SUNDAY DESSERT #88: Papanaşi ("papa-nah-shee")
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Romania 🇷🇴 or Moldova 🇲🇩
DIFFICULTY LEVEL: Easy-Intermediate
INSPIRATION: No inspiration other than I haven't made anything from Romania yet.
RECEPTION/COMMENTARY: When I first read what this was and the ingredients that went into it, I was a little skeptical. You take cottage cheese and mix it in with sugar, egg, lemon zest, vanilla, and flour. Baking powder gets added instead of the traditional yeast for the leavening agent. Then you shape and fry large-sized doughnuts for the base and then little doughnut holes to place on top. It's like a cute little doughnut snowman! Sour cream and blueberry jam gets added on top as the final piece.
Now, this was the scary bit. Sour cream? On a doughnut? I've heard of sour cream IN doughnuts but not ON them. But it's the most popular dessert in Romania and Moldova so I put it on anyway and had faith that these people knew what they were doing when they invented such a dessert.
And they absolutely knew what they were doing! Oh my gosh, you guys! This cheese doughnut is like a denser version of a sponge cake with a hint of lemon flavoring. The sour cream mixed with the blueberry topping is divine! It gives an added tangy sweetness that just makes the doughnut sing. Sing, I tell you. This is a perfect "breakfast" dessert that I highly recommend to all. Totally worth the frying risk, too. We rated it a 9/10!
WOULD I MAKE IT AGAIN? Mmmmm. Oh yes. We absolutely must do this again soon!
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