poffertjie, noun

/ˈpɔfə(r)ki//ˈpɔfə(r)ci/
Forms:
Also poffartje, poffertje.
Origin:
Afrikaans, Dutch, FrenchShow more Afrikaans, adaptation of Dutch poffertje, from French pouffer to blow up.
A light fritter dusted with sugar.
1872 ‘Z.’ in Cape Monthly Mag. V. Oct. 229Shall we take offence if an English host..set before our craving appetites the savoury ‘bobotie,’ and the dainty though untranslatable pumpkin ‘poffartjes?’
1891 H.J. Duckitt Hilda’s ‘Where Is It?’ 196‘Poffertjes’ is an old Dutch Pudding Recipe worth preserving.
1913 C. Pettman Africanderisms 378Pofferjes, (F. pouf, pouffer, to blow up; Eng. puff, anything swollen and light, as puff-pastry, powder-puff.) Light spongy cakes, cooked in fat and coated with crushed or powdered sugar.
1930 M. Raubenheimer Tested S. Afr. Recipes 46Poffertjies.
1949 L.G. Green In Land of Afternoon 61Jeanette van Duyn demonstrated the old Cape recipes...She was able to bake a cake and prepare melktert and poffertjies for Queen Mary and her ladies-in-waiting.
1955 J. Hendrie Ouma’s Cookery Bk 133Poffertjies...Drop by spoonfuls into a pot of deep, hot fat. Cook until brown and puffed up.
1968 K. McMagh Dinner of Herbs 15No pofferjies were as light as those Fluerie had fried, no konfyt of green fig or watermelon had been as transparent.
1974 E. Prov. Herald 16 MayNo matter that ‘Les Beignets aux Ananas’ is only a pynappel poffertjie in disguise, the guests were having none of it.
1977 Fair Lady 8 June (Suppl.) 6Golden Poffertjies...Take teaspoonfuls of the mixture...cooking a few at a time until golden brown...Sift drifts of icing sugar over top and serve hot.
A light fritter dusted with sugar.
Entry Navigation

Visualise Quotations

Quotation summary

Senses

18721977

Browse Related Words

By Category

Foods and Dishes

By Origin

Afrikaans
Dutch
pofadder, nounn.pofu, nounn.
Copyright © 2025 Dictionary Unit for South African English