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 !