Pyshki vs donuts: the real difference between a pyshka and a donut

Looking for “Russian donuts”? The local classic is the pyshka: pyshki are St. Petersburg’s hot yeast rings dusted with powdered sugar. People mix the two up all the time, Russians included. In one Russian city a round piece of fried dough is called a ponchik, a donut; in another it is a pyshka. It is easy to think these are just two words for one and the same thing. In fact there is a difference, and a noticeable one: in the dough, in how they are made, in how they are served and even in their history. Let’s calmly work out how a pyshka differs from a donut, without being boring and with some benefit for your next snack.

Spoiler: there is more to it than the name. Once you understand how a real pyshka is made, you will never confuse it with a donut again.

What is a pyshka: a Russian pastry from St. Petersburg

The pyshka is a St. Petersburg treat, and more broadly a Russian one. A classic pyshka is a ring of yeast dough with no filling, fried in oil and generously dusted with powdered sugar. It is eaten hot, straight from the fryer, and that is half the pleasure: once it cools, a pyshka loses its airy lightness.

The pyshki café as a format appeared in Leningrad (Soviet-era St. Petersburg) in 1958. The recipe was developed by food technologists at the Leningrad Trust of Canteens and Cafés, so the pyshka has a very specific author and a home city. It quickly became a fixture of Leningrad’s public catering: students, workers and professors stood at the same counter, each holding a hot, sugar-dusted ring.

The key here is simplicity. No filling inside, no glaze on top. Dough, oil, powdered sugar. And if you fancy something extra, jam or condensed milk comes on the side for dipping. A pyshka does not hide its taste under a filling; the pyshka itself is the taste.

What is a donut

The donut mostly belongs to the American tradition, the one you probably know best. And although a donut and a pyshka look alike on the outside (both are round pieces of fried dough), there are plenty of differences inside.

A classic donut is almost always about the filling and the decoration. Inside there is cream, jam, condensed milk or chocolate; on top there is glaze, sprinkles, coloured toppings. Donut dough is usually denser and richer, made to hold the filling without falling apart. The result is a build-your-own dessert: the flavour is assembled from layers of dough, filling and coating.

A donut also doesn’t have to be eaten hot straight away. It sits happily in a display case under its glaze, and plenty of people love it just like that. The product follows a different logic: a pyshka lives hot and briefly, while a donut is designed for the display case and for decoration.

So when you choose between pyshki or donuts, you are really choosing between two different approaches to the same round piece of dough.

Pyshka vs donut: the difference in one table

To make it perfectly clear, here is how a pyshka differs from a donut on the main points:

Feature	Pyshka	Donut
Dough	Yeast dough, light and airy	Usually dense and rich, made to hold a filling
Method	”Seals” itself in the oil, bakes like bread	Deep-fried, soaks up oil
Greasiness	Lighter, almost no oil gets inside	Heavier, absorbs more oil
Filling	No filling; toppings (jam, condensed milk) on the side	Often filled
Serving	Hot, with powdered sugar, straight away	Glazed and decorated, can sit in a display case
Origin	St. Petersburg / Russian tradition	Mostly American

The key row here is “method”. It explains why a pyshka turns out lighter. Let’s look at it more closely.

Why a pyshka is lighter than a donut: the secret of sealing

This is the moment that makes everything above worth reading.

When pyshka dough hits hot oil, it “seals” instantly: a firm crust forms on the outside within the first few seconds. Thanks to this crust, very little oil gets inside. In effect, a pyshka is fried less than it bakes like bread: inside it stays soft and airy, without soaking up fat.

The donut is a different story. Denser dough and a different frying method mean it absorbs noticeably more oil. Hence that heavy feeling familiar to anyone who has eaten one glazed donut too many.

It all comes down to simple physics. That is why grown-ups eat real pyshki without a shred of guilt, and children eat lots of them: a pyshka is light, it doesn’t sit heavy and leaves no greasy aftertaste. If you have ever thought that fried dough is always heavy, try a pyshka made the proper way. Chances are you will change your mind.

Where to try real pyshki in St. Petersburg

Theory is all very well, but it is easier to feel the difference once than to read about it ten times. Plenty of places in St. Petersburg make pyshki, but the real one, that very pyshka, is made using the original method, ideally right in front of you.

At the Pyshki iz Detstva® (“Pyshki from Childhood”) cafés, pyshki are made on restored Soviet machines, the very ones that have not been manufactured since 1991. The machine stands in plain view: you can walk up and watch the dough drop into hot oil and, a minute later, ride down the chute (a little slide) as a finished pyshka. That is the sealing method we described above, only live.

Three cafés in the city centre:

• 118 Nevsky Prospekt: opposite Moskovsky railway station, by Ploshchad Vosstaniya (Uprising Square).
• 1/25 Malaya Sadovaya St.: by Gostiny Dvor, next to Catherine Garden.
• 2 Moskovsky Prospekt: by Sennaya Square.

The pyshki are hot and dusted with powdered sugar; jams, condensed milk and other toppings come on the side, just as they should. We also have a big drinks list: specialty coffee, signature lemonades, milkshakes and teas, so that popping in for a pyshka becomes a small occasion.

So next time the “pyshki or donuts” debate comes up, you will know the answer, and where to put it to the taste test.

Choose a café and see how to get there →

Take one. Don’t wander off too far: you will be back for more.