ANGEL WINGS
(CHRUSTY)
- 2 cups of flour
- ½ cup of powdered sugar
- ½ teaspoon of salt
- 6 egg yolks
- 1 teaspoon of vinegar or spirit
- 1 teaspoon of baking powder
- 6 tablespoons of sour cream
Chrust is a favorite Polish sweet most often associated with Fat Thursday (Fat Tuesday in the U.S.). As an addition to their annual batch of paczki, the Polish people also like to enjoy these delicately fried dough pieces sprinkled with powdered sugar. A delicate sweet, Poland’s “Chrust” is sometimes referred to as “angel wings” in the U.S.. Although enjoyed in other parts of Poland too, chrust is a particularly big tradition of the Greater Poland region. When making this dessert feel free to double the proportions – these angel wings are quite delicious!
To begin ..
- Prep a medium-sized pot over the stove and fill it a third of the way full with rapeseed oil. Set your burner to just under a medium heat level. Let the oil begin to warm.
- Prep a plate covered with a paper towel on the side of your stove to lay the fried dough strips on as you remove them from the pot later during the frying process. This will allow any excess grease to drip off.
Next, prepare the dough ..
- Sift 2 cups of flower onto a pastry mat. Form a fairly large hole in the middle of the pile of flour.
- Slowly pour the egg yolks into the middle, one at a time. Begin to gather the flower and the eggs together as you do this, blending the ingredients together.
- Add a half teaspoon of salt, baking powder and sour cream and continue kneading with your hands.
- Finally, add in the vinegar and knead the dough.
- Once the dough is fully formed and smooth continue to knead, pressing into it a little harder and tossing it a bit against the mat. This will aerate the dough making the angel wings more crisp and light when finished
- Cut the finished dough into 5 smaller pieces.
- Roll each piece of dough out one at a time, making sure each piece is rolled very thin.
- Cut lengthwise along each piece of flat dough to make thin rectangular strips
- Cut a small hole through the middle of each strip and then weave one end of each strip through the hole to make a small knot (or twist). Be careful not to rip the dough during this part!
- Continue this process until all the dough has been used.
Finally, …
- Once your oil has been heated to about 350º Fahrenheit you can begin frying the angel wings, just a few strips at a time.
- The dough strips will fry very fast so you need to carefully monitor them at this time. Remove each strip from the oil as soon as you see it achieve a light, golden color.
- Set each strip on a plate lined with a paper towel to drip off excess oil as you fry the remainder of the batch.
Decorate and enjoy…
- Once the angel wings have cooled place them in a pile on a serving platter.
- Generously sift powdered sugar over the top of the chrust on your plate.
- Serve and enjoy! Smacznego!
