The traditional Dutch New Year's Eve pastry made by deep-frying yeast dough is an oliebol.
An oliebol is a round or oval fried dough pastry, usually made with yeast, flour, milk, and eggs. Raisins or currants are often mixed into the dough, and the finished pastry is commonly covered with powdered sugar. The plural is oliebollen, the form usually used when discussing a serving or a batch.
Oliebollen are sold throughout the Netherlands during the holiday season, particularly from temporary stands that appear in late autumn and winter. They are strongly associated with New Year's Eve and New Year's Day, when people eat them at home or at gatherings.
The word combines olie, meaning oil, with bol, meaning ball. Although comparisons with doughnuts are convenient, an oliebol has its own Dutch culinary tradition and is not simply a ring-shaped doughnut. Filled and fruit-containing variations are common, but the deep-fried dough base defines the pastry.