Halachot and Customs
Is it permitted to sprinkle powdered sugar with a sieve on Shabbat, and to fill pastries with cream using a perforated plastic bag?
Question
Hello, Rabbi.
Is it permitted on Shabbat to sprinkle powdered sugar on a sufganiyah using a sieve? The purpose of the sieve is to distribute the powder evenly. Is it permitted to fill baked dough with cream on Shabbat using a plastic bag that has been punctured with a hole? The purpose of the bag is to allow the whipped cream to enter the pastry roll, something that cannot be done with a spoon. Note: these actions would be done before serving, so it is not possible to prepare them before Shabbat.
Answer
To the questioner,
1. Is it permitted on Shabbat to sprinkle powdered sugar on a sufganiyah using a sieve? The purpose of the sieve is to distribute the powder evenly.
It is permitted. It is appropriate to use for this purpose a sieve that is specifically designated for this, rather than an ordinary sieve, because an ordinary sieve is muktzeh due to a prohibition, and it is forbidden to move it except for its place or for the use of its body. And although here too it is considered for the use of its body - that is, to do with it something permitted - this is permitted only when no other permitted vessel is available.
2. Is it permitted to fill baked dough with cream on Shabbat using a plastic bag that has been punctured with a hole?
It is permitted, provided that you make the hole in the bag before Shabbat, so that there will be no prohibition of tearing or making a final finishing touch.
And the whipped cream should be inserted without being particular about its final shape. However, one should not afterward go back and smooth out the layer of whipped cream if it is whipped cream that is quite thick.
With blessings,
Rabbi Nachum
