(Hvorost)
- 5 eggs
- 4 tablespoons sugar
- 2 tablespoons powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1.1 lbs high quality all-purpose flour + 2 tablespoons for rolling the dough
- 2 pints vegetable oil for deep-frying
Kindling is dry sticks of wood that are used to start a fire. These cookies resemble thin dry fragile branches and are well –loved in Russia.
You can make a heap of kindling out of a relatively small amount of ingredients.
Break the eggs into the bowl. Add sugar and salt.
Stir to mix well.
Add all the flour except the last 2 tablespoons and mix until well-blended.
The dough should absorb all the flour and not stick to the sides of the bowl.
Transfer the dough into a plastic bag and refrigerate for one hour.
After one hour has passed, pour the 2 remaining tablespoons of flour on the table, take the dough out of the fridge. Divide it into 6 parts. Roll one part at a time in the flour on both sides and then roll out with a rolling pin into a thin sheet.
Using a sharp knife or a pizza cutter, cut the dough into long triangles. Make a slit in the middle of each triangle.
Pour the oil into a dry pot that you will use for frying and heat it on the stove. You can check if the oil is ready by placing a small piece of dough into it – as soon as the dough browns, take it out and start frying the cookies.
Before you place a piece of kindling in the oil, take the sharp end of the dough triangle and put is through the slit in the middle: that will make your cookies turn out like kindling.
Fry the cookies in oil on both sides turning them with a long fork or slotted spoon.
The kindling cooks very fast, so you should turn the fire down after frying the first batch.
Remove cooked kindling from the pot and place in a colander covered with paper towels to absorb excess oil.
Sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve.