Fun-Sized Vanilla Sugar Doughnuts

Two weeks ago we escaped to the land of country music, southern hospitality, and...the NRA Convention. But we didn't find out about that last one until we read in the paper that there would be 70,000+ extra bodies in the city at the same time as we were. That's right, we were in Nashville. And I never thought I would enjoy 80 degree weather so much.  I was basking in the warmth of a Southern sun, sweating from the humidity, sneezing because of blasted allergies that never give me peace, and loving every second of it. It's shocking what a torturous winter will do to a person who typically detests hot, humid weather. Truly amazing.

We went down to spend Easter with The Grands and of course, while I was there, I had to see my Nashvillian bestie, Hailey. This go-round, after collecting some supplies from Trader Joe's, we decided to venture into the kitchen and make something sweet: vanilla sugar doughnuts.

MAN, do I love doughnuts. Not many other things can lift my spirits if I'm having a bad morning like a well-made doughnut. I love them so much that I even splurged once on a special Nordic doughnut pan that can't be used for anything else (I hardly ever buy new bakeware unless it can be used multiple ways). But as much as I love doughnuts of all kinds, up until last week, I'd only made loads and loads of baked ones. Frying doughnuts was an entirely different adventure, and I'm glad Hails was by my side to experience it.

There were so many things I had to learn about doughnut-making. For instance, the name of the game is "patience." We needed a LOT of it. Doughnut dough is very special, and needs much rest in order to become beautiful, and also achieve its full potential. It's like a little baby that must always be warm, cool, and covered. It took forever. We were constantly peeking under the dish towel, then going "IS IT RISING? IT IS. IT IS RISING BECAUSE IT WAS AN INCH SHORTER BEFORE." But a good baker must have patience if said baker wants doughnuts. So we waited. And waited. And peeked under dish towels. And waited.

FINALLY, after literal hours, it was time to ever-so-gently roll out our dough, cut it, and then send circles of it swimming into the 350 degree F oil. I'm glad that Hailey and I both had our reservations about that super hot oil; that way, when I screamed each time in preparation for splash-back, I had someone to scream with me. She's a good friend.

In the end, we walked away from Hailey's beautiful kitchen with two bags' worth  of fun-sized vanilla sugar doughnuts, and plans to bake something new, ambitious, and exciting the next time I'm in town.  In the meantime, I'm going into recipe-testing mode to come up with some real winners for you.

P.S. Not only is Hailey beautiful and talented, she's also a wonderful potter! Check out her etsy page, Clay Off 8th! Word on the street is she's got a housewares line in the works!!

Adventures in Recipe Testing: The Beginning of a New Baking Chapter

There comes a time in every young baker's life when he or she has watched enough food-related shows on television and Netflix and decides that maybe it's time to start creating recipes of their very own...

...That time for me came nine months ago, but for the sake of this post, we'll say that it didn't officially start until this weekend.

We've got brand new neighbors upstairs that just moved in about a week and a half ago. In our building, there aren't a ton of units, so for me, it's important that I get to know everyone. The last time I made an introduction with new neighbors, I made doughnuts. Those seemed to be a crowd-pleaser then, so I decided, "You know what? Why break what isn't broken? Doughnuts again it is!" But I didn't want to just make the same doughnuts that I made last time because that makes it a little less special. Instead, I tried to think of things that would compliment the vanilla base, yet still allow it to be unique and creative. I also wanted to dye the glaze a different color, but I'm not always so keen on using food coloring. Then it hit me: what about a strawberry glaze? You get the strawberry flavor, and when mixed with the white glaze, a great color! So I set to work.

It's always such a breeze putting these babies together. I love that I didn't even have to use my mixer. Clean-up is never fun, so the less I use, the better it is.

Twelve of these round rings of deliciousness later, it was time to start working on a glaze from scratch. No help from other recipes, just pure experimentation.

Initially, I tried to think of a way to get the strawberry juice, but none of the pulp. (I suppose you could call it pulp, right?) So I thought about putting the frozen strawberries into a colander, then mashing them up with something to get the juice, and nothing but the juice. But that didn't work out so well at all. The colander's holes were a little too big for such an experiment, and I ended up just straining through mashed strawberry. Then I decided to strain it through a paper towel to at least TRY to get some of the juice, but that was worse. Finally, I decided that the glaze was the exact color that I wanted, so, so what? It's a glaze infused with fruit, and I should just own it.

And "own it" I did! I dipped each doughnut into the glaze, then let it sit for about thirty minutes in the refrigerator. 

And I have to say it: It was a pretty great success!

Looking back, there just a few things I would change. For starters, in the doughnut recipe, I was afraid that if I added nutmeg, it might compete with the strawberry flavor. But as I bit into it, I realized that it needed something. So next time, maybe just a little nutmeg. Secondly, I needed WAY more strawberries. The flavor was more subtle that I would've liked. In my opinion, if you're going to say it's a strawberry glaze, it better deliver that strawberry with a punch. And third, maybe add some decoration. I added red sprinkles afterwards which seemed like a good idea at the time, until I realized that when red sprinkles get a little moist, they start to bleed. It messed up my colors!

But my neighbors loved the gesture, and brought us "Thank You" brownies the very next day, special-delivered by THE CUTEST DOG EVER, Piper!

This is the start of a beautiful friendship.

And a beautiful adventure, making my own recipes.

Happy Tuesday, guys!

P.S. It's snowing and sleeting today. What's going on in your neck of the woods?

Baby, We're Rollin' (in Dough)

I made doughnuts.

That's it. My life is forever changed.

And these weren't just ANY doughnuts, my friends. Oh no. These were...are you ready for this?

You sure?

ARE YOU SURE YOU'RE READY FOR THIS?

Okay, okay, sorry. I get a little too dramatic in the mornings.

 BAKED. PUMPKIN. CAKE. DOUGHNUTS.

Yes.

I took a  trip to Target about a month ago, and was perusing the home section when I came across a Nordic Non-Stick Doughnut Pan for a low, low price. Being one to never pass up a good deal, I threw it in the cart without even the slightest bit of hesitation.

Also, can we just take a moment to talk about the magic that is Target itself? Has anyone honestly ever gone in there thinking, "I'm just going in to get ______, then I'm out of there!"? No. Never. It's impossible. At Target, you have the semi-freedom to shop with abandon...You always learn your lesson when you get to the register of course, but by then it's too late, and you've already figured out a place for your new items in respective rooms in your home. I love it there, and Boston's about to get one a LOT closer to home! And you know where I'll be opening day.

Let's move on!

The recipe itself was amazingly simple. Honestly, all I did was throw a few things in the bowl. And for tools? Bowl, spoon, whisk, measuring cups, doughnut pan. That's it. I'm sure all you bakers out there can agree that sometimes the simpler the recipe, the less cleanup, the happier EVERYONE IS. We all like to dabble in complicated masterpieces, but on occasion, it's just nicer to take it easy in the kitchen. Especially in the summer, especially after all this heat.

I think I spent a total of 30 minutes preparing the mixture, then scooped it into the pan using my handy dandy 1/4 cup ice cream scoop, set the oven to about 17 minutes, and it was done!

Dunkin' Donuts, you eat your heart out. Then, you can come over for doughnuts.

What You'll Need:

Doughnuts:

• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 3 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 1 1/2 cups pumpkin purée (canned pumpkin)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice, or 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon plus heaping 1/4 teaspoon each ground nutmeg and ground ginger
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 3/4 cups + 2 tablespoons  Unbleached Flour

Coating:

• 3 tablespoons cinnamon-sugar mixture

Get the recipe here!

Happy baking!