Sufganiyah

Israel's Hanukkah food of choice, and for good reason: Israelis eat over 18 million of these jelly doughnuts in the weeks around the holiday. Polish Jews brought them over as ponchiks, and the Histadrut, the labor federation founded in 1920, pushed them because, unlike latkes, they were a job for professional bakers. That history is your hosting shortcut. Buying a box from a good bakery is not cheating, it is the tradition. If you fry them yourself, fill them after frying with a piping bag, and set out a mix of jam, custard and dulce de leche so guests can argue about the best one.