Post Thanksgiving Pumpkin Donuts

Since I enjoyed this donut recipe so much in October, I decided to treat my family to fresh donuts the morning after Thanksgiving last week so they could enjoy it as well. I doubled the recipe but I should have only done one and a half of the recipe. SO MANY DONUTS! (I think the double recipe made around 80 donuts!)

Thankfully, my tall family of 15 did a good job of eating most of the donuts. My nephews kept asking for more throughout the day. :)

I enjoyed a lot of pretty sunsets in TX for Thanksgiving week but I am glad to be back in NYC, the city I love. I'm gearing up for my birthday, Christmas, and New Year's all within a month's time. Let the good times roll! And let the oven roar with holiday baking!

 

Find the pumpkin donut recipe here: Pumpkin Donuts

Bake well and prosper!

Pumpkin Donuts

I must be making up for the lack of pumpkin posts on my blog. This is my 2nd pumpkin recipe post on my blog within a month! Aren't y'all lucky!

 

But let's get down to business...these donuts were THE BOMB! What? You don't use the phrase "the bomb" when you are doing business? Hmmm...ok... These donuts were incredibly pleasing. No...that's not the right way to describe them either. Look, if you make them your taste buds will bow down to you in thanks. There. That's about right.

 

I had read all of the comments on this recipe in preparation before I started making the dough. Everyone said that the dough was ridiculously sticky, therefore I was prepared for a mess. So prepared that I used gloves! 

Isnt' that a lovely mess?

 

I conquered that lovely mess and managed to cut out donut shapes.

The dough was sticky but I wasn't scared. I had my eye on the prize.

Frying donuts. It's the best thing to do to donuts (besides eating them).

 

If you want some easy to make (not yeast!), "fall is in the air" spiced-sugar donuts, you should definitely try this recipe.

Pumpkin Donuts (recipe found on Epicurious)

Ingredients for the Donuts

3 1/2 cups all purpose flour (Erika's Extras: you'll need more while rolling out the dough)

4 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

1 cup sugar

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature

1 large egg

2 large egg yolks

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon buttermilk

1 cup canned pure pumpkin

Canola oil (for deep-frying) (Erika's Extras: I used vegetable oil)

 

Ingredients for the Powdered Sugar Glaze

2 cups powdered sugar

Whipping cream (Erika's Extras: I used half & half)

 

Ingredients for the Spiced Sugar

1 cup sugar

4 teaspoons ground cinnamon

2 teaspoons ground nutmeg

 

Instructions for donuts
Whisk first 8 ingredients (everything up to the sugar) in a medium bowl to blend. Using an electric mixer, beat sugar and butter in large bowl until blended (mixture will be grainy). Beat in egg, then yolks and vanilla. Gradually beat in buttermilk; beat in pumpkin in 4 additions. Using a rubber spatula, fold in dry ingredients in 4 additions, blending gently after each addition. Cover with plastic; chill 3 hours. (Erika's Extras: I put mine in the freezer for ~15 minutes. This worked fine)          

Press out 1/3 of dough on floured surface to 1/2- to 2/3-inch thickness. Using 2 1/2-inch-diameter round cutter, cut out dough rounds. Arrange on sheets. Repeat with remaining dough in 2 more batches. Gather dough scraps. Press out dough and cut out more dough rounds until all dough is used.

Using 1-inch-diameter round cutter, cut out center of each dough round to make doughnuts and doughnut holes. (Erika's Extras: I made about 3 dough rounds and donut holes at a time and then repeated the process.)          

Line 2 baking sheets with several layers of paper towels. Pour oil into large deep skillet to depth of 1 1/2 inches. Attach deep-fry thermometer and heat oil to 365°F to 370°F. Fry doughnut holes in 2 batches until golden brown, turning occasionally, about 2 minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer to paper towels to drain. Fry doughnuts, 3 or 4 at a time, until golden brown, adjusting heat to maintain temperature, about 1 minute per side. Using slotted spoon, transfer doughnuts to paper towels to drain. Cool completely. (Erika's Extras: Really keep your eye on the temperature of the oil. It drops quickly when you put in a lot of the dough.)          

 

Instructions for powdered sugar glaze
Whisk powdered sugar and 4 tablespoons whipping cream to blend. Whisk in additional cream, 1 teaspoon at a time, to form medium thick glaze. Can be made up to 3 hours ahead. Add donut holes to bowl of spiced sugar and toss to coat. Dip donuts on 1 side in the Powdered Sugar Glaze. Arrange doughnuts, glazed side up, on racks or plates.           

Ingredients for spiced sugar
Whisk all ingredients in medium bowl to blend. Dip plain donuts or glazed donuts in the sugar.

Read More http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Pumpkin-Doughnuts-with-Powdered-Sugar-Glaze-and-Spiced-Sugar-Doughnut-Holes-230926#ixzz2hjLfMk8W

 

Bake well and prosper!

Homemade Donuts!

In an effort to keep pushing myself in the kitchen with recipes I'm not familiar with, I decided to fry something. That something ended up being donuts.

I thought I had enough time to make them before meeting friends for brunch, but I didn't realize the dough needed to rise again after cutting the shapes of the donuts. But my friends had no issues coming to my place and eating fresh donuts and THEN going for brunch. Imagine that.

These cute, doughy donuts brightened up my kitchen. They were so cute! I don't know why, but my room mate agreed that yes, they WERE cute! And just think, they then got to swim in hot oil and become delicious donuts.

I glazed a couple and handed  them over to my friends.

My room mate loved how fluffy they were so I made him model the donut. :)

I also used different toppings for some of the donuts. Creating different glazes made the making of the donuts even more fun!

If you have 3 hours on your hands, try this recipe. As long as you've worked with yeast before you'll have no problem making your own homemade donuts.

Homemade Donuts (adapted from allrecipes.com)

1/2 cup warm water (100 to 115 degrees F)

2 (.25 ounce) packages active dry yeast
1 teaspoon white sugar
3/4 cup milk
1/3 cup vegetable shortening
1/4 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2eggs
4 cups sifted all-purpose flour
2 quarts vegetable oil for frying
1 tablespoon warm water
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
Directions

1. Pour 1/2 cup of warm water into a small bowl, and stir in the yeast and 1 teaspoon of sugar. (Erika's Extras: Stir right away with a fork.) Allow the yeast mixture to stand until it forms a creamy foam layer on top, 5 to 10 minutes.
2. While yeast is sitting, place milk and vegetable shortening into a small saucepan over medium-low heat and cook until the shortening has melted and the milk has tiny bubbles around the edge. Remove from heat.
3. Place 1/4 cup of sugar and the salt into the work bowl of a large stand mixer and pour the milk and shortening into the bowl. Mix on low speed just to dissolve sugar; and allow mixture to stand until warm.
4. Beat in the yeast mixture, eggs, and 1 cup of flour on low speed until smooth. Gradually beat in remaining flour to make a soft dough. (Erika's Extras: I felt that 4 cups of flour was a tad too much so add a little at a time with the last cup of flour. It's ok to not use it all if it doesn't seem like it needs it.)
5. Continue beating the dough on low speed until dough leaves the sides of the bowl, 2 to 3 minutes. (Erika's Extras: This happened after the 3rd cup of flour.)
6. Turn the dough out onto a well-floured work surface and knead until smooth and elastic, 2 or 3 more minutes.
7. Form the dough into a ball and place into a large greased bowl. Grease the top of the dough, and cover the bowl with waxed paper. Set the bowl into a warm place; let the dough rise until doubled in size, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
8. Punch down the dough and roll out on a floured work surface to 1/2 inch thick. Cut doughnuts out of the dough with a 3 1/2-inch round doughnut cutter with a 1-inch smaller cutter in the center. Let the doughnuts rise on the work surface until very light and fluffy, 40 minutes to 1 hour.
9. Heat oil in a deep-fryer or large saucepan to 350 degrees F.
10. Gently pick up and drop the doughnuts into the hot oil, working in small batches of 2 or 3 at a time, and cook until the doughnuts are light golden brown, turning once, about 2 minutes. (Erika's Extras: I used a metal spatula to gently drop the donuts into the oil thus helping not to spill oil on myself/the counter.)
11. Drain the doughnuts on paper towels to absorb oil.
12. In a bowl, mix 1 tablespoon of warm water and vanilla extract, and stir in the confectioners' sugar to make a glaze. Spread a thin layer of glaze over the warm doughnuts. (Erika's Extras: I had to add more water to this glaze, but it worked very well. I also used a tiny bit of milk in a different batch which created a richer glaze.)

Bake well and prosper!

The Best Donut in America

I know my blogs usually contain recipes of desserts I bake. But when I travel it's nice to share some dessert I just eat with no assembly required. Today I would like to share with you the BEST DONUT IN THE NATION. Meet a Round Rock Donut:

I know what you're thinking. That's just my opinion that it's the best. Au contraire. It's always in the top 10 donut lists that I've seen and has been ranked #1 in many polls. I've seen them featured on the Food Network, Travel Channel (Man vs Food), and on yahoo news.

What makes these so good? I'm not really sure, but I think it has something to do with the weird yellow orange color of the donuts. My favorite is the chocolate covered one (featured in this blog.) The chocolate isn't too fake or too sweet. It's just perfect with a great texture (as in not waxy). And the donut itself is always pure bliss with its wonderful light, fluffy dough and scrumptious flavor. In fact, when I was taking some quick pictures to share with y'all, I couldn't help but take a bite out of one. They are just THAT irresistible!

The only problem is that you can only get them in Round Rock, TX and various shops that sell them in Austin, TX. So, whenever I visit my parents, it's one of the to dos on my trip. (And, since I get them about once a year, I also have to gobble down tons in one sitting. You know, to make up for lost time...)

To find out more, visit their website: Round Rock Donuts

Bake well and prosper!

Ireland - Part 2 - Churches

DISCLAIMER: The blogs about Ireland do not have recipes. *GASP*

Even though the Irish might shy away from this topic, they can't deny that religion has played a huge part in the history of their country. I think it's wonderful that there are so many saints from Ireland and I think it's fascinating and a little disquieting that, when you think about it, quite recently there have been battles and rebellions over religion. (I guess every country has it!)

I went to only a few churches in Ireland. I say only a few because when I was in Italy I felt like I never needed to go to church again since I had been in so many. (However, in Ireland you usually had to pay to get in to the churches which I wasn't a fan of.)

The churches were all very unique.

And their interiors were even more unique! (Ha! You thought I was going to say uniquer!)

I really enjoyed the vibrant colors of the stained glass windows.

When I was growing up, every morning there were donuts at church on Sundays (and if you think I didn't eat more than one with this sweet tooth of mine, think again.) Well, if we had the donuts I found at Walsh's Bakery in Clifden, Ireland, I wouldn't have been a very fat child. They were so amazingly good and so ridiculously fresh!

I spotted them on the counter where I was ordering lunch and even though a small voice in my head said, "Donuts are for breakfast!" the large, operatic voice in my head said, "GET IT!"

I was enjoying it so much that I almost didn't even take time out to take a picture. Here's the lovely bit I saved for a snap of my camera followed by the snap of my mouth.

If you are in Clifden, make sure to stop here and get EVERYTHING. (My mom really enjoyed the flapjacks...some granola bar looking thingy.)

http://www.walshsbakery.com/#

Bake well and prosper!