Rózsafánk

Ingredients

• 10½ ozflourfor the dough, plus a little for rolling out
• 1⅓ ozbuttercold, rubbed into the flour
• 3½ ozsour creamHungarian tejföl, for the dough
• 3egg yolkfor the dough; the whites can be used to glue the layers
• ⅔ ozsugarfor the dough
• 1 pinchsaltfor the dough
• ¼ ozvanilla sugarin the dough or mixed with icing sugar for dusting
• 1⅔ cupssunflower oilfor deep-frying
• 2½ ozjame.g. apricot or fruit jelly, placed in the centre of the roses
• 1¼ ozicing sugarfor dusting
• 2 tbsprumfor the dough (optional)
• 1 tspLemonfinely grated, for the dough (optional)
• ½ tspcinnamonground, for the dough (optional)

Method

1. Rub the butter into the flourPut the flour in a bowl and rub in the cold butter with your fingertips until the mixture looks crumbly.
2. Add the wet ingredientsWhisk the sour cream with the egg yolks, icing sugar, salt and vanilla sugar until smooth (or keep the vanilla sugar back to mix with the icing sugar for dusting later); if you like, add the lemon zest or cinnamon at this point too. Pour the mixture into the flour and add the rum, if using.
3. Knead and chill the doughKnead everything into a smooth, supple dough that no longer sticks to your hands. Wrap it in cling film and chill for 15 to 30 minutes.
4. Roll out and cut the roundsRoll the dough out thinly on a floured surface, to about 2–3 mm. Using three round cutters of different sizes (roughly 3, 4 and 5 cm), cut out an equal number of rounds with each.
5. Cut the petalsMake cuts all the way around the edge of each round, about 0.5–1 cm deep, to form the petals.
6. Assemble the rosesStack one large, one medium and one small round on top of each other so the petals are staggered. Brush the centres with a little egg white if needed and press them firmly together so the roses don't come apart while frying.
7. Fry the rosesHeat the sunflower oil to about 340 °F. Fry the roses in batches, smallest round facing down, letting them puff up and turn golden; turn them once, giving them no more than about 2 minutes per side.
8. Drain on kitchen paperLift the roses out with a slotted spoon and drain them on kitchen paper.
9. Dust, fill and serveWhile they're still warm, dust them with icing sugar – or with the icing sugar and vanilla sugar mix, if the vanilla sugar didn't go into the dough – spoon a little jam into the centre of each and serve straight away.

Tips and variations

The dough is easy to play with: add cinnamon, glue the rounds together with egg white and fill the centres with apricot jam for a warmer, spiced version; or flavour the dough with rum and lemon zest, fill with fruit jelly and finish with the icing sugar and vanilla sugar mix for something lighter and more fragrant. There's also a simpler version without butter, made with whole eggs, baking powder and quite a bit more sugar, using just one cutter, which makes about 35 pieces. The roses look and taste best if you arrange them on a platter once drained and only add the jam just before serving, so they stay crisp.