Folding Angel Wings Dough

Angel wings (Polish: faworki) are a dish traditionally prepared in Poland during Carnival. They are made from special dough, rolled very thin, cut into stripes with a slit, and threaded through the slit. This threading can in itself be considered a form of very simple origami (on a specially-shaped sheet, and using a single cut). Given how strong the dough holds despite its thinness, I wanted to test how well it would be suited for regular folding. If you’re interested in recreating this experiment, I used this recipe (in Polish, but automated translation should work).

I cut the squares for my models without measuring or using a ruler, so some irregularities you see in the folded models are due to the starting sheet not being very precise. I started the test by folding a traditional crane.

The dough folded surprisingly well. Even though the crane was made from a small square (8 cm or so), I could get the folding in place pretty well. The dough did stick to itself, but only a little, so I could perform squash and petal folds quite easily. Since bubbles form during frying (they are crucial to the quality of the angel wings), after frying the crane looks a bit disfigured. Still, the folds held and the shape is preserved. I’m pretty sure that starting from a larger and more precisely cut sheet, I could fold even more complex models and have them look pretty well, not to mention that they would be yummy, too.

Encouraged by success with the crane, I decided to try something more complex, namely a tessellation. Besides them being my favorite type of origami model, I also chose a tessellation due to its flatness, as frying a larger three-dimensional model would require a much deeper pan and more oil than I had. I went for a Twisted Bird Base molecule, and, again, was surprised how well I was able to fold it. The dough did not tear even along the strongly creased edges of the bird base, and I could twist it easily. I did, however, feel that it would be difficult if I wanted to spread-squash the tip, due to the dough sticking to itself. The folded model unfolded a little during frying, which combined with the not-very-square square I started from, resulted in a still recognizable, but distorted model.

For the Twisted Bird Base molecule, I did not need any precreasing. Precreasing is where many untypical folding materials fail, even those which you can well use for folding traditional models where creases are always added one on top of the other. Another positive surprise, I could fold a grid (just 4×4 for a start) and the dough did not tear. I didn’t backcrease the lines since after creasing just in one direction, I could flatten the sheet perfectly, with the grid lines still clearly visible. I folded the square twist with ease, and it held well during frying. I didn’t have enough time to try folding something larger, but I’m pretty sure a 2×2 layout from an 8×8 grid would work, and maybe even more complex tessellations.

I was surprised by how well the dough folded, and that you can even make a simple tessellation out of it. Eating the models is a nice touch, as well. I definitely need to explore folding this type of dough some more. I find it fascinating that even tessellations, which are usually much more challenging for non-paper materials than traditional models, worked pretty well. I also see potential for making sweet gifts this way. Playing with various untypical folding materials is sometimes predictable, but sometimes brings surprises such as this one.