue to make bow ties with the remaining strips. Then work on your next ball of dough.
• Once you have all of your bow ties made check the oil temperature. Start by dropping one cooking in the oil to test it. You should cook cookie for about 10-15 seconds per side. If it's cooking faster than that reduce the temperature and wait for the oil to cool down a bit. Use two forks to turn your cookie over after 10-15 seconds then cook for and additional 10-15 seconds. You want them to be lightly browned.
• Remove cookies to a cookie sheet lined with paper towels.
• Let the cookies cool completely then coat with a generous coating of confectioner sugar.

CHRUśCIKI, CHRUSTY, FAWORKI: POLISH-STYLE ANGEL WINGS

Steps:

• Sift flour, caster sugar and salt into a bowl. Add egg yolks, vodka and sour cream.
• Knead together by hand (grease your hands first!), or use a stand mixer with a dough hook. Form a smooth dough ball.Pro tip: Some recipes suggest placing a dough ball into a bowl, covering it with a cloth (or cling film) and resting it for 45-60 minutes in the refrigerator. By some accounts, the resting time improves dough plasticity. That said, this recipe was tested without resting, and it worked out just fine.
• Move the dough onto the worktop. Begin folding the dough over itself, giving a quarter-turn of the dough between each fold.
• "Beat up" the dough on each side with a rolling pin, the more violent you are - the better. As you do this, you will feel the dough become pliable and and easier to work with. Traditional recipes call for at least 20 minutes of such treatment, but let's be realistic here - try to do as much as you can.Pro tip: Do you own a meat grinder? Push the dough through 3 times, using the largest holes. Anecdotally, this process allows to skip the whole "dough beating" described above.
• Lightly dust the worktop with flour. Divide the dough into 2 or 3 equal parts, and roll one of them out - as thinly as possible. If you own a pasta maker, it will provide very useful here. Cover the remaining dough parts with a cloth, to prevent it from drying out.
• Using a knife or a pizza/pasta cutter wheel, cut out long strips, approx. 1.2-1.5'' (3-4 cm) wide. Then, cut them into shorter pieces - around 3.5-4'' (9-10 cm) long - cut straight or diagonally at the ends.
• Make a 0.8'' (2 cm) incision in the middle of each strip. Then pull one end through that hole to form a bow. Grab the ends, shake and pull them gently and set aside. Continue until you're out of strips.
• In a wide cooking pot or a large, deep skillet, heat up lard or neutral cooking oil. If you own a kitchen thermometer, aim for 350-355°F (180°C). If you don't, throw in a small piece of dough - if it rises and flows, that means it's hot enough.
• Fry only a few chruściki at a time, until they turn lightly golden - around 30-60 seconds per side. Watch them like a hawk, they're fried very quickly.
• Retrieve faworki with a slotted spoon and onto a paper towel. Dust them generously with icing sugar, as soon as possible. Don't wait for them to cool completely, sugar tends to stick better to warm pastries.

CHRUSCIKI I

Steps:

• In a medium bowl, whisk egg yolks, egg, sugar, salt, vanilla, and whiskey. Stir in 2 cups of the flour. If dough is sticky, add the rest of the flour. Knead dough for 5 minutes; divide into three parts. Keep dough pieces covered with plastic wrap until ready to use.
• Heat oil in a deep-fryer or large saucepan to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Or, alternately, melt 2 pounds lard(see Editor's Note). Oil should be about 1 inch deep.
• On a lightly floured surface, roll out one piece of the dough until it's paper-thin. Cut into parallelogram (long diamond) shapes, and use a sharp paring knife to cut a slot in the centers. Pull one point of the diamond through the slot; set aside and repeat with remaining pieces.
• Fry 2 to 4 pieces at a time, depending on the size of your pan, about 5 to 10 seconds on each side. The cookies should not be browned. Remove from oil and drain on paper towels; dust with confectioners' sugar when cool. Store any remaining cookies in an airtight container.

GUANTI AND/OR CHRUSCIK

Steps:

• GUANTI1. In a large bowl, beat eggs until light, add sugar, milk, Crisco, salt and vanilla, and mix well. 2. Beat in flour, until dough is formed. Using about 1/4 of the dough at a time, roll dough to wafer thinness on a floured board (or put dough through a pasta machine). 3. Using a dough cutting wheel, or knife, cut the dough into strips about 2 1/2 inches wide by 4 inches long. Continue with remaining dough. 4. Deep fry the dough strips in hot oil or Crisco, until lightly golden (about 1-2 minutes). Remove from pan and drain on paper towels or brown paper. 5. Sprinkle with powdered sugar OR lightly coat with a honey syrup (honey thinned with water) before serving. CHRUSCIK (pronounced kris-chick-e): 1. Mix together flour, salt and baking powder. 2. Melt butter and cream cheese with milk. 3. In a large bowl, combine sugar, eggs, vanilla and brandy and mix well. Add flour mixture and cream cheese mixture alternately to the egg mixture, mix well after each addition. Dough should be soft. 4. On a floured pastry cloth, roll dough 1/8 inch thick. Cut dough into 3 inch strips. Cut a small slit in the center of each strip. Pull one end of the strip through the slit in the center, forming a"twist" in the middle. 5. Deep fry in hot oil until light golden on each side. Remove from pan, drain on brown paper. 6. Sprinkle with powdered sugar. 24-48 guanti 35 minutes (30 mins prep time, 5 mins cook time)

FAWORKI (POLISH CHRUSCIKI)

Steps:

• Combine flour, egg yolks, sour cream, sugar, butter, rum, and salt in a large bowl; mix to form a dough.
• Knead dough lightly and roll out on a floured surface. Cut into strips 4 inches long and 3/4 inches wide. Cut a slit in the middle of each strip. Twist and pull one end through the slit.
• Heat oil in a deep-fryer or large saucepan. Test the temperature by dropping in a pastry twist; the oil is ready when it browns and float to the surface.
• Fry pastry twists in batches until golden brown, about 1 minute per side. Drain on a plate lined with paper towels. Dust with confectioners' sugar.