Donuts!

Mini and regular sized baked donuts - oh boy!!  The chocolate ones are regular sized, the pastels are mini.  They turned out pretty freaking chewy (boo), but the taste was good.  The ones with chocolate glaze were AH-MAZING.  I can't wait to try other flavors and frostings and stuff.  You can pick up the pans (below) online or even at Mollie Stones, which is where I found my mini pan and saved myself the shipping (and waiting, which I hate).

See the difference between the top of the donut (pale) and the bottom (super bronzed)?  Also, you can see that the one mini guy over on the lower left looks a bit like a little bundt - that's him upside down, and that's his brother right side up, above him.

I followed the recipe that comes on the pan (though of course there are others, even by King Arthur!) - the one on the larger sized pan was perfect to make one batch of large (6) and two batches of tinys (24).  They're a bit tricky though.  The big ones looked great, but were BROWN on the bottom and white on top.  If I wasn't frosting with chocolate that may have looked odd.  And the little guys puff up like little round topped muffins with holes in the middle or get weird ridges around the side if you're not careful.
I used nonstick on one batch of my tiny guys, and I thought those ones actually turned out worse than when I didn't use the spray.  On the non-sprayed pans, I just used a couple of toothpicks to pluck the donuts out of the pans while they were still warm - worked perfectly for me.

Donuts
2 cups of cake flour
3/4 cup granulated sugar (I used vanilla sugar, but don't know that the flavor really showed up in the finished product)
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp salt
3/4 c buttermilk (I was out and had to do the milk + lemon juice trick)
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 tbsp melted butter

Preaheat oven to 425.  Spray pan with nonstick cooking spray (if you want).
In a large mixing bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder, nutmeg and salt.  Add buttermilk, eggs and butter.  Beat until just combined.  Fill each large cup about 2/3 full.  Fill the minis about half full.
Bake the bigguns for 7-9 minutes or until the tops spring back when touched.  Bake the littleuns for 4-6 minutes or til the same.
Allow to cool in pan for 5 minutes, or just go for it as I did.  If your donuts are sticking, let them cool a bit.

You can sub out the nutmeg for some grated lemon zest, and I imagine about a jillion other options to flavor the donuts as you like.  Once these were cooled, they did taste just like the good old cake donuts we know and love, if a bit chewy.

Variations and Frostings
Cinnamon Sugar:
2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp cinnamon
2 tbsp melted butter
In a shallow bowl or plate, stir together cinnamon and sugar.  Dip the donuts in the melted butter and roll in the cinnamon/sugar mix to coat.

Chocolate Glaze:
1/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 tbsp butter or margarine
1 tbsp corn syrup (I only had honey and it worked a treat, though I'm guessing it didn't solidify quite as it would've had I used corn syrup)
1 tsp hot water
In a medium bowl, nuke the chips, butter & corn syrup on 50% power at 30 second increments, stirring in between until everything is completely melted.  Stir in 1 tsp hot water til the glaze is thick and smooth - add another tsp if it's too thick.  Use immediately.

Powdered Sugar:
Put 2/3 cup of powdered/confectioner's sugar in a resealable plastic bag.  Add a donut to the bag and shake the heck out of it to coat.  Don't breathe in or sneeze while eating.

Vanilla Glaze:
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tbsp milk (I needed to add more)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract (or whatever flavor you want - almond, rum, imitation banana. . . have at it)
In a small bowl, stir together sugar, milk & vanilla (or other flavor) until sugar is dissolved.  Use immediately.

And as if that wasn't all bad enough, you can make your own custom colored sprinkles!  I can see myself getting WAY too carried away with this. . . . 

    

 

Beignets

I've been having some good ones lately, but I usually think of beignets as sweets. Out here on the east coast, there are plenty of seafood based doughnuts - which totally makes sense, but I still don't really think savory when I think donut. But then I came across these little darlings and I'm all over them!
Thanks to chef April Bloomfield and Martha Stewart.

Makes 60 beignets

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 1/4 cups finely grated Gruyere cheese
• 1 1/2 cups finely grated Parmesan cheese
• 4 large eggs
• Coarse salt
• Vegetable oil, for frying

1. In a large pot over medium-high heat, bring 1 cup water and butter just to a boil. Whisk in flour and stir with a spatula to blend completely. Transfer mixture to the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.
2. Add cheeses and mix on high speed until well combined. With mixer on low, add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition; season with salt. Transfer batter to refrigerator and let chill for 30 minutes.
3. Drop tablespoon-size balls of batter about 1-inch apart onto 12-by-2-inch pieces of parchment paper; refrigerate until ready to serve, up to 3 days. Beignets may also be frozen for up to 1 month.
4. Fill a large heavy-bottomed pot 4 inches high with oil. Heat oil until it reaches 350 degrees on a deep-fry thermometer. Working in batches, carefully place entire piece of parchment into hot oil. Using tongs, carefully remove parchment from oil and discard. Fry beignets until golden and crisp, 3 to 5 minutes. Serve immediately.

LOVE LOVE LOVE that you can be all little Suzy Homemaker and make these in advance and have them in the freezer "for when company drops by." Cocktails and homemade Gruyere and Parmesan Beignets? Hot damn. The parchment trick is cool too.