Fat Thursday and Faworki always go together …

… at least in my home.

Fat Thursday –  is traditional Polish and German feast marking the last Thursday before Lent and is associated with the celebration of Carnival. Because Lent is a time of fasting, the next opportunity to feast would not be until Easter. (Wikipedia).

All Catholics know that – not that I am one, but I grew up in a very religious Catholic family with plenty of doughnuts and faworki every single year on Fat Thursday. More often we had homemade faworki than pączki (doughnuts). It was much easier to make for the family of 5 plus grandparents and, I think, we all liked them better than pączki.

These days, for me Fat Thursday is more like a cultural tradition not very much connected to religion. Being far away from my home country I take a thing or two from the religion I grew up with and make it a cultural thing. It kind of make sense even for Polish people living in Poland because Catholicism is connected very closely to the culture of our country, so even people that are not very religious still celebrate Fat Thursday by indulging themselves eating unlimited amount of doughnuts on that day.

In Warsaw, people waiting in line for doughnuts on Fat Thursday (source Thenews.pl)

I should’ve done this post yesterday but to the last minute I was convinced that I am not going to make anything for Fat Thursday this year. I went to bed last night thinking: I’m too tired to make something that it’s actually going to be just for me. My husband is not a big fan of deep fried foods. Of course he’ll eat french fries, fried onion rings, fried chicken and many different deep fried foods (all in the restaurant) but if I make something at home that is deep fried he does not want to eat it. Oh, and he has nothing against store-bought doughnuts – SOMEBODY PLEASE TELL HIM THEY ARE ALL DEEP FRIED!!!

Anyway, I got up this morning and couldn’t stop thinking about making faworki (chrusty, angel wings).

After making breakfast for everybody I put myself to work (I mean, my stand mixer). 

Those delicious little things are very easy to make and with all the ingredients that most of us have already in the kitchen.

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp white sugar

4 egg yolks

5 tsp plain yoghurt (original recipe calls for sour cream) plus more if necessary

1 tsp vinegar

2 Tbsp. butter, softened

pinch of salt

orange zest (optional) – this is my twist to this recipe so actually it’s not necessary 

oil for frying

Put all the ingredients together in a big bowl and mix it in your Kitchen Aid or knead by hand until the dough is smooth and looks like that:

our little one burned her hand days ago and these days her favorite word is “hot”. She touches everything saying “hot, hot, hot” looking at me for the nod if she got that right. This time she didn’t 😉

If the dough is too dry and doesn’t want to hold together just add a teaspoon of plain yoghurt. If it’s still too dry add one more until the dough holds together, is nice and smooth and easy to shape into a ball.

Wrap the dough in a plastic wrap, aluminum foil or parchment paper and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. After that time take it out cut into four pieces, leave one piece out and put the 3 left back to the fridge. When you’re done with cutting, folding and frying that first part, repeat everything with the remaining 3.

On lightly floured surface roll the dough very thinly. The more thin the dough the more crispy the pastry will get after frying.

When done rolling with a sharp knife cut the dough into 1 1/2 inch wide and 4 inches long stripes. Make 1 inch or 1 1/2 inch long slit in the middle of each strip.

Working with your both hands open the slit in the middle. Take the top and fold it towards the slit. Pull the end through the slit.

Gently pull both ends and you made yourself a perfect angel wing 🙂

Repeat with the remaining strips.

Fry in hot oil. You can check the oil if it’s ready by putting one corner of the raw angel wing in the oil. If it starts to sizzle and bubbles appear it means that the oil is ready.

Fry on both sides until golden brown. The heat should be on medium high for the best results. Keep an eye on them as they tend to burn really fast.

You might want to put them on paper towel to soak the extra oil out. While still warm heavily sprinkle with powdered sugar. I mean, REALLY heavily 🙂

Keep it high enough so your Little Ones can’t get into it while you’re not watching.

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17 thoughts on “Fat Thursday and Faworki always go together …

  1. Nadine Sellers

    mmm. you were right, religion and customs intermingle differently in separate nations..i did not know about fat thursday, we have the crepes in france for feb; the chandeleur ritual.. and fat tuesday in march as in new orleans in US..
    i only think of the feasts as cultural vehicles for values or for bonding–not as belonging to one organized group..although my father was groomed to be a jesuit priest ; married mother instead..and look at me now..i still love these “beignets” i will call them faworki now, mine are plumper and longer..we roll our dough and add more sugar..i prefer these angel wings..they look crispier!

    Reply
    1. Polish Mom Photographer Post author

      I grew up in a family with very strong bond to religion so most of our traditions and what I remember today is somehow connected to religion like having a Christmas Tree in December. For me it’s not about the religion, it’s about the warmth that it brings to our house and the memories from my childhood.
      Speaking about faworki, I made the fist batch a little thicker and they were good too, but not so crispy. I know many people like them that way. I prefere them very thin and crispy and with plenty of powdered sugar on top. The dough itself is not sweet at all… it’s actually pretty tasteless.

      Reply
  2. Lil' Suburban Homestead

    First of all let me start off by telling you I have been tired and under the weather all week….if you saw my blog post today you know what I mean…but I love the fact that you celebrated this tradition and Iove the powdered sugar on your little lovies face……..thanks as always to remind me to embrace my traditions and enjoy life!

    Reply
    1. Polish Mom Photographer Post author

      I read your post early today, but I was just too busy (and later too tired) to comment. I do that sometimes. I read a post, and I do not comment. I like to think about it and later get back to it. I’m sorry to hear you feel under the weather. It sucks when it happens while there is so much to do around.
      I am tired mostly because of my pregnancy. I’m tired and uncomfortable all day and all night, but still I can’t just sit and do nothing when I feel like I want to cook or bake or clean something. I know I do too much sometimes, but it’s just how I am. Feeling better when busy 🙂
      Glad I brough a smile on your face and a little bit of warmth with this post!
      Hope you’re feeling better soon!

      Reply
  3. Ania

    Hey,
    ales Ty kreatywna!!! Ja faworki tez zazwyczaj pieke, aczkowiek w tym roku jakos sie nie zebralam. Kupilam paczki i na tym sie skonczylo. I musze Ci powiedziec ze nawet te “kupne” nie byly “tasteless” 😉

    Reply
    1. Polish Mom Photographer Post author

      ja też planowałam, że na pączkach się skończy… jednak pączków to ja mam dosyć, bo teraz jak jestem w ciąży, to dosyć często się na nie kuszę… więc pomyślałam, że chciałabym coś innego… a faworki szybkie i łatwe i do tego smaczne. jeszcze dzisiaj je jem, takie fajne chrupiące się zrobiły 🙂

      Reply
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  5. Melissa

    This looks incredibly delicious! The pictures really help in understanding how to make it!
    -Melissa
    PS- I’ve started a Blog Hop- would love for you to stop by and join in.

    Reply
    1. Polish Mom Photographer Post author

      she’s going to be a littl cook pretty soon. she loves to be in the kitchen with me and touches everything. last time she touched a hot stove! that’s how she learned a new word: hot. now she’s walking around pointing at everything saying “hot, hot” 🙂

      Reply

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