Ok, so I told you about Polish doughnuts. They are the most important part of the Fat Thursday, but there is something more. Something you can’t buy at a bakery. OK, you can, but it’s very, very hard to find ones that taste good. I’m talking about faworki or chrusty or chrusciki the name differs depending on a region. And apparently, in the US they are called angel wings and in Italy – chiacchiere.
Chrusty (plural) means dry branches broken off trees and this name is popular in my region.
Anyway, it’s only the name. They are simple. It is a deep-fried dough sprinkled with icing sugar, nothing else. But they are very, very good.
I remember once my grandma was frying them in the morning and later at school girls were wondering who has new perfumes and after a while, I understood this was me. They smelled my grandma’s chrusty! I’m not sure if she added some aroma to it, but yes they smell lovely even on their own.
They also work great as a stress relief. Just read a recipe 😉
Unfortunately, it isn’t a family recipe. I should finally go home and grab a recipe notebook and some old cookbooks, but recipe comes from one of my favorites Polish food blogs White plate, you may want to check it even to just look at the beautiful photos.
Also, try the recipe for chrusty with beer.
Chrusty, chrusciki, faworki, angel wings
Little sweet bows perfect for Shrove Tuesday or any other occasion
Ingredients
- 3 1/2 cups (420 grams) plain flour
- 4 egg yolks
- 1 1/2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 3/4 cup + 2 Tbsp (170 grams) sour cream
- Vegetable oil for deep frying (about 4-6 cups, depending on pot size)
- Powdered sugar for dusting
Directions
- In a large bowl combine flour, egg yolks, vinegar, salt and sour cream.
- Knead the dough until smooth and elastic. about 10-15 minutes by hand or 5-7 minutes using a stand mixer with a dough hook attachment.
- Add 1-2 tablespoons of additional sour cream if the dough is too dry.
- And now, the fun part. Once the dough is smooth, place it on a lightly floured counter and beat it with a rolling pin to incorporate air bubbles. The more air bubbles, the lighter your crusty will be.
- Cover the dough with a kitchen towel and refrigerate for 1 hour.
- Remove the dough from the fridge. Divide it into smaller portions. Roll each portion very thin about 1/16 inch (1.5 mm) thick. Use a pasta machine if available. It will make your work easy peasy. The thinner the better. Mine was still too thick.
- Cut the rolled dough into rectangles approximately 2.5 inches long and 1.5 inches wide (6 cm long and 4 cm). Make a small slit in the center of each rectangle.
- To shape each piece: gently lift one short end of the rectangle.
Pull this end through the slit in the center.
Carefully tug it all the way through to create a twist or bow-tie shape.
The dough should now resemble a ribbon with a loop in the center. Check the photo below.
- Heat vegetable oil in a large, heavy-bottomed pot to 350°F (175°C). Use a thermometer to maintain this temperature. Use enough oil that chrusty can float freely.
- Fry the dough pieces in batches for about 2 minutes, turning once, until golden brown on both sides. Don’t overcrowd the pan, as the oil temperature will drop. Flip them using wooden skewers.
- Remove fried dough pieces with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels to absorb extra oil.
- Dust generously with powdered sugar before serving
Magda's Cauldron 
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