Doughnuts - Donuts

Gadzooks! Doughnuts, {gasp} on a Pastry Chef's blog?! What will that kooky Shuna do next on Eggbeater?

Inspire you to gather your own donut party? Remind you that doughnuts don't have to be an all weekend affair with yeast and proofing and rising and punching down and rolling out on a big wide surface and having a special donut cutter and a fryer and all that insanely hot oil and

oy vey

the guilt. The guilt of the affair. The sneaking around, the doughnut hole dilemna, caustic stares from good neighbors and best friends' whispers, the knowing glances from the cops on their graveyard shift, greasy fingers, sticky smile creases,  the crumpled receipts in jacket pockets-- "Honey? Where were you last night?" The concerned face of the person you love when you reply hastily, "O I had to go out and get the paper..."

Doughnuts.

The last frontier. You've given up fast food. You've tried the diet without the carbs. You've picketed the local fry-o-lator. You've been told you're expensive lipstick comes from the offal trimmings and fat recyclers at meat packing plants and restaurants. Or maybe you've done good and taken that same oil and put it into your converted diesel car.

But fried food? Put it into the temple that is your body? No way, no how.

Not me, you cry.

But you pine. Secretly. Ashamed. Silent. In the dark you struggle with the donut demons. Glazes smile at you wickedly. Mocking. "You know you want me!" Cake doughnuts crumbs can't satisfy. Like a baked potato chip or a salt naked pretzel, the donut without the thin layer of grease is barely a doughnut at all. A fake trying to pass itself off as real.

Well, maybe there are a few baked doughnuts, made by a very special person, that might pass muster.

But will it satisfy the deep animal lust you're tamping down? It lies deep within you.

Donut.   I must have it.   Don't get in my way.   I must have donut. Must.  Have.  One.  Fried.  Ring.

Now now, it's alright. One donut won't hurt. Eggbeater can keep a secret. Shhhhhhh. There there.

I love makin' doughnuts. People love 'em, no matter what they say. Every culture fries dough for some purpose, sweet or savoury.

This last weekend's donut gathering was a local affair. I invited everyone I knew who lived within 20 miles of my house. I opened cupboards and invited others to concoct sugars of their wildest imaginings.

Open for use: one spice grinder, a number of sea salts, diverse sugars, espresso, black sesame seeds, candied cocoa nibs, ground: ginger, cumin, paprika, black pepper, cayenne, Mesquite flour, cardamon seeds, dried vanilla pods, dried un-sprayed rose petals, and Matcha powder from Japan.

! 

Needed: an active imagination, self confidence about balance of sweet and savoury, propensity towards  experimentation, an open mind, and of course,

an open mouth.

Preferably, many of them.

PATE A CHOUX

for doughnuts   

          
WATER 1/2 Cup
MILK 1/2 Cup
UNSALTED BUTTER, 4 oz cubed   
SUGAR 3 T       
SALT 1/2 t       
                AP FLOUR, 1 Cup, sifted 
EGGS 3 - 5 ea.       
               
*bring first 5 ingredients up to boil               
*meanwhile sift flour               
*crack eggs into small bowl or pouring vessel               
*when water is boiling and butter is melted dump all flour in at once               
*turn hear down to medium and stir mixture with wooden spoon as vigorously as you can manage              *when the bottom of the pot is coated in a thin layer of dough that has begun to "brown" (turn golden), shut off heat               
*"pour" hot dough into the bowl of a kitchen-aid mixer (all at once) fitted with a paddle attachment                *have your eggs in one hand, turn the mixer on high with the other hand               
*pour eggs in one at a time -- making sure each egg is perfectly emulsified before pouring in second egg!
*you may need to scrape down mixture once during this process, if so, do so quickly and efficientlY {depending on how much you're making & how  fast your "high" setting is, some dough may jump out of the mixer bowl: this is normal}
*how many eggs you're able to get into the mixture will determine how high your dough puffs/expands   *stick your finger into the dough -- add eggs until mixture's peak just falls over off the tip of your finger. the "drier" you've made the dough in the pot will determine how many eggs the batter receives    
                *pipe/use dough immediately for desired purpose

Pate a Choux may be piped and frozen. Donuts can even be made with frozen dough, although disks should be thawed out a bit, at room temperature, before plopping them into the searingly hot oil.

Depending on how many eggs your pate a choux took, doughnuts will expand exponentially. Do one test doughnut first to see how much they grow before overcrowding the oil, which will lower the temperature, thus making for an exterior of soggy instead of crispy-ness.   

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm doughnuts.      

HAPPY         MARCH ! 
 

Comments

[Calichef]

I'm going to make these for Chanukah next year. Of course, I'll probably have to "practice" a whole bunch of times between now and then! I guess I'd better put a large quantity of peanut oil on the grocery list.

[kevin]

Shuna,
One word: Zeppole.

[Lisa (Homesick Texan)]

Mmmmm...donuts!

[Alice Q. Foodie]

Great post Shuna - and I love your blue le crueset!

[Husband]

Amen. I think we've got to bring the doughnut back into the light of our kitchens. No more back room, drive through mass manufactured monsters. We need to save our loved ones the trouble and make them at home!

[Anita]

Will you smack me if I say your hair looks cute like that? Very Spanky and Our Gang. :)

When's the next doughnut party?

[Lori S.]

So this is the sneaky pate a choux method you mentioned before!

Yum, yum, yum.

I, of course, have not given up fried food at all, sweet or savory. Breaded fried sardines, with tahini sauce and lettuce on a big ol' bun, are one of my favorite things to make and eat. (Yes, I confess to re-using the same oil for fish and for doughnuts. Nobody seems to mind.) As long as it's not every day, and the oil is clean and tasty and heated to the right temperature, what's the harm?

[sabrina]

those look amazing! I love the idea of doughnut party - thanks for giving me the excuse I've been looking for to fry up some dough.

[Aaron]

I'm so sad I missed that...I could cry. Looks like it was a blast.

[Elle]

who does not like a fried piece of dough once in awhile however, i am not sure i would attempt this at home.

[Star Black]

Thank you, Thank you! I will for sure make these soon- one question: In your photo you have a snazzy looking digital thermometer next to your Le Creuset. Is this one that can be used as a candy thermometer as well and for choclate tempering? If so what brand is it and could you give a ballpark of what it might cost? Thanks so much!

[Excelsior]

Have you heard? Krispy Kreme is producing a whole wheat donut. For those health nuts I guess.

[lee]

Oh man...I have to put a donut party on the calendar now!

[Linda, The Village Vegetable]

yum! these look fantastic!

[biscuitbaker]

We made donuts for faschnacht day as an annual fundraiser for the local fire company. 4000 dozen.

[Aaron]

I've never read a pate a choux recipe that gave variable egg amounts. I've made it a few times for profiteroles, and used different recipes with good success. This makes so much sense though, and I'm eager to try it. But...I don't really understand your finger test. Does the dough stick to your finger and then you hold it upside down like beaters with cream? I think that's what you're getting at, but I can't visualize how that would happen with dough.

[Chubbypanda]

Masterful! Of course, being a chubby panda, I embrace my doughnut desires.

[Tim]

What should one do with the salt when you're done? It's not used in the recipe.

[Joe Fish]

A question about technique: as a wee apprentice we learned to make pate a choux entirely on the stove, controlling the speed at which the eggs were aborbed by attenuating the temperature of the mixture, moving the pan on and off the fire. As apprentices, we did this with wooden spoons while being screamed at alternately in English, French and German. I do it now with a hand mixer, listening to relatively serene NPR. Am I wasting my time? Am I gaining nothing? Should I start with a drier mix than I am used to?

As usual, an inspiring and hungrifying post.

[shuna fish lydon]

Calichef,

Peanut is good but we used Canola-- imparts less of a taste and has a really high smoking point.

Kevin,

I grew up eating Zeppoles!!! Thanks for the reminder...

Anita-- no problem! I like the referance to street urchin children, the 40's and cuteness in a hardened, humurous sort of way!

Star Black,

I try to only buy Taylor for my thermometer needs. They're the sturdiest. Cost? Maybe $20? but I'm not sure...sorry.

Biscuit baker,

Good G-d!! 4000 dozen? are you so done or will you be ready to do it again next year?!

Aaron,

You want to dough to be loose, but not liquidy. The softer it is the harder it will be to pipe/hold a shape, and it will grow immensely because of all the eggs... but the thicker it will be will cause the upposite problems.

Pate a choux is a trick-- it's about how many eggs you can force into the dough without ruining the whole batch...

Tim-- thank you for the correction! I've changed the post to reflect the salt addition. thanks for keeping me on my pastry toes.

Joe Fish,

The faster you force the eggs into the dough the better, yes. I've never done it on the stove, maybe because my culinary training was on the job and we needed to get things accomplished, no "practicing" involved!

As for the hand held mixer I would say make the dough in small batches so that you're making the mixer work less hard...

and yes, no more screaming! but you should be breaking a sweat on the stove.

[robert]

god, i wish i lived in san francisco.

[Kelli]

I. Love. Donuts. YUM!

[michelle]

omg i love donuts. pate a choux is one of my fav pastries. thank you so much for the idea. :)

[chef james]

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm doooonuts
who are your cute helpers shuna?

[shuna fish lydon]

Wello HELLo Chef O-- so very very nice to hear from you here, albeit a tad quiet!

My helpers? They're always cute! Who you see is Drew, Kat's partner, and DB, one of my culinary partner's in crime.

Look for DB here and here.