Dissolve yeast in warm cream, add to yolks, add flour gradually, then add melted butter, more flour while beating well until dough no long clings to the spoon.
Set aside and let rise for about 2 hours
Take a small piece of dough and flatten it out in the palm of your hand.
Put about a teaspoonful of jam in the center and fold in the edges of the dough until a ball is formed with the jam in the center.
Fry the balls in deep fat (about 350° F) about five minutes
When done sprinkle with a powdered sugar and butter icing.
In a small saucepan heat the milk until tiny bubbles appear around the edge; add butter and 1/3rd cup sugar; of heat stir until butter melts.
Pour into a medium mixing bowl and cool to lukewarm (115 degrees); add yeast and stir until dissolved— this takes considerable stirring. Add 1 cup of the flour, the egg yolks. orange rind, lemon rind, orange juice and vanilla; with a wooden spoon beat until blended.
Stir in enough more flour to make a soft dough.
On a lightly floured surface, knead until smooth and elastic -- about 5 minutes.
Place in a greased medium mixing bow; turn to grease top.
Sprinkle lightly with flour.
Cover; let rise in a warm, draft-free place until doubled —about 1 hour.
Punch-down dough; cut into 2 equal portions.
On a prepared pastry cloth with a prepared fabric-covered rolling pin roll out 1 portion of. the dough-so it is 1/2" thick.
With'a round 2 3/4-inch cutter cut out.
Roll and cut the remaining portion as the dough the same way.
With your forefinger, make a 1-inch-long indentation in the center of each round.
Put 1/2 level teaspoon jam in each indentation.
Holding a round in the palm of one hand. with the thumb and forefinger of the other hand lift up edges and pinch together hard so they meet; turn over edge, a little at a time, pinching hard as you do so, to insure a tight seal; with your forefinger held like a knife, firmly press down edge.
The rounds should now be oval shape.
Place‘ sealed greased cookie sheet; cover and let rise in a warm, draft-free place until doubled- about1 hour.
Fry in deep hot oil (375 degrees on a frying thermometer) without touching or crowding).until well browned on bottom
side — about 2 minutes; turn and continue frying until top side is well browned - about 2 minutes more;
Doughnuts should be a dark brown to ensure doneness.
Drain on absorbent paper.
With extra confectioners sugar mashed through a sieve dust doughnuts on all sides.
Varenyky in Ukraine are a popular dish, served both as a common everyday meal and as a part of some traditional celebrations, such as Christmas Eve Supper, Ukrainian: Свята вечеря (Sviata Vecheria). [c In some regions in or bordering modern-day Western Ukraine, particularly in Carpathian Ruthenia and Galicia, the terms varenyky and pyrohy are used to denote the same dish. The name pyrohy is also common among Canadian Ukrainians. This can be attributed to the history of Ukrainian and Rusyn immigration to Canada, which came not from the Russian Empire, but predominantly from the former Austria-Hungary, where the local dialects had many common words with Polish, German, Romanian, and other Central European languages.
Traditional Ukrainian varenyky with sour cream (smetana)
In other regions of Ukraine, the names pyrohy and pyrizhky refer to baked pies and buns as opposed to the boiled dumplings. The name of a popular type of Polish pierogi, pierogi ruskie (“Ruthenian pierogi”), is related to Rus’, the historical region and naming of Eastern Slavs and the ancient kingdom from which Ukrainians descend.
Varenyky are considered by Ukrainians as one of their national dishes and plays a fundamental role in Ukrainian culture. Contrary to many other countries that share these dumplings Ukrainians tended to use fermented milk products (Ukrainian: kesla moloko or Ryazhenka) to bind the dough together however today eggs tend to be used instead. Typical Ukrainian fillings for varenyky include cottage cheese, potato, boiled beans, mushy peas, sauerkraut, plum (and other fruits), potato and cheese, cabbage, meat, fish, buckwheat.
In Ukraine varenyky are traditionally eaten with sour cream Ukrainian: сметана (smetana) and butter, as well as with fried onions and fried pieces of bacon and pork fat, Ukrainian: shkvarky. Whilst traditionally savoury varenyky can also be served as a dessert by simply substituting the filling of the dumpling to a sweeter one. Dessert varenyky fillings include sour cherry, blueberries, sweet cottage cheese, billberies and other fruits. The central regions of Ukraine famous for their more unusual varenyky, Poltava being known for its flour varenyky filling-the dumplings are filling with a mixture of flour, lard and fried pieces of bacon .
Ukrainian varenyky filled with sour cherries as a dessert
Varenekyky are so favoured in Ukraine that every year there is a festival commemorating them at the Ukrainian ski resort town of Bukovel in the Carpathian Mountains. In 2013 a snow monument to varenyky was made in Bukovel and applied for the Guiness Book of Records as the biggest snow varenyk in the world.
In Ukraine varenyky are not just a national dish, but also played a symbolic and ritualistic role. Ukrainian ancestors equated varenyk with a young moon since they have a similar shape and used the dumplings as part of pagan and sacrificial rituals. For example cheese varenyky would be sacrificed nears water springs and years ago Ukrainian peasants also believed that varenyky helped bring a rich harvest, so they took homemade dumplings along to the fields.[
