ponchik

From Russian по́нчик (pónčik) or Yiddish פּאָנטשיק (pontshik). Doublet of pączek.

ponchik (plural ponchiks or ponchiki)

1. A type of fried dough pastry popular in many Middle Eastern, Central Asian and Eastern European countries, made by deep-frying dough until it becomes puffy, then filling it with custard, jam, or cream, and sometimes glazing the result or dusting it with powdered sugar.
   • 1967, Ira J. Morris, chapter III, in The Troika Belle, London: William Heinemann Ltd, page 16:

     Her ladyship was reduced to the pitiable choice of yesterday’s croissants or one of the nine different kinds of rolls, milk breads, sweet breads, scones, pancakes, vatrushki, kalachi, ponchiki, rogaliki and bulochki whose delicious, new-baked smell was wafting all over the house.

   • 1983, Anne Volokh, “ Ponchiki s Povidlom ili Vareniem: Filled Doughnuts”, in The Art of Russian Cuisine, New York, N.Y.: Macmillan Publishing Company, →ISBN, page 558:

     Remove a ponchik from the oil with the slotted spoon and break open to see if the dough inside has been baked through.

   • 1995, John Grabowski, David Rhoden, “The Empire State”, in Awesome Almanac: New York: A Treasury of Facts and Fictions, Celebrities and Celebrations, and the Weird and Wonderful!, Walworth, Wis.: B & B Publishing, Inc., →ISBN, page 7:

     The first wave of Russian Jews came to New York City between 1881 and 1910. The new wave began in 1979, when the Soviet Union began easing restrictions on emigration. Thousands settled in Brighton Beach where the street vendors sell knish-like potato ponchiks and caviar.

   • 1996, Rory MacLean, “Trees in the Bog”, in The Oatmeal Ark: Across Canada by Water, Toronto, Ont.: HarperCollins Publishers Ltd, →ISBN, section “Sligh’ an Uisge – Waterways”, page 202:

     ‘We’re not as colourful as the Ukrainians,’ explained an ex-New Yorker to Beagan while dishing out lashings of cabbage rolls and potato ponchiks.

   • 2002, Viken Berberian, chapter 2, in The Cyclist: A Novel, New York, N.Y.: Simon & Schuster, published 2003, →ISBN, page 169:

     I am allergic to ponchiks, the sugar-powdered Polish fritters that Ghaemi’s mother used to make.

   • 2009, Patrick M.R. Gibson, “Journey to Apsheronsk, June 1909”, in An Intrepid Woman: The Odyssey of Dorothy McLorn, Leicester, Leics.: Matador, →ISBN, part I (Russia – Growing Up), page 26:

     Dorothy had a ham sandwich followed by a ponchik, a doughnut.

   • 2010, Gil Marks, “Sufganiyah”, in Encyclopedia of Jewish Food, New York, N.Y.: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, →ISBN:

     Polish immigrants brought ponchiks to Israel, along with the custom of eating them on Hanukkah.

   • 2010, Eitan Gonen, chapter 5, in From Jerusalem to Beverly Hills: Memoir of a Palestinian Jew, Bloomington, Ind.: AuthorHouse, →ISBN, page 34:

     “Today in addition to our orange, we’ll have a Ponchik (a jelly filled doughnut).” All 50 children shouted approval. “I am going to call your name and you will come forward to get your Ponchik,” he went on.

   • 2012, Anthony Joseph Sacco, Sr., chapter 12, in Return to Darkness, Bloomington, Ind.: WestBow Press, →ISBN:

     Also on the tray were fresh ponchiks, fried dough pierced and injected with jelly or custard, and topped with powdered sugar, purchased less than an hour ago at the local bulochnaya, a bakery across the street.

   • 2013, Wolodymyr Mohuchy, chapter 18, in From the Ashes, : Xlibris Corporation, →ISBN, page 146:

     I’m all too familiar with those glorious ponchiks. The Georgian who runs the place is responding to food shortages with highly questionable ingredients. Three days ago I bit into one of those ponchiks and broke a tooth.

   • 2014, Elizabeth Wajnberg, “Poppyseed Cake”, in Sheymes: A Family Album after the Holocaust, Montreal, Que.: McGill-Queen’s University Press, →ISBN, pages 98–99:

     She and her best friend Basha used to stop at a pastry store after school, where they bought puffy ponchiks frosted with sugar.

   • 2016, Melissa Burch, My Journey Through War and Peace: Explorations of a Young Filmmaker, Feminist and Spiritual Seeker, Claremont, N.H.: Gaia Press, →ISBN, page 149:

     Jennifer sat down at our table, where Sarah and I dunked the ponchiki doughnuts in lukewarm grey tea.

   • 2016, Jonathan Maiullo, “Second Year”, in Paper Mountains: An Armenian Diary, London: Gomidas Institute, →ISBN, page 99:

     When he got back into town I met up with him for a coffee and a ponchik.

   • 2017, Bonnie Frumkin Morales with Deena Prichep, “ Things Wrapped in Dough”, in Kachka: A Return to Russian Cooking, New York, N.Y.: Flatiron Books, →ISBN, page 190:

     DOES IT LOOK LIKE IT MIGHT BE A JELLY DOUGHNUT? / Yes / IT’S A PONCHIK! But ponchiki aren’t just for dessert. They are just as commonly filled with meat or cabbage as they are with jam.

   • 2017, Arik Kaplan, “Los Angeles, CA; Sunday, July 28, 2013”, in Mayhem, Murder and Marijuana: The Los Angeles Marijuana War, : , →ISBN, page 221:

     Petriv was sitting by himself, enjoying a coffee and a ponchik filled with custard.

   • 2017, Lisa Dickey, “Moscow: The Russian Rap Star”, in Bears in the Streets: Three Journeys across a Changing Russia, New York, N.Y.: St. Martin’s Press, →ISBN, page 285:

     I watched tourists take selfies in front of the Lenin statue and skateboarders whiz by in the late autumn sun, and I snacked on a ponchik—a deep-fried, thoroughly addictive Russian donut—and coffee.

   • 2017, Donia Bijan, The Last Days of Café Leila: A Novel, Chapel Hill, N.C.: Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, →ISBN, page 184:

     Go back to nursing or open a ponchik shop in San Francisco, if that’s what you want, but take this child home!

   • 2021, Lashe’ Lacroix, “Telica; Jan 12, 2020, St. Petersburg, Russia”, in Betrayed by Alcino: A Dark Mafia Romance (Capturi Crime Family; 2):

     “What are you eating?” It smelled like a donut but they were small, round things with powder sugar on top. “It’s a Ponchik. They are a custard filled pastry like an American donut but better. Vadmir makes the best ones in all of Russia. I got you a sausage, egg and cheese croissant because I’m not sharing my Ponchiks with you.”

   • 2021, Wolodymyr Mohuchy, “Parenthood”, in Cyborg, : Xlibris, →ISBN:

     A small container from a bakery brimmed with honey cakes or jelly ponchiks or cream puffs or a pastry that enticed his sweet tooth or whatever was the day special.

   • 2022, Anya Ow, chapter 4, in Ion Curtain, Oxford, Oxon: Solaris, →ISBN:

     She walked purposefully through the crowd with a harried expression, squeezing past recruiters for haulers and people hawking dubious insurance policies, angling around unlicensed street stalls frying up reconstituted cheburek and ponchiki.

   • 2022, Charlie Dickinson, “Food Cart (Еда Корэину)”, in Losing Laika: A Soviet Historical Novel, Portland, Ore., →ISBN:

     Yelena found the ingredients for ponchiki at the grocery. Making ponchiki wasn’t a matter of exotic Russian ingredients, just common everyday butter, lemon, flour, a few other things.

   • 2022 June, Tom Masters, Joel Balsam, Jenny Smith, “Plan Your Trip: Eat & Drink Like a Local”, in Georgia, Armenia & Azerbaijan, 7th edition, : Lonely Planet Global Limited, →ISBN:

     For something sugary, try a ponchik or its plural ponchki. These Russian-introduced stuffed doughnuts are usually filled with sweet cream and are found in all three countries.

   • 2023, Gerry Burke, “Corgi and Bess”, in Dogmatic: Featuring Dusty Rhodes, the K9 Kid, and the Doberman Who Didn’t Like Doughnuts, Bloomington, Ind.: iUniverse, →ISBN:

     Oh look, they have Pelmeni and Ponchiki. What a treat!

   • 2023, Eugen Bacon, chapter 75, in Serengotti, Melbourne, Vic.: Transit Lounge Publishing, →ISBN:

     In the town centre, Aviana insisted on nosing into a mall called The Market Place that had a shop with electronics leasing, a Kmart, a Woolies, a bistro that was also a bar, a nightclub, and a place called Cot Makers you couldn’t resist. Hirizi tagged along, thought you were out of it as you fingered tiny zip suits and collared rompers, mini onesies and ponchiks, […]