Hanukkah recipe: Pomella’s Ricotta Fritters

Israeli chef Mica Talmor of Oakland’s Pomella grew up eating apricot jam-filled doughnuts, or sufganiyot, every Hanukkah. She is still a die-hard sufganiyot fan, but also loves making these tender, free-form fritters, which will be available at the Piedmont Avenue restaurant during the Festival of Lights.

She developed the recipe a few years ago to satisfy her craving for sfinge, a chewy Moroccan doughnut that’s also known as zeppole in Italy. Made from a fluid yeasted starter called poolish, the fritters have two tablespoons of citrus zest in every batch.

Ricotta Fritters

Serves 4 to 6

POOLISH INGREDIENTS

½ cup all-purpose flour

½ cup water

¼ teaspoon dry yeast

½ teaspoon sugar

RICOTTA BASE

1½ cups cake flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

3 eggs

¼ cup plus 3 tablespoons sugar

9 ounces ricotta

1 tablespoon lemon zest

1 tablespoon orange zest

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 teaspoon salt

Vegetable oil for frying

Sifted powdered sugar to finish

DIRECTIONS

Mix the poolish ingredients together and chill for at least eight hours or overnight in the refrigerator.

In a small bowl, sift the flour and baking powder together.

In a large bowl, mix the eggs, sugar, ricotta, citrus zests, vanilla and salt together. Add the flour mixture and mix until just incorporated. Do not overmix. Combine the ricotta mixture with the poolish and let sit for 30 minutes.

Add vegetable oil to a heavy pot to a depth of 4 inches. Heat oil to 350 degrees.