Faworki (angel wings): thin, brittle, covered in blisters
Faworki made with yolks and sour cream, a spoonful of spirit, beaten with a rolling pin to trap air and rolled paper-thin. The beating and the thinness make the blisters and the brittleness. Fried in lard for a few dozen seconds and snowed with icing sugar.
Your own work in that: 1 h.
- Dough and beating 20 min
- Resting 30 min
- Rolling and cutting 20 min
- Frying 20 min
Step by step
0 / 7 doneMake the dough
Tip the flour onto the counter, make a well, add the yolks, sour cream, icing sugar, spirit and salt. Knead into a firm, smooth dough, like pierogi dough but stiffer. If it crumbles, add a teaspoon of sour cream; if it sticks, a spoonful of flour.
Ingredients: 300 g plain flour · 4 pcs egg yolks · 5 tbsp sour cream, 18 % · 1 tbsp icing sugar · 1 tbsp rectified spirit or vodka · 1 pinch salt
Firm, smooth, yellow from the yolksBeat it with the rolling pin
Flatten the dough and beat it with a rolling pin for 10 minutes: strike, fold in half, turn, strike again. The dough turns paler and air bubbles appear in it. Those are what make the characteristic blisters in hot fat.
TipYou can't overdo the beating. The dough is ready when the air bubbles pop with a faint crackle as you fold and strike it.
Beaten, folded, beaten: bubbles in the doughRest
Wrap in film and leave 30 minutes in the fridge. The gluten relaxes and the dough rolls thin.
Roll paper-thin
Cut off a quarter of the dough (the rest stays under film) and roll it on a floured counter as thin as you can, 1 mm, so the grain of the board shows through. Thick faworki are hard and heavy, not brittle.
So thin you can see through itCut and twist
With a fluted wheel cut strips 3 × 12 cm. Cut a 3 cm slit in the middle of each and pull one end of the strip through it. Lay the finished ones on a cloth, not touching.
Ingredients: 300 g plain flour · 4 pcs egg yolks · 5 tbsp sour cream, 18 % · 1 tbsp icing sugar · 1 tbsp rectified spirit or vodka · 1 pinch salt
Strip, slit, end pulled throughFry for seconds
Heat the lard in a wide pot to 180 °C (a scrap of dough floats and turns golden in 30 seconds). Drop in 4–5 at a time; they float and blister instantly. Fry 20–30 seconds per side, to pale gold. Lift onto paper towel.
TipPale gold, not brown. They keep cooking after they come out; too dark means bitter. Watch the temperature between batches.
Blisters at once, 30 seconds a sideDust with icing sugar
While still warm, dust thickly with icing sugar through a sieve. Best the same day; in an airtight tin they stay brittle for up to 3 days.
Ingredients: 500 g lard · 100 g icing sugar
A thick layer of icing sugar
Before you start
No blisters
Not enough beating, or rolled too thick. Both can be fixed on the next quarter of dough.
They soak up fat
Fat too cool. Below 170 °C they drink the lard instead of frying in it. A thermometer, or the dough-scrap test before every batch.
Without spirit
A spoonful of vinegar works similarly: it limits fat absorption and adds brittleness. The alcohol evaporates during frying anyway.
