ponchik
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Forms: form: ponchiks
form: ponchiki
Etymology: From Russian по́нчик (pónčik) or Yiddish פּאָנטשיק (pontshik). Doublet of pączek.
Senses: examples: text: Her ladyship was reduced to the pitiable choice of yesterday’s croissants or one of the nine different kinds of rolls, milk breads, sweet breads, scones, pancakes, vatrushki, kalachi, ponchiki, rogaliki and bulochki whose delicious, new-baked smell was wafting all over the house.
ref: 1967, Ira J. Morris, chapter III, in The Troika Belle, London: William Heinemann Ltd, page 16:
text: Remove a ponchik from the oil with the slotted spoon and break open to see if the dough inside has been baked through.
ref: 1983, Anne Volokh, “[Desserts] Ponchiki s Povidlom ili Vareniem: Filled Doughnuts”, in The Art of Russian Cuisine, New York, N.Y.: Macmillan Publishing Company, →ISBN, page 558:
text: The first wave of Russian Jews came to New York City between 1881 and 1910. The new wave began in 1979, when the Soviet Union began easing restrictions on emigration. Thousands settled in Brighton Beach where the street vendors sell knish-like potato ponchiks and caviar.
ref: 1995, John Grabowski, David Rhoden, “The Empire State”, in Awesome Almanac: New York: A Treasury of Facts and Fictions, Celebrities and Celebrations, and the Weird and Wonderful!, Walworth, Wis.: B & B Publishing, Inc., →ISBN, page 7:
text: ‘We’re not as colourful as the Ukrainians,’ explained an ex-New Yorker to Beagan while dishing out lashings of cabbage rolls and potato ponchiks.
ref: 1996, Rory MacLean, “Trees in the Bog”, in The Oatmeal Ark: Across Canada by Water, Toronto, Ont.: HarperCollins Publishers Ltd, →ISBN, section “Sligh’ an Uisge – Waterways”, page 202:
text: I am allergic to ponchiks, the sugar-powdered Polish fritters that Ghaemi’s mother used to make.
ref: 2002, Viken Berberian, chapter 2, in The Cyclist: A Novel, New York, N.Y.: Simon & Schuster, published 2003, →ISBN, page 169:
text: Dorothy had a ham sandwich followed by a ponchik, a doughnut.
ref: 2009, Patrick M.R. Gibson, “Journey to Apsheronsk, June 1909”, in An Intrepid Woman: The Odyssey of Dorothy McLorn, Leicester, Leics.: Matador, →ISBN, part I (Russia – Growing Up), page 26:
text: Polish immigrants brought ponchiks to Israel, along with the custom of eating them on Hanukkah.
ref: 2010, Gil Marks, “Sufganiyah”, in Encyclopedia of Jewish Food, New York, N.Y.: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, →ISBN:
text: “Today in addition to our orange, we’ll have a Ponchik (a jelly filled doughnut).” All 50 children shouted approval. “I am going to call your name and you will come forward to get your Ponchik,” he went on.
ref: 2010, Eitan Gonen, chapter 5, in From Jerusalem to Beverly Hills: Memoir of a Palestinian Jew, Bloomington, Ind.: AuthorHouse, →ISBN, page 34:
text: Also on the tray were fresh ponchiks, fried dough pierced and injected with jelly or custard, and topped with powdered sugar, purchased less than an hour ago at the local bulochnaya, a bakery across the street.
ref: 2012, Anthony Joseph Sacco, Sr., chapter 12, in Return to Darkness, Bloomington, Ind.: WestBow Press, →ISBN:
text: I’m all too familiar with those glorious ponchiks. The Georgian who runs the place is responding to food shortages with highly questionable ingredients. Three days ago I bit into one of those ponchiks and broke a tooth.
ref: 2013, Wolodymyr Mohuchy, chapter 18, in From the Ashes, [Bloomington, Ind.]: Xlibris Corporation, →ISBN, page 146:
text: She and her best friend Basha used to stop at a pastry store after school, where they bought puffy ponchiks frosted with sugar.
ref: 2014, Elizabeth Wajnberg, “Poppyseed Cake”, in Sheymes: A Family Album after the Holocaust, Montreal, Que.: McGill-Queen’s University Press, →ISBN, pages 98–99:
text: Jennifer sat down at our table, where Sarah and I dunked the ponchiki doughnuts in lukewarm grey tea.
ref: 2016, Melissa Burch, My Journey Through War and Peace: Explorations of a Young Filmmaker, Feminist and Spiritual Seeker, Claremont, N.H.: Gaia Press, →ISBN, page 149:
text: When he got back into town I met up with him for a coffee and a ponchik.
ref: 2016, Jonathan Maiullo, “Second Year”, in Paper Mountains: An Armenian Diary, London: Gomidas Institute, →ISBN, page 99:
text: DOES IT LOOK LIKE IT MIGHT BE A JELLY DOUGHNUT? / Yes / IT’S A PONCHIK! But ponchiki aren’t just for dessert. They are just as commonly filled with meat or cabbage as they are with jam.
ref: 2017, Bonnie Frumkin Morales with Deena Prichep, “[Hot Zakuski] Things Wrapped in Dough”, in Kachka: A Return to Russian Cooking, New York, N.Y.: Flatiron Books, →ISBN, page 190:
text: Petriv was sitting by himself, enjoying a coffee and a ponchik filled with custard.
ref: 2017, Arik Kaplan, “Los Angeles, CA; Sunday, July 28, 2013”, in Mayhem, Murder and Marijuana: The Los Angeles Marijuana War, [Philadelphia, Pa.]: [BookBaby], →ISBN, page 221:
text: I watched tourists take selfies in front of the Lenin statue and skateboarders whiz by in the late autumn sun, and I snacked on a ponchik—a deep-fried, thoroughly addictive Russian donut—and coffee.
ref: 2017, Lisa Dickey, “Moscow: The Russian Rap Star”, in Bears in the Streets: Three Journeys across a Changing Russia, New York, N.Y.: St. Martin’s Press, →ISBN, page 285:
text: Go back to nursing or open a ponchik shop in San Francisco, if that’s what you want, but take this child home!
ref: 2017, Donia Bijan, The Last Days of Café Leila: A Novel, Chapel Hill, N.C.: Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, →ISBN, page 184:
text: “What are you eating?” It smelled like a donut but they were small, round things with powder sugar on top. “It’s a Ponchik. They are a custard filled pastry like an American donut but better. Vadmir makes the best ones in all of Russia. I got you a sausage, egg and cheese croissant because I’m not sharing my Ponchiks with you.”
ref: 2021, Lashe’ Lacroix, “Telica; Jan 12, 2020, St. Petersburg, Russia”, in Betrayed by Alcino: A Dark Mafia Romance (Capturi Crime Family; 2):
text: A small container from a bakery brimmed with honey cakes or jelly ponchiks or cream puffs or a pastry that enticed his sweet tooth or whatever was the day special.
ref: 2021, Wolodymyr Mohuchy, “Parenthood”, in Cyborg, [Bloomington, Ind.]: Xlibris, →ISBN:
text: She walked purposefully through the crowd with a harried expression, squeezing past recruiters for haulers and people hawking dubious insurance policies, angling around unlicensed street stalls frying up reconstituted cheburek and ponchiki.
ref: 2022, Anya Ow, chapter 4, in Ion Curtain, Oxford, Oxon: Solaris, →ISBN:
text: Yelena found the ingredients for ponchiki at the grocery. Making ponchiki wasn’t a matter of exotic Russian ingredients, just common everyday butter, lemon, flour, a few other things.
ref: 2022, Charlie Dickinson, “Food Cart (Еда Корэину^([sic]))”, in Losing Laika: A Soviet Historical Novel, Portland, Ore., →ISBN:
text: For something sugary, try a ponchik or its plural ponchki. These Russian-introduced stuffed doughnuts are usually filled with sweet cream and are found in all three countries.
ref: 2022 June, Tom Masters, Joel Balsam, Jenny Smith, “Plan Your Trip: Eat & Drink Like a Local”, in Georgia, Armenia & Azerbaijan, 7th edition, [Oakland, Calif.]: Lonely Planet Global Limited, →ISBN:
text: Oh look, they have Pelmeni and Ponchiki. What a treat!
ref: 2023, Gerry Burke, “Corgi and Bess”, in Dogmatic: Featuring Dusty Rhodes, the K9 Kid, and the Doberman Who Didn’t Like Doughnuts, Bloomington, Ind.: iUniverse, →ISBN:
text: In the town centre, Aviana insisted on nosing into a mall called The Market Place that had a shop with electronics leasing, a Kmart, a Woolies, a bistro that was also a bar, a nightclub, and a place called Cot Makers you couldn’t resist. Hirizi tagged along, thought you were out of it as you fingered tiny zip suits and collared rompers, mini onesies and ponchiks, […]
ref: 2023, Eugen Bacon, chapter 75, in Serengotti, Melbourne, Vic.: Transit Lounge Publishing, →ISBN:
glosses: A type of fried dough pastry popular in many Middle Eastern, Central Asian and Eastern European countries, made by deep-frying dough until it becomes puffy, then filling it with custard, jam, or cream, and sometimes glazing the result or dusting it with powdered sugar.
Related terms: pyshka