Sufganiyot

Rebranded Hanukkah food in pre-state Israel: the Histadrut labor federation in the 1920s promoted sufganiyot over latkes specifically because doughnut-making created bakery jobs while latke-frying happened at home. The form itself is older — descended from German Berliner / Polish pączki via Ashkenazi immigrants — but the holiday association was a 20th-century commercial and political construction in Tel Aviv.

Histadrut union pushed sufganiyot over latkes in 1920s Tel Aviv specifically because doughnut-making created bakery jobs while latke-frying happened at home. The form descended from German Berliner via Ashkenazi immigrants — the holiday tie was a 20th-century commercial play.

A round yeast-raised doughnut, golden outside, snow-white powdered sugar on top, a pocket of red jam injected through the side. Tear it and the jam runs; eat fast or it bleeds onto your hand. Made in mass quantity for the eight days of Hanukkah — Tel Aviv bakeries push half a million in a week. Day-old ones are bricks; this is fundamentally a same-hour pastry.

The dough must be enriched and slack — eggs, butter, ~70% hydration — so the crumb stays open enough to hold injected jam without collapsing. Frying temperature wants 170 °C: hotter and the crust seals before the inside cooks; cooler and oil saturates the crumb. The sugar goes on while warm, not hot — hot doughnuts melt the sugar to glaze, warm ones hold the powder.