beignet

Beignets with powdered sugar at Café du Monde in New Orleans

Potato-Beignet in the Upper Savoy

A beignet (pronounced [bε.ɲε], which is the French word for fried dough), in American English, refers to a pastry made from deep-fried dough and sprinkled with confectioner's sugar, is a kind of French doughnut. Savory versions of beignets are also popular as an appetizer, with fillings such as crawfish and shrimp.

In France, beignet is an umbrella term for a large variety of pastries made from deep-fried dough with fruit or vegetable filling. They may contain other fillings, as well: potatoes, mushrooms, or even meat. The tradition of deep-frying fruits for a side dish dates to the time of Ancient Rome. Names for beignet recipes vary throughout France - beignets, bugnes, merveilles, oreillettes, beignets de carnaval, bottereaux, tourtisseaux, corvechets, ganses, nouets, vautes and others.

The term beignet can be applied to two varieties, depending on the type of pastry. The French doughnut beignet in the United States is simply a deep-fried choux pastry; this variety is very similar to Italian zeppole or the German spritzkuchen. Also, beignets can be made with yeast pastry, which might be called boules de Berlin in French, referring to Berliner doughnuts which have a spherical shape (i.e. they do not have the typical doughnut hole) filled with fruit or jam. This variety is similar to the Polish pączki.

The western parts of Germany use the term beignet for variants having a fruit filling while referring to other variants as Krapfen.

In the US, beignets are associated with the city of New Orleans, Louisiana. They are also served at restaurants such as Cafe du Monde, and at theme park resorts such as Disney's Port Orleans Resort. Beignets are the official state doughnut of Louisiana.

See also

• Pączki
• Bugnes
• Oliebollen
• Funnel cake
• Frybread
• Fried dough
• Cruller
• Churros
• Zeppola
• List of fried dough foods

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Beignets

• Yves Thuriès, French Pastry, ISBN 0-471-28598-6
• Rosana G Moreira et al., Deep Fat Frying: Fundamentals and Applications, ISBN 0-8342-1321-4
• New Orleans Style Beignet Recipe at Nola Cuisine