Flancati

Ingredients

Dough

• 400 gplain flour
• 4egg yolks
• 50 gsugar
• 50 gbutter, softened
• 100 mlsoured cream
• 2 tablespoonsrum
• 1/2 teaspoonsalt
• the zest of 1 lemon

To fry and finish

• oil or lard, for deep frying
• icing sugar, for dusting

Sometimes served with

• jam, for dipping
• hot tea

Directions

1. Put the flour and salt in a bowl. Add the sugar and the lemon zest. Make a well and add the egg yolks. Add the softened butter and soured cream. Add the rum to the well as well.
2. Bring it together into a firm dough. Kneading it takes real work here. Turn it out onto a floured surface. Knead it for a good ten minutes. It should become smooth and quite firm. Wrap it and rest it for thirty minutes. An hour is considerably better.
3. Divide the dough into three pieces. Roll each one out on a floured surface. Take it down to about two millimetres. It should be nearly translucent.
4. Cut the sheet into strips with a wheel. Aim for strips about three by twelve centimetres. Keep the knots loose rather than tight. Frying them needs the right heat.
5. Pour oil into a deep pan to eight centimetres. Never fill a pan more than halfway with oil. Heat the oil to about 180C for frying. A scrap of dough should sizzle up at once.
6. Fry them for about forty seconds a side. Turn them once with a slotted spoon. They should be pale gold rather than dark.
7. Lift them onto a wire rack to drain. A rack keeps both sides crisp. Dust them very generously with icing sugar. Use far more than seems necessary. Do it while they are still warm.

Technique

• Carnival runs up to the start of Lent, and rich fried food is eaten deliberately to use up eggs, fat and sugar before the fast, which is the practical origin of carnival baking.
• The same pastry is fried across central Europe as Slovak fanky, Polish faworki, Hungarian csoroge and their Croatian and Serbian relatives.
• The knots must be tied loosely, since a tight knot stays doughy in the middle.

Substitutions

• Any spirit works in place of rum and does the same job in the dough.
• Soured cream can be replaced with plain yoghurt at a pinch.

Variations

• Some cooks tie loose knots and others pull one end through a slit.
• Krofi, the filled Slovene doughnuts, are made for the same season.
• Fanky in Slovakia and faworki in Poland are the closest relatives.

History

Central European Carnival fritters made in Slovene households before Lent, from the same dough family as krofi.

Frequently asked questions

What is Flancati?

Flancati is a dessert from Slovenia: thin knotted pastry ribbons fried crisp and buried in icing sugar. Central European Carnival fritters made in Slovene households before Lent, from the same dough family as krofi.

How long does Flancati take to make?

Flancati takes 40 minutes plus resting of preparation and 25 minutes of cooking. The recipe makes about 30 pastries. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Flancati?

Yes, within limits. Any spirit works in place of rum and does the same job in the dough. Soured cream can be replaced with plain yoghurt at a pinch.

What is the most important thing to get right in Flancati?

Cut the sheet into strips with a wheel. Aim for strips about three by twelve centimetres. Keep the knots loose rather than tight. Frying them needs the right heat.