Bimuelos de Hanukah
Also called Loukoumades by those from Salonika
6 pkg. yeast
3 cups flour
1 egg, beaten
1 1/3 cups warm water
½ tsp salt
1 tbsp oil
Oil for deep frying
Honey or confectioner’s sugar or maple syrup for dipping
- Dissolve yeast in 1/3 cup warm water. Add egg and salt. Mix well. Add mixture to flour, and stir, adding remaining water gradually.
- Let rise 1 hour
- Heat oil – oil is at the correct temperature when a drop of water immediately steams up
- Drop dough by spoonful into hot oil.
- Drain on paper towel.
- Serve with honey or confectioner’s sugar or maple syrup
Notes:
- These are always described as “de Hanukah,” since they are distinct from Bimuelos de Pesach.
- In Spanish and Ladino bibles, the Mana from heaven is described as tasting like bimuelos (ke-sapihit “כְּצַפִּיחִת”), usually translated in English as wafers with honey. See https://jewishstudies.washington.edu/sephardic-studies/manna-from-heaven-bumuelos/ for an interesting article on the subject by Ty Alhadeff from the Uof W, Stroum Center for Jewish Studies.
- While many of us have simply used pans for deep frying which gives us rather free form shapes for our bimuelos, some have used what they describe as bimuelo pans to get more consistent spherical shapes. Here are 2 pans from Anita Albala’s collection.
