All You Need to Know About Sufganiyot in Jerusalem.

Each year the options of sufganiyot (aka donuts) to choose from gets greater and greater, which makes it harder to know which ones to try unless you plan to try them all.  The decision does somewhat depend on personal taste, just like with ice cream, I will always choose pistachio and caramel over chocolate – which is utterly shocking to chocolate lovers! In this post, I have tried to include everything you need to know about eating sufganiyot for Hanukah 2020.

The trend flavor of the season is salted pretzel, an Israeli twist on salted caramel. Ferrero Rocher, Oreo, pistachio and lemon meringue appear in the sufganiyot selections in a number of places.

Debbest Sufganiyot Tasting Tips

• Stick to classic donuts from places with a high turnover but good quality filling (cheap places use cheap filling).
• Most gourmet donuts look nicer than they taste and they are often prepared in advance so are not as fresh.
• Independent bakeries tend to have the best baked goods in general, especially with sufganiyot.
• For the most variety in one area go to Shuk Machane Yehuda.
• Sfinj lovers should be careful as some places make ring donuts that they try to pass off as sfinj.
• My favorites from last year were the Sfinj from Neeman Bakery and the Chestnut donut from Gourmandises.

Dietary Restriction Sufganiyot

• Vegan Sufaniyot – traditional sfinj are vegan and incredibly delicious! I like the Sfinj at Neeman and apparently, Burekas Ima (Badatz) in Talpiot makes them fresh on the spot.
• Gluten-free Sufganiyot – Ben Ami on Emek and Bli Kemah delivers donut kits to make at home.
• Baked Sufganiyot – Teller Bakery sells baked donuts, which are similar to brioche.

Debbest Donuts in Jerusalem

Much as I would love to, it is not possible to make a taste comparison from every place. This list is based on donuts tasted over the years:

• Gourmandises (Mehadrin) – they have opened a pop-up on Yafo near Kikar Zion just for Hanukah which has created a lot of buzz. I like the European style of the dough and each donut has the right dough to filling balance. Chestnut was my favorite flavor last year and continues to be this year, with the new flavors of creme brulee and coffee and last year’s candied apple as close runners up. Other new flavors are mascarpone & strawberry and white chocolate & coconut and they have repeated lemon meringue, nougat, and pistachio from last year.

• La Patissiere (Mehadrin) Ramot & Rehavia – coffee, wild berries, pistachio, St Honore, lemon meringue, milk chocolate with sprinkles, Paris Brest (hazelnut cream), NIS 12-14. A similar French-style dough to Gourmandises and the pistachio cream was rich and silky!
  

  
• Teller Bakery (Badatz) – the baked version is healthier but tastes more like a brioche than a donut. Their homemade jam is delicious and they use plenty of filling. Be sure to get there early before they sell out.
• Cafe Kadosh – I cannot deny that they make delicious sufganiyot but I do not believe that they are good enough to wait in line for or deal with the rude service that comes with it. Flavors include date and nougat cream, passionfruit, cassis, lychee, and chestnut (are they copying Gourmandises?)
• Neeman Bakery – last year the Sfinj was the best, but the other donuts were also very good with simple good quality flavors. Flavors this year include salted pretzel,  lotus, hazelnut cream, vanilla eclair, and white chocolate.
• Haba Bakery (Badatz), Shuk – the filling wasn’t great but the dough was super fresh and delicious.

The following list is for information only and not based on personal recommendation but I will mention my opinion if I have tried them:

 Classic Sufganiyot in Jerusalem

• Duvdevan Bakery, Shuk & Talpiot – jam, chocolate glaze, plain glazed, cream-filled.
• Duvshanit, Katamon & Shuk – jam, sfinj, dulce de leche, custard.
• Gagou de Paris (Mehadrin), city center – jam or dulche de leche.
• Giveret Burekas (Mrs Burekas), Shuk – jam, chocolate glaze.
• Grand Cafe  – jam, chocolate & tahina.
• Kaldaron, Shuk – jam or sfinj.

• Magdaniat Pe’er, Shuk – jam, dulce de leche or vanilla.
• Marzipan (Mehadrin), Shuk – various colored of iced donuts, (I found them sickly sweet).
• Nehama Bakery, branches across Jerusalem -a selection of simple flavors.

Gourmet Sufganiyot in Jerusalem

• Ben Ami, Emek Refaim – the selection includes gluten-free jam and baked brioche.

• David Laor, Mevasseret Zion – brioche donuts with fillings such as pistachio cream, chestnut cream, mascarpone & coffee, creme patisserie and chocolate orange.
• Goldy’s (Badatz), Kiryat Beltz – list of flavors online, 3 premium flavors for NIS 24, and 3 classics for NIS 15. They also have an Asado filled sufganiyah, 3 for NIS 45. Delivery all over Jerusalem and around Israel.

• Pat BaMelach in Efrat sells classic glazed ring donuts throughout the year and has a selection of sufganiyot. This year’s dairy flavors include lemon meringue, cheesecake, chocolate hazelnut, caramel, and Boston cream. They also have these parev flavors: classic homemade raspberry jam, cherry pistachio and double chocolate. Prices range from NIS 8-12 and can be ordered via the online shop.
• Waffle Factory this year’s flavors include lotus, Ferrero rocher, Oreo, pistachio and cheesecake. Delivery available around Jerusalem.

Sufganiyot in National Chains

• Boutique Central, National (Badatz Beit Yosef) – brioche texture baked donuts, dulche de leche, pistachio, chocolate & coconut, and double chocolate.
• English Cake (Mehadrin), National – Oreo, nutella, chocolate glaze, cheese crumble.
• Neeman Bakery – last year the Sfinj was the best, but the other donuts were also very good with simple good quality flavors. Flavors this year include salted pretzel,  lotus, hazelnut cream, vanilla eclair, and white chocolate.
• Roladin, National – banoffee pecan, pistachio and oreo, range in price from NIS 10-14, a full menu of Roladin Sufganiyot.

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