baked blueberry and butter rum doughnuts

happy hump day people... i hope you are all enjoying your day... the weather is finally starting to brighten up here... and it's about gosh'darn time too!!! it's been raining on and off since saturday... and it has put me in a very blahh kind of mood... but the blue sky and the sun are pushing through the clouds, and pushing me to be more productive... and it's about time i got a little more productive with my blogging... so... thanks mr. blue sky for getting my tushie moving... (btw, i just had to stop myself from singing ELO's mr. blue sky... that's one catchy tune)

now, as i said earlier... i've been totally slacking in my blogging, but i haven't been slacking in my baking... i've been in my kitchen almost non-stop lately... and these beautiful sweeties, were made last week, actually the day before national doughnut day... i stumbled across this recipe, and my jaw dropped onto the computer... and i wanted to reach through the screen and eat them all up... but instead i warmed up my oven and got to mixing up some batter... and several minutes later... i had a plateful of these babies waiting for me... amazing...

doughnut recipe adapted from bakingdom:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 teaspoon rum extract
*handful of blueberries, cut into halves

directions:
1. preheat the oven to 425 degree, and grease your doughnut pan and set aside
2. in large mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugars, baking powder, and salt
3. in a large measuring cup, or a small bowl, lightly whisk together the buttermilk, eggs, rum extract, and butter... then add the mixture to the dry ingredients and mix until just combined... *do not over mix or the donuts will be tough, and tough doughnuts suck!
4. fill each doughnut mold about half full with batter (an easy way to do this is to place the batter in a pastry bag fitted with a large open tip, and fill the pan this way... its easier, cleaner and the doughnuts basically end up the same size...
5. bake about 8 minutes or until golden brown at the edges... then let cool in pan for 2 minutes, then transfer to a wire cooling rack... cool before glazing
*as for the blueberry doughnuts, after i made 6 plain ol' butter rum ones, i added some blueberries to the leftover batter... and baked them up the same way

butter run doughnut glaze:
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
1 tablespoon heavy cream, plus more as needed
1/2 teaspoon rum extract
directions: in small bowl, whisk the sugar, cream, and extract together completely... if the glaze is too thick, add more milk, a small amount at a time, until the desired consistency is reached... then glaze away

these little devils were moist, cakey, with a slight crust on the outside... and addicting... oh, so addicting... deliciously sticky finger addicting...

enjoy the rest of your day... and as always, happy baking everyone :)

daring baker doughnuts!

mmmm.... doughnuts... daring baker doughnuts... delish-ious doughnuts... so good i could go nuts... alright i'm done with the corniness, i promise... so... it's that time of month... the daring bakers reveal... this month was hosted by hosted by Lori of Butter Me Up , and i was so excited to hop on this train... i love doughnuts, and this gave me a excuse to pull out my dutch over, heat up some frying oil and get popping!

what was great about this months challenge is that we were allowed to choose from a variety of doughnut recipes, from yeast doughnuts, buttermilk doughnuts, and even some yummy sounding pumpkin doughnuts... i opted for the yeast doughnuts, some topped with a smear of creamcheese frosting, and some slathered in chocolate mascarpone, and filled with kahlua mascarpone cream... mmmmm.... yummm....

yeast doughnuts:
yield: 20 to 25 doughnuts & 20 to 25 doughnut holes, depending on size

ingredients:
1/2 cup milk
1/3 cup shortneing( you can substitute butter, margarine or lard)
2 pkgs. active dry yeast
1/3 cup warm water
2 lrg eggs, slightly beaten
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. nutmeg
4 2/3 cup flour, plus extra for dusting surface
oil for frying, you want 3inches of oil

directions:
1. place the milk in a medium saucepan and heat over medium heat just until warm enough to melt the shortening, (make sure the shortening is melted so that it incorporates well into the batter)
2. place the shortening in a bowl and pour warmed milk over, set aside
3. 1n a small bowl, sprinkle the yeast over the warm water and let dissolve for 5 minutes (it should get foamy) After 5 minutes, pour the yeast mixture into the large bowl of a stand mixer and add the milk and shortening mixture, first making sure the milk and shortening mixture has cooled to lukewarm
4. add the eggs, sugar, salt, nutmeg, and half of the flour
5. using the paddle attachment of your mixer, combine the ingredients on low speed until flour is incorporated and then turn the speed up to medium and beat until well combined
6. add the remaining flour, combining on low speed at first, and then increase the speed to medium and beat well
7. change to the dough hook attachment of the mixer and beat on medium speed until the dough pulls away from the bowl and becomes smooth, approximately 3 to 4 minutes (for me this only took about two minutes). If you do not have a dough hook/stand mixer – knead until the dough is smooth and not sticky
8. transfer to a well-oiled bowl, cover, and let rise for 1 hour or until doubled in size.
9. on a well-floured surface, roll out dough to 3/8-inch thick, (make sure the surface really is well-floured otherwise your doughnuts will stick to the counter)
10. cut out dough using a 2 1/2-inch doughnut cutter or pastry ring
11. set on floured baking sheet, cover lightly with a tea towel, and let rise for 30 minutes
12. preheat the oil in a deep fryer or Dutch oven to 365
13. gently place the doughnuts into the oil, 3 to 4 at a time. Cook for 1 minute per side or until golden brown (pay very clos attentions!)
14. transfer to a cooling rack placed in baking pan, and then allow to cool for 15 to 20 minutes prior to glazing and/or filling

i wish i had a picture of the filling oozing out of these... but they didn't last after the first photo shoot... but i promise you, they were filled to capacity... i think i was to excited to get them finished so i could gobble them up, that i wasn't paying attention when squeezing the cream into them...

happy baking everyone!

beignets and doughnuts!

ummm... you wanna know why i made beignets... it's funny, and you'll never guess it...

it's not because i watched "the best thing i ever ate' " on the food network, or because i came across a recipe in one of my gourmet magazines...

you ready for this...

it's because i watched Disney's "the princess and the frog"... that's why!!

i never have gotten a food craving from a cartoon before... this is like a totally new level... getting hungry watching illustrated food... it has never happened before... not even during the "be our guest" number in beauty and the beast... well maybe because the food had faces and was dancing about the table... the only thing i wanted from that scene was a foamy glass of beer out of one of those steins...you know you did too :) ... and not even in ratatouille... remy's food descriptions were music to my ears, but i never came away from that movie craving anything... but leave it to two talking frogs to make me go bonkers for fried food!

when trying to explain a beignet to my hubs, i best described them as a cross between a donut and a zeppoli, 2 things we new yorkers are famous for!! as soon as i said that he was on board! so i broke out the dutch oven and a crap load of fry oil and got ready!

now these beignets come courtesy of paula deen... and man... they were crispy on the outside and so light and fluffy on the inside... and with the perfect amount of sweetness on the outside... sooo good!!

ingredients:
1 1/2 cups lukewarm water
1/2 cup sugar
1 envelope active dry yeast
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1 cup evaporated milk
7 cups bread flour
1/4 cup shortening
Nonstick spray
Oil, for deep-frying
confectioners' sugar for dusting

directions:
1. mix water, sugar, and yeast in a large bowl and let sit for 10 minutes
2. in another bowl, beat the eggs, salt and evaporated milk together, then mix egg mixture to the yeast mixture
3. in a separate bowl, measure out the bread flour, add 3 cups of the flour to the yeast mixture and stir to combine
4. add the shortening and continue to stir while adding the remaining flour
5. remove dough from the bowl, place onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth
6. spray a large bowl with nonstick spray, put dough into the bowl and cover with plastic wrap or a towel, and let rise in a warm place for at least 2 hours

when dough is ready:
1. preheat oil in a deep-fryer to 350 degrees F (i used a dutch over to fry these in, so keep a good and close eye on the oil temp!)
2. roll the dough out to about 1/4-inch thickness and cut into 1-inch squares, or any size you'd like, i went with 3 inch rectangles, basically i just eyeballed it :)
3. toss 'em in and deep-fry, flipping constantly, until they become a golden color
4. after beignets are fried, drain them for a few seconds on paper towels and then shake on some confectioners sugar to give them that lovely southern sweetness

and why now go all out... if i'm frying dough, i better be making a few donuts while i'm at it... these suckers were glazed with a thick helping of confectioners sugar mixer with heavy cream and a splash of vanilla extract... ahhh... just like wawa makes!!


Cuisson heureux tout le monde
(which according to this online translator means "happy baking everyone" in french)

banana's, maple, cream, sugar, and deep fried goodness... the what you craving #3 results

well here we are on our third installment of my "what you craving" challenge... and i have to say that this one was lots of fun... everything went awesomely (with the minor exception that my house still smells of frying oil...) but anyways... for this one i went with a combo of lots of ideas that were thrown my way... i know, i know... not the original and intended plan, but you know what... i just couldn't decide... and i was going to make another dish (sticky toffee pudding but with "fun raisins" instead of dates), but i wasnt satisfied with my brandy-soaked raisins (they're not as plumply full of alcohol as i'd like... so it'll just have to wait until every drop of finger licking liquor is absorbed)... that's why i said "fun raisins"... haha!

so... a lot of people had mentioned "maple" and "maple walnut" and i got a "banana" or two thrown in there too... and then i got a request for a "custard or flan"... so with all these fabulous ideas i decided to go crazy and combine them all into a tiny smorgasbord of yumminess...

so i give you...

deep fried bananas and maple-walnut creme brulee... oh! and don't forget the side of cinnamon sugar funnel cake...

hang on a second while i loosen my belt...

some homemade raw vanilla sugar and all my brulee ingredients... yummmm...
for the creme brulee i followed a recipe from a cookbook i have used and over used many a time... my better homes and gardens new cookbook (the 14th edition)... it's just become a staple in this household... it just has lots of yummy and satisfying recipes... and you know what, i haven't been disappointed yet...

ingredients:
2 cups whipping cream
3 tablespoons sugar
6 egg yolks
1/3 cup pure maple syrup or maple-flavored syrup
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup sugar
*chopped walnuts

directions:
1. preheat oven to 350 degrees, and place cups or dishes in a 3-quart rectangular baking dish; set aside
2. in a heavy small saucepan, combine whipping cream and the 3 tablespoons sugar; heat over medium heat just until bubbly, stirring occasionally... then remove from heat and set aside
3. meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine egg yolks, maple syrup, vanilla, and salt... beat with a wire whisk just until combined
4. slowly whisk hot whipping cream mixture into the egg yolk mixture
5. place chopped walnuts into the bottom of each cup, and then divide custard mixture among prepared custard cups or souffle dishes covering the walnuts
6. place baking dish on oven rack and pour enough boiling water into the baking dish to reach halfway up the sides of the custard cups or souffle dishes
7. bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until custards appear set when lightly shaken, or when knife inserted into the center comes out clean
8. remove custard cups or souffle dishes from water; cool on a wire rack... then cover and chill for at least 1 hour or up to 24 hours

this was the first time i got to use my new butane torch... it was kinda weirdly satisfying to burn things to a crisp with a handheld torch... hope i don't sound too creepy there... haha!

now the deep fried banana's or banana fritters or banana bangin awesomeness came from an online recipe source... a blog called "kitchen unplugged"... and i have to say... these are so easy and so freakin tasty that i'm going to keep this recipe handy for just about any occasion... and the batter that i dipped that bananas in was what i used for the funnel cakes... i just put the leftover batter into a piping bag and went to town...

happy baking everyone!

sweet deliciousness!!

unluckily for me i live near a sweet little hotspot known as "wawa"... if you've have no idea what i'm talking about, it's a deli of sorts... known for its steaming hot coffee, quick deli sandwiches, that interesting "zing" sound the register makes when it rings up an item, and of course their doughnuts... oh man, they are fantastic...ahh... just thinking about the blueberry cake doughnut...

anyways... i love wawa's doughnuts... and i've been meaning to make some of my very own, but i've been slacking in the doughnut motivation department... that is until a few days ago, when i feasted my eyes on these... banana doughnuts by tartelette... and i was done for...

now i had a fire lit under my little tush...

it was time...

time to make the doughnuts... (can i be any dorkier)

i followed tartelette's recipe, but i halved it... and they are really delicious... but instead of topping them with dried banana streusel i went with hazelnuts and toffee chips, and a few with vanilla frosting and sprinkles...

as for now my doughnut hunger has been curbed... lets see how long it lasts...