Loukoumades

My sons' favorite dessert

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Course: Dessert

Cuisine: Greek, Greek Cypriot

Keyword: Dessert, Fried

Prep Time: 2

Cook Time: 1

Servings:

Calories: 288kcal

Author: Agni’s Friend

Ingredients

4 cups water lukewarm
14 grams dry yeast
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp sugar so they brown
3 cups hard wheat flour village flour – semolina durham wheat (480 grams)
2 cups All Purpose wheat flour 00- (240 grams)
2 tbsp vegetable oil
6 cups vegetable oil for frying

Syrup

2 cups water
4 cups granulated sugar can substitute some honey
2 sticks cinnamon
4 whole cloves

Optional – for serving

chopped walnuts

Instructions

Make the Dough

In a bowl add the water, sugar, salt, and yeast. Stir with a whisk until the yeast dissolves completely and wait for 5 minutes. Add the 3 cups of hard flour and whisk until the mixture becomes a smooth batter with no lumps. Add the 2 cups of all purpose flour. Then briskly stir with your hand, gently flipping the dough to add some air. The dough should be soft, light, and springy. Adjust consistency by adding water or flour.

Proof Dough

Cover the bowl with some plastic wrap and let the dough rest in a warm place for at least 1 hour to rise until double.

Make the syrup

Add sugar, water, and seasonings to a pot and bring to a boil. For a good syrup it should boil until it reaches about 225°F. Syrups take time to get to the boiling point, but will go up fairly quickly after that. Once it reaches the desired temperature, remove from heat and cool completely.it is important that the syrup be at room temperature when you add the fried dough balls to the syrup.

Get Organized

While dough is rising, get organized. Prepare a bowl with a sieve or colander for the fried balls. Also be sure the syrup is in a pot that can accommodate a batch of fried balls. Then put out a platter or bowl for serving.

Fry

Pour enough vegetable oil into a medium sized pan to deep fry the loukoumades. Heat the oil on medium heat until hot. Test if the oil is hot enough by dipping in some of the dough for the loukoumades. If it sizzles the oil is ready. A more accurate way is to use a kitchen thermometer and measure the oil to be at least 160C / 320F (350° will go faster, but requires more vigilance.)
Dip a teaspoon in some oil, shake it a bit to remove any excess. Hold your hand out flat and make a fist with your fingers facing down. Grab some dough, keeping the back of your hand on top and out of the dough. Then rotate your fist 90° so your thumb is on top and squeeze out a ball of dough between your thumb and index finger. Dip a teaspoon into a glass of vegetable oil (or water) and scrape the small ball of dough off your hand and drop it into the hot oil. Using the spoon, grab the dough ball off your hand and let it drop in the hot oil. The ball of dough should be slightly larger than the size of a large grape. Repeat this procedure until the surface of the oil is comfortably filled. You should dip the spoon in the oil & shake off every other time, so that the batter doesn’t stick on it.
While the loukoumades are fried, use a slotted spoon to push them into the oil and turn them on all sides, until golden brown. When they are done, move them to the sieve to drain for 1 minute, then add to pot with syrup, before removing to a platter or bowl for serving. Repeat with the rest of the dough.

Finish

You can sprinkle with powdered sugar, chopped walnuts or almonds, and maybe even a little powdered cinnamon.

Notes

These syrup soaked doughnut holes are my sons’ favorite dessert! In Cyprus you can find them being made by roadside vendors.

Every vendor has their own special recipe. Some use potato or corn starch along with the wheat flour. Some use mashed potatoes as the base of the dough.

The syrups also vary. Some with honey. Others without. The seasonings can include cloves, cinnamon, or rose water. Some people even drizzle melted chocolate over the top.

But, in the end, it is the crisp and light doughnut hole that is the star of the show, whichever syrup is used.

Nutrition