Angel's Wings - Ukrainian fried pastries with black cardamom

Recipe by: Darina Allen

These are Ukrainian ‘angel wing’ pastry crisps. Originally, they used to be fried in lard (think of Portuguese pastel de nata lard pastry). I add some ground black cardamom seeds to the sugar, but feel free to use vanilla sugar instead.

Angel's Wings - Ukrainian fried pastries with black cardamom

SERVES

40

PEOPLE

PREP TIME

10

MINUTES

COOKING TIME

40

MINUTES

Ingredients

  • 250g (8oz) plain flour, plus extra for dusting

  • pinch of bicarbonate of soda

  • 50g (2oz) butter, cubed and chilled

  • 1 egg

  • 1 egg yolk

  • 25g (1oz) caster sugar

  • 1 tbsp white wine vinegar

  • 50g (2oz) soured cream

  • 1 tbsp vodka

  • pinch of salt

  • 250ml (9fl oz) sunflower oil

  • 50g (2oz) icing sugar, sifted

  • 5 black cardamom pods, crushed and seeds extracted, then ground into a powder

  • dulce de leche or chocolate sauce, to serve

Method

  1. To make the dough, mix the flour and bicarbonate of soda together, then run in the butter with your fingertips until well combined.

  2. Make a well in the centre of the flour mixture and pour in the egg, egg yolk, sugar, vinegar, soured cream, vodka and salt, then mix well into a firm pastry dough.

  3. Flour your work surface really well and divide the dough into two pieces. Roll one piece of dough out as thinly as you can. Slice the dough into 4cm (1 ½ inch) strips and then diagonally across so that you end up with 20 diamonds. Make a 3cm (1 ¼ inch) slash in the centre of each diamond and pull one of the ends through the slash. Repeat with the second piece of dough.

  4. Heat the sunflower oil in a medium saucepan until very hot – be very careful with hot oil, placing it at the back of the hob if you have kids or crazy pets. Line a large plate with some kitchen paper.

  5. Drop the diamonds in carefully and fry them briefly until they float to the surface. Lift them out with a slotted spoon and drain them on the kitchen paper.

  6. Mix the icing sugar with the cardamom and sprinkle over the pastries. I also like to treat these as nicely as I treat churros, dipping them into dulce de leche or chocolate sauce before devouring.

    Taken from ‘Mamushka’ by Olia Hercules published by Mitchell Beazley

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