Papanasi with sour cream and blueberry jam

Discover the history of papanasi.

1. Blueberry jam

   • 450 gr. wild blueberries
   • 100 gr. vanilla or white sugar
   • 10 gr. lemon juice
   • 2 gr. salt

   • In a saucepan, mix the blueberries, sugar, lemon juice, and salt and heat over medium heat.
   • Cook for about 15 minutes or until the blueberries have released their juice and the texture begins to resemble that of a jam.
   • At that point, turn off the heat, let it cool aside, and store in the fridge until ready to use.

2. Papanasi dough

   • 700 gr. cottage cheese (30% fat)
   • 420 gr. all purpose flour
   • 150 gr. eggs (3)
   • 6 gr. baking soda
   • 5 gr. vanillla essence
   • 5 gr. lemon zest (1/2)
   • 3 gr. salt

   • In a bowl, mix the cottage cheese, eggs, vanilla essence, lemon zest, and salt until you get a smooth dough.
   • Next, sift the flour along with the baking soda and mix just until combined.
   • Now, let the dough rest for 30 minutes at room temperature, covered with a kitchen towel. This will allow the flour to integrate better with the other ingredients.
   • After the resting time, transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface and divide it into 12 portions of 80 grams each, and another 12 portions of 25 grams each.
   • Roll each portion into balls, so you have 12 large balls and 12 small balls.
   • Now, flatten each of the large balls to make dough discs 1.5-2 cm thick, and using your index finger dipped in sunflower oil, make a hole in the centre to shape each portion like a doughnut.
   • Brush off any excess flour with a kitchen brush and set aside.

3. Assembly

   • 1 l. sunflower or neutral oil
   • 450 gr. sour cream (30% fat)
   • 50 gr. powdered sugar

   • Start by mixing the fresh cream with icing sugar using a whisk until combined. Set aside.
   • Take the blueberry jam out of the fridge to bring it to room temperature.
   • Now, in a saucepan, heat the oil over medium heat until it reaches 180º C.
   • When the oil reaches the correct temperature, cook the doughnuts 2 at a time, or at most 3 at a time.
   • It's important not to fry too many doughnuts at once, as this would lower the oil temperature and negatively affect the frying process. The goal is to maintain a constant temperature of 180º C.
   • Fry each doughnut for about 2 and a half minutes on each side and transfer to a wire rack to drain the excess oil.
   • Finally, fry the small balls 6 at a time for about 2 minutes on each side. Drain the excess oil on the wire rack.
   • Immediately after frying, plate the doughnuts while they are still warm, add a generous spoonful of fresh cream on top, some blueberry jam to taste, and place the small ball on top of each doughnut.
   • Serve immediately and enjoy while still lukewarm.

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