Hungarian Jam-Filled Doughnuts (Lekváros Fánk) 🇭🇺✨

These traditional Hungarian Lekváros Fánk are soft, fluffy doughnuts filled with sweet apricot or plum jam and finished with a generous dusting of powdered sugar. The golden exterior, airy center, and rich fruit filling make them absolutely irresistible! 🤤

🍩 Ingredients

For the dough

• 500 g all-purpose flour
• 250 ml warm milk
• 25 g fresh yeast or 7 g active dry yeast
• 50 g granulated sugar
• 3 egg yolks
• 50 g melted butter
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 pinch of salt
• 1 tsp grated lemon zest

For filling & finishing

• 200–250 g apricot or plum jam
• Vegetable oil, for frying
• Powdered sugar, for dusting

👩‍🍳 Instructions

1. Activate the yeast: Mix the warm milk with the yeast and 1 teaspoon of the sugar. Let it sit for about 5–10 minutes, until foamy.
2. Make the dough: In a large bowl, combine the flour, remaining sugar, salt and lemon zest. Add the egg yolks, vanilla, melted butter and yeast mixture.
3. Knead for 8–10 minutes, until you have a smooth, soft and slightly elastic dough.
4. Cover the bowl and let the dough rise in a warm place for about 1 hour, or until doubled in size.
5. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and roll it to approximately 1.5 cm thick. Cut into rounds using a cookie cutter or glass.
6. Cover the dough rounds and let them rest for another 20–30 minutes.
7. Heat vegetable oil to about 170–175°C (340–350°F). Fry the doughnuts in batches until beautifully golden, turning them carefully so both sides cook evenly.
8. Drain on paper towels and allow them to cool slightly.
9. Fill a piping bag with apricot or plum jam and pipe the jam into the center of each doughnut.
10. Finish with a generous dusting of powdered sugar and serve warm. 🇭🇺❤️

💡 Hungarian tip

Traditional Lekváros Fánk is especially delicious with thick apricot jam (baracklekvár). Don’t overheat the oil—the doughnuts should become golden brown while remaining light and fluffy inside.