Munkki
Finnish ring doughnuts of cardamom dough, fried until golden and rolled in sugar, a May Day treat.
Photograph credit: tuoreet munkit by kahvikisu · CC BY 2.0 · Flickr
It is the smell that gives the day away: hot oil, cardamom and sugar, rising from a stall on the first of May. Munkki, the Finnish doughnut, is the treat of Vappu, the spring festival, and it is eaten outdoors with a cup of sima, a mead like lemonade, in the first sun of the year.
The dough is enriched with milk, eggs, butter and sugar, and flavoured with ground cardamom. Knead for 10 minutes, then leave it to rise for 1 hour until doubled. Roll it out 1 cm thick and cut rounds, with a small hole in the middle. Rest the cut rings for 20 minutes before frying, so that they puff and float. Do not overfill the pan.
Heat the oil to 175°C / 345°F and fry 3 or 4 doughnuts at a time for about 2 minutes on each side, until golden brown. Drain on kitchen paper and roll in sugar while still hot. A white ring should show round the middle, which means they were fried at the right heat. Eat them the same day, fresh, with sima or coffee.
What People Ask
How long does Munkki take to make?
20 minutes of preparation and 15 minutes of cooking, plus 1 hour 20 minutes of Rising, so allow 1 hour 55 minutes from start to finish. The recipe serves 16.
How to Make Munkki
Tap a step to highlight it, or turn on Cook Mode for large type and step-by-step focus.
-
Mix the flour, yeast, 80 g sugar, salt, cardamom, milk, eggs and butter and knead for 10 minutes. Leave to rise for 1 hour.
-
Roll out 1 cm thick and cut 16 rings with a 8 cm cutter and a 2 cm hole. Rest for 20 minutes.
-
Heat the oil to 175°C / 345°F and fry 3 or 4 at a time for 2 minutes on each side until golden.
-
Drain on kitchen paper and roll in the 100 g sugar while hot.
Worth Getting Right
- Rest the rings before frying.
- Keep the oil at 175°C / 345°F.
- Roll in sugar while hot.
Pairs Well With
Sima · Coffee · Hot chocolate
Storage
Best the day they are made.
Munkki Nutrition
No nutrition figures are given for this recipe: they cannot be worked out reliably from its ingredient list (how much frying oil the food takes up cannot be known from the recipe). Why some recipes have none.
Your notes on this recipe
Cooked this? Keep a note for next time
Compiled by Turab
Checked by script for timings, diet labels and nutrition arithmetic. How the recipes are checked.
First published ; last changed .
You Might Also Like
More Finnish cooking and baking ideas from Weekly Delight.
Runeberg Tart
Finnish almond and raspberry jam cakes, soaked in rum syrup and topped with sugar icing, baked for 25 minutes in…
Karelian Pies
Thin rye shells crimped around a rice porridge filling, baked hot and brushed with melted butter, then topped with…
Mustikkapiirakka
A Finnish blueberry pie of a soft shortcrust base and a thick layer of fresh or frozen blueberries under a vanilla…
Korvapuusti
Finnish cinnamon rolls of cardamom dough, twisted into pinched rolls with butter and cinnamon sugar and baked for 20…
Pulla
A Finnish braided cardamom coffee bread, soft and slightly sweet, risen for 90 minutes and baked for 25 minutes.
Butterkuchen
A flat yeast cake dotted with butter, sugar and flaked almonds, risen for 1 hour and baked for 25 minutes until…