Dessert Stall · Fried Cheese Doughnut

Papanași

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There are two kinds: the fried papanași with sour cream and jam, and boiled papanași rolled in toasted breadcrumbs.

Papanași are golden fried rings of sweetened cow's-cheese dough, each crowned with a smaller dough ball so the pair stacks like a tiny snowman. Street and market vendors serve them fresh from the fryer with a generous dollop of sour cream and a spoonful of sour-cherry or blueberry jam on top.

Why it's made this way: A staple of Romanian home and restaurant cooking, the dessert turns humble cow's cheese and flour into a fairground treat — and its fried-cheese-and-jam formula is a close cousin of Ukraine's syrniki and other Eastern European cheese fritters.