Do you have a childhood dessert that you absolutely love? My favorite Polish dessert I grew up with is called Faworki or Chrusciki. This traditional sweet crisp pastry is made out of dough that has been shaped into thin twisted ribbons. These ribbons resemble angel wings and this is how this pastry got its English name. Once the Angel Wings pastry ribbons are formed you can then deep fry them and sprinkle them with powdered or icing sugar.
History of Angel Wings Pastry Dessert
Angel wings are present in several European cuisines such as Polish, Czech, Bulgarian, Croatian, French, German, Italian, Russian, and many others. There are a variety of different names for this tasty pastry. People usually make these on Fat Thursday which is the last Thursday before Lent. Just make sure you don’t confuse the date with “Fat Tuesday/Pancake Tuesday” which is associated with Mardi Gras. Apparently, in some countries husbands give Angel Wings to their wives on Friday the 13th in order to avoid bad luck. Wow, that sounds like a great idea to me, and more opportunities to eat these delicious pastries!
Over the years I’ve watched my mom make these awesome pastries and I wanted to share her recipe with my lovely readers. In order to give you a truly authentic experience, this past Fat Thursday I got together with my folks and we collaboratively made faworki together. I hope you give this recipe a try and enjoy it as much as I do.
Ingredients:
- 4 cups of flour
- 12 egg yolks
- 6 tbsp thick sour cream
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 tbsp white vinegar, rum or spirytus
- 2 tbsp butter (at room temperature)
- Oil for frying
- 1 1/4 approx cup of icing sugar for sprinkling (including 1 tbsp of vanilla sugar)
Makes:
2 full large platers of faworki so around 100. If you want to make less just use less flour.
Directions:
Sift flour through a sieve so it’s light and fluffy.
Make a circular space in the middle of the flour to put the butter, egg yolks, sour cream, salt, and vinegar.
Then use a flat round fork if available to work all the ingredients in to form dough.
Once the dough is well worked with the knife you can then move to work it with your hands.
When the dough reaches the right consistency of a well-formed ball you need to let it rest for about 20 minutes in the fridge.
Then take it out and whack it with a rolling pin. Yes, you heard me right, you need to whack it for approx a few minutes. This ensures that some air goes into the dough and it will give the pastry its signature fluffiness and air bubbles. Have fun with it and take out some frustrations on the dough!!!
NOTE: If the dough is too crumbly add more sour cream.
Now it’s time to portion the dough in smaller batches and roll it out on an even surface. You need to roll it out as thin as possible.
Cut the rolled out dough into 3-4 cm by 10-12 cm length pieces. Make a 4-5 cm cut in the middle of each piece so you can easily fold it in.
Angel Wings Pastry (Faworki, Chrusciki) Folding Technique
Fold each dough to form a ribbon. See the below pictures for the exact technique.
Prepare two plates and cover them with paper towels in order to absorb the excess oil from the fried pastries.
Angel Wings Pastry Frying Technique
Fill a good size frying pan with 2-3 inches of oil. We used grapeseed oil because it has a high burning tolerance and it makes the pastry lighter. Bring the oil to sizzle. You can test it with a piece of raw potato to see if it’s frying fast enough. Now it’s time to fry the dough in patches. Put as many pieces in the frying pan as you can fit comfortably.
Fry the pastry on one side for about 5 minutes and once it looks slightly browned flip it to the other side. Make sure you don’t burn it. Then fry it for one more minute on the other side.
After frying a few batches of the dough you might notice a lot of foam forming in the frying pan. You will need to skim off a bit of the foam and then add a bit more oil so the dough doesn’t burn.
Angel Wings Pastry Finishing Touches
Once all pastries are fried let them rest on the plate with paper towels to absorb excess oil. Then sprinkle both sides with powdered sugar and voila you’re done.
Now you’re ready to enjoy your freshly made and delicious Angel Wings (Faworki). I hope you’ll love them as much as I do.
I’m curious to know what you think of this recipe and whether you have your own version of these pastries.
Happy munching!
Wow, these look like they might take some practice to master, but I love the history behind the angel wings. Great post!
Hi Elizabeth, they’re actually not that hard to make. It’s just easier if you tag team with someone. They’re a bit time consuming to make.
Oh my, I’ve never even heard of any such pastry! I was really surprised to hear that the “whacking” technique brings on the fluffiness. I would have thought it would make them more dense! At any rate, I cannot wait to try these, I know my children will love them!
Hi Stacey Lynn, thanks for your comment. Yes the whacking technique and rolling the dough really thin will ensure a crisp and flaky pastry. I’m sure your children will love them. They’re delicious 🙂
Oh goodness! These look so good! I don’t bake much but when I do I often do it with the little one. She’ll enjoy doing this! ? thegospelofbeauty.org
You know what Mae, I don’t bake much either and that’s why I love these because they’re fried not baked. So less chance to mess them up :). I hope your little one enjoys them!
Mmmm they look really good! You have made the recipe really easy to follow. Love the video that goes with the instructions and all the great pictures. Thanks for sharing, can’t wait to start making them for myself.
Thanks so much Neil. I hope you have fun making them.
I have never eaten this before but it sure does look tasty. Thanks for sharing the video too, it made life so much easier watching the entire process. Looks like a lot of work though but I am sure its worth it in the end 🙂
Oh yes Shevy it is definitely worth the effort. Thanks for checking it out 🙂
Meal that looks this good must taste even better. Wow!!
It sure does Jimmy 🙂
WOW, thanks for the detailed directions along with photos! My aunt use to make these but I never had the recipe, I am definitely going to be making these! Thanks for sharing.
You’re welcome Martha. So now you have the recipe and I hope you try making them yourself. I’m sure they’ll turn out great. Thanks for stopping by 🙂
These look absolutely delicious! I’ve never heard of them before, but I feel like I could make them with your tutorial. The photos are very helpful.
Thank you Tricia. I’m glad you find the tutorial helpful and I hope you do end up trying them out. They’re indeed yummy!
Wow that’s looks really delicious. Thanks for sharing the process to make this pastry. I will surely try this at my home. Now I am feeling that i am able to make it with the help of this article. Thanks for the detailed information with photos.
Thank you Abhishek. I hope you do try it and it turns out as delicious.
Wow! What a great recipe! it reminds me of Won-tons with a little powdered sugar added. Delish!
Thank you. I’m glad you enjoyed it. Hope you try it sometime 🙂
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This looks amazing! Will definitely have to try this 🙂
You should definitely try this recipe 🙂
Angel wings! Haha, I called them chips! One of my favourite nibbles. Thanks for the recipe. 🙂
Oh you know angel wings? That’s awesome. I just love them!
Local food of any place is always mouthwatering!
Oh yes, I love to show people recipes from my heritage.
How is it possible to be so fit and cook like this? I am so jealous!! ahahah
Ha ha ha you’re so kind Niki. I try to be good most of the time and I also find ways to indulge 😉
These look delicious! But I’m a bit intimidated to make them. I may put my brave hat on and give it a shot though!
Ha ha ha yes they are a bit of a process. With some help you should be able to make them. Thanks for checking out the recipe.
They look delicious! Thanks for sharing.
Thanks Matt. Glad you like them 🙂
I tried this recipe following the recipe instructions exactly. The dough was hard and dry and it never came together to form a ball. I worked it for about 15-20 minutes with no improvement. There were no instructions to begin with less flour or to add additional moisture if it wasn’t coming together. Unfortunately it was a waste of ingredients and I ended up throwing the whole thing away. There was no way to roll out that dry mess.
Hi Pat, so sorry to hear that. The dough can be temperamental at times. If it does come out too dry I recommend adding more moisture via the sour cream. I’ve updated the recipe to reflect that. I hope you give it a try again. This is my favorite recipe and when it comes out right it’s absolutely wonderful and delicious.
Can you make Angel Wings in an Air Fryer?
Hi Anne, I really don’t think so. They need to be deep-fried in lots of oil. That’s what makes them so crunchy and crispy. I think they might dry out in the air fryer and I wouldn’t be able to tell you how long to fry them. Some things are done better the old-fashioned way. But you can always try it and see what happens. Let me know if it worked out for you.
They do not turn out the same. I tried it last year.
Hi Nicole, what was the problem? Why didn’t they turn out? This is the same exact recipe and steps my folks take to make these and they turn out great every time. You need to kneed the dough very well for it to get moist so you can turn it into ribbons. That’s the key.
My neighbor use to make these when I was a little girl. I have always wondered how to make them. Thank you for the recipe at the instructions!
Oh, that’s wonderful. I love them and my folks used to always make them when I was a kid and they still do. Thanks for checking out the recipe.
OMG you brought back memories of my childhood. I remember my mother making these when I was a little girl. I loved them at 75 years old now, I still remember how good they were I think I’ll make some and have a cup of tea and take a trip down memorylane thank you for sharing the recipe.
Aww, that’s so sweet Sharon. They sure bring back childhood memories for me too and I still love them too. I hope you make them soon. Let me know how they turn out.