Hello Fellow Internet Users,
As my
introduction into the attractive, but very intimidating blogging world I have
recreated a recipe I found due to my amazingly terrible addiction to Pinterest.
I will most likely be finding many of my weekly recipes on this engaging
website. However, I do believe in making everything from scratch. I go to
Johnson and Wales University for Baking and Pastry, making it harder for me to
cheat my way out of anything less than from scratch baking. Paying an enormous
amount of money to be taught to create something so beautiful, and then to turn
around and take a back road seems to leave me rolling in guilt. So to say the
least I take pride in my baking and I hope (if anybody ever reads this) that
you will see the difference if makes.
All right,
so when I first decide to start this blog I thought to myself what would be the
best kick off beauty of a recipe. My mom had recently been pinning (on my
pinterest) and had found Strawberry Shortcake made with a glazed doughnut. In
this recipe the doughnut was bought from a local doughnut shop. In school we
has a whole class dedicated to frying, which included doughnuts. This day was
my FAVORITE day, I talk about it as if I am 500 lbs. SO thinking back to this
glorious day, I couldn’t make myself buy a doughnut. Plus where is the fun in
that? So I whipped up a small batch of homemade doughnuts.
Making
doughnuts is not as hard as many people think, and it is 100% worth it. There
is nothing that tastes like a doughnut right out of the fryer (except maybe ice
cream right out of the machine), so if you think you might want to take a leap
and try it you will not regret it. First step is to Mise en Place (everything
in its place) gather you ingredients and equipment. Which includes; water,
yeast, flour, butter, eggs, granulated sugar, DMS (dry milk solids), baking
powder, salt, and vanilla.
After you
have brought out everything you need and placed it in a neat little squirrel
pile on your counter, you either need some measuring cups or a nice little
scale. Weighing out your ingredients is the most accurate way to bake, but
using measuring cups will never mess you up (well never say never). First I
like to get my yeast blooming in the water before I start any measuring. Your
water needs to be warm but not hot or else it will kill the yeast and you will
have some flat doughnuts on your hands (and you probably will regret making
them). After you’ve got that started weight out all the dry goods, put them in
your beautiful mixer and give them a good whirl. Next the thing that makes everything pastry
the best, butter, break the butter into smaller pieces and drop them right into
the dry goods, and mix it until it looks like little peas.
Once you
have a nice pea sized mixture add in your eggs, and give it another whirl. Last
but definitely not least add in your water and yeast and mix it with the dough
hook until it is a nice smooth ball. Oil a separate bowl or the same one (won’t
make or break the dough) and put your dough in it. Cover it with some plastic
wrap and go do something for 2 hours (or sit and watch it if you have nothing
else to do). 2 hours later it should have doubled in size.
Throw some
flour on a clean smooth surface and plop your dough ball on top. Roll out the
dough to about ¼ of an inch thick. Cut out the size of the doughnut you desire
with a smaller hole inside of it (it should look like a doughnut). I keep all
of the holes, because who doesn’t like doughnut holes. After everything is cut
out place them on a sheet tray and let them sit for 15 minutes. While they are
resting I suggest heat up the fryer. Now you will most likely have to play with
the frying temperature. I ended up having it at about 300 degrees. You need to
find the temperature where the outside doesn’t cook before the inside
(obviously). I have a warning pro deep fryer, so 300 may work for the rest of
you (who ever reads this) that has the same one. The holes come into play with
testing out temperatures. Make sure not to crowd your fryer otherwise it won’t
cook correctly. I did 3 minutes on each side or the doughnuts and they turned
out great. In between frying I made a glaze for them. Very simple some powdered
sugar and some lemon juice and zest. As the doughnuts come out of the fryer I
like to put them directly into the glaze so the flavor soaks in.
While they
cool the filling needs to be made. I only ended up with about 5 doughnuts out
of my dough, so I only need a pint of strawberries. I cut them up into quarters
and mixed them around with some sugar. Let them sit for about 20 min to let the
juices come out. Next whipping time, make sure your mixing bowl is nice and
cold (I like to freeze mine). Take about 2 cups of whipping cream and mix it on
medium speed to start. Grab your powdered sugar and vanilla and as the cream is
thickening add in the sugar and vanilla (I just do it to taste about a ½ of
sugar to every cup of cream) Increase the speed to high and let it go for about
a minute or until it is whipped. I also added some pink food coloring just for
flare (small amount to make it light pink).
Take a
doughnut that you haven’t immediately eaten and cut it in half like a bagel. Put
a good amount of whip cream on it, and a good amount of strawberries. If the
strawberries are not syrupy enough for you give them a good smash and mix
before putting them on. Slap on the top of the doughnut and grab a fork. Enjoy!
Delight in the moment,
Cassidy
Doughnut Dough
Pinch of lemon zest
Whipped Cream
Heavy Whipping Cream 2 cups/ 16 oz
Powdered Sugar 1 cup
Vanilla Extract Splash
Doughnut Dough
Water 4 oz/ 1/2 cup
Yeast 2 oz/4 Packets
A.P. Flour 1 lb/3 1/4 cups
Margarine 3 oz/ 1/2 stick
Eggs 2 oz/ 1 egg
Granulated Sugar 1 oz/ 1 Tbsp
DMS 1 oz/ 2 Tbsp
Baking Powder 1/2 oz/ 1 tsp
Salt 1/2 oz/ 1 tsp
Glaze
Powdered Sugar 1 cup
Juice and zest of 1 lemon
Strawberry Mixture
Strawberries 1 pint
Granulated Sugar 1/2 cup Pinch of lemon zest
Whipped Cream
Heavy Whipping Cream 2 cups/ 16 oz
Powdered Sugar 1 cup
Vanilla Extract Splash
