Chanukah is right around the corner and you know what that means… No, I’m not talking about presents (let’s face it, we only get one, let’s not over-dramatize this). I’m talking about sufganiyot!
In case you’re not familiar with the delicious donut, a sufganiya is a round, deep fried donut, most popularly filled with jelly and topped with powdered sugar.
It is customary to eat these on the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah to symbolize the significance that oil played in the Hanukkah story (the oil for the Menorah lasted long enough to keep the lights burning for 8 days.. hooray!)
Israel has taken sufganiyot to the next level. Sufganiyot are now filled with chocolate, creme, banana, and some have gone as far as pistachio.
So in accordance with holiday tradition, this VirtualJerusalem reporter went out and purchased 8 sufganiyot from two of Israel’s most popular bakeries: Roladin and Ne’eman (known is Israel as Ma’aphe Ne’eman).
With the help of my trusty tasting buddy, Charlotte Korchak, we tried all 8 donuts in one night (goodness help us).
Here are our findings, and the official rankings for Sufganiyot 2014:
#1: Irish Creme (Roladin)
If you ever thought about dunking your sufganiya into coffee, don’t. Just eat this. Charlotte says “everything about this donut…winner”. It has a slammin’ coffee after taste. Though dubbed irish creme, we all know we’re pouring Bailey’s into our coffee on Sunday morning, so why would one think that this donut wouldn’t taste like coffee? This donut is all around “too good not to eat”.
#2: Jelly Topped (Ne’eman)
Typically when you take the first bite into a traditional sufganiya, you just get a whole lot of donut (but who’s really complaining). Then all that jelly rolls out and it gets to be a huge mess. Ne’eman found the solution, top the who darn donut with jelly! Charlotte proclaims this is “almost better.. there’s jelly in every bite!”
#3: Biscotla (Roladin)
While we thought this was at first “by far the best” (we ate this before the irish creme *shrug*) this donut just tasted like an Oreo cookie. Don’t get me wrong, there is absolutely NOTHING wrong with an Oreo cookie donut, but then again, Dunkin’ Donuts makes one too. The frosting on top with the crushed cookie pieces is what really made this yummy-yummy-in-my-tummy.
#4: Original Jelly (Ne’eman)
Obviously, original jelly is everyone’s favorite… but not ours. The dough was divine, but the jelly? Let’s just say it didn’t have enough jelly. #sufganiyotproblems. That’s a risk we all are all willing to take though. Charlotte announced “It’s decent, I’ve had better” Though none of us remember exactly where those better donuts were. Still good though!
#5: Original Jelly (Roladin)
According to responses on a recent post of mine on Facebook, Roladin is the popular favorite amongst Israelis. Well, sorry Facebook peeps, this was… eh. The dough wasn’t as good as Ne’eman’s and it wasn’t the best jelly filling either of us had. Though the presentation of Roladin’s sufganiyot by far is better than Ne’eman’s, this is a taste test, so… Hey Roladin! Pretty donuts. Love, Me.
#6: “Red Forest” (Roladin)
What is described, and loosely translated, as “red fruit filling and frosting, white creme filling, and topped with white chocolate” has us wondering, what-the-hey did we just eat? After tasting all of Ne’eman’s donuts, we were happy there was filling at all and that the white chocolate flakes were appreciated. But due to Charlotte’s dislike of “red fruit filling” this donut wasn’t for her…or me.
#7: Creme Topped (Ne’eman)
This sufganiya would have been ranked so much higher… had there been filling inside. *GASP* NO FILLING? Yes, no filling. It was just a donut, topped with a blob of unknown creme. This donut was pretty much just all dough. We aren’t complaing, but it in the end it was “lame”.
#8: Chocolate Filled (Ne’eman)
No. No. No. I would have thought that a chocolate filled sufganiya would have been heaven. Nope. This was just sadly disappointing. The chocolate filling was lacking and really didn’t taste like chocolate at all. I think it was actually date flavored. Charlotte “rather waste her calories on a different one” and frankly, I would too. “Let’s just put that one away.”
At the end of the night, Charlotte and I were stuffed with sufganiyot and our conclusion is thus:
Presentation wise, Roladin wins- hands down.
They know exactly how to make pretty looking sufganiyot.
Taste wise, Ne’eman’s dough tastes better. It tastes like Chanukah (whatever that tastes like…).
If you’re in Israel and you come across a sufganiya, enjoy!
You really can’t go wrong… Except for that chocolate filled one, don’t get that one.
