Archive for: donuts
There is no doubt as to what this cookbook, 150 Best Donut Recipes, is about. It is packed with recipes for both baked and fried donuts that will make any donut lover happy. The cookbook’s very direct title definitely catches your eye, and while it might not be the most imaginative title on the shelf, it definitely delivers any kind of donut recipe that you could hope for.
Like its title, this book is simple and direct. It covers donuts in all their forms, and delivers straightforward instructions on how to make them from start to finish. There is an intro that covers equipment and ingredients, but the section on Making Donuts Step-By-Step is where you really get started. This short chapter gives you one recipe of each type of donut in the book – raised donuts, cake donuts, baked donuts, filled donuts, fritters, donut holes, bow ties and twists – and walks you through the method. There are also some great illustrations to help you out with these methods. It’s everything you need to fill a donut case at the corner shop, that’s for sure! It’s nice that the book includes baked donuts, as well. Donut baking pans are becoming more and more common, as donut-lovers look for slightly healthier ways to enjoy these treats, and it is great to see a cookbook that includes so many recipes for this type.
The recipes are easy to follow and cover everything from classic donuts to green tea donuts, so you won’t get bored with any of the options here. Most of the recipes are accompanied by tips to help your donut-making go more smoothly, as well as for suggestions for icing and different filling variations. The photos that are included are very nice, but I still wish there were a few more pictures to tempt me. That said, with the step-by-step photos it is easy to see how you can make every kind of donut in the book even if the recipe isn’t illustrated with its own photo.
You’ve seen donut pans in different shapes and sizes, and even if you don’t have one of these nifty pans in your kitchen yet, you have definitely seen them used on different food blogs to make baked donuts. The nonstick pans have ring-shaped cavities that let you bake something donut shaped without having to deep fry anything. Now, Wilton has come up with a Donut Hole Pan that lets you try yet another donut shape. This pan has 20 round cavities that let you bake nicely rounded donut holes. Fill the half-sphere cavities up to the top with batter, and you should get a nice rise on your donut holes that fill out the rest of that circle. The holes end up being about the size of mini muffins, perfect for snacking and sharing.
I make donut muffins in a regular muffin pan, using a mini muffin pan to get a version that is similar to a donut hole and can be eaten in two bites. I have had good results with other donut pans in the past, and I really like the shape of these. Using a mini muffin pan to approximate a donut hole, you get some odd edges and an overall irregular shape. They just don’t fully capture the donut hole look, even though they still taste delicious. If you are a baked donut fan, this pan is going to give you a lot of options and a very “real” looking finished product.
My Sugar Donut Muffins are always a favorite when I bake a batch. They’re tasty plain, but they’re also a good base for donut-like variations. For instance, you could fill them with preserves to make jelly donut muffins or with lemon curd to make these Mini Lemon Donut Muffins with Lemon Curd.
These mini muffins have a buttermilk and lemon cake base and are baked in mini muffin pans to produce bite-sized treats. The muffins are dipped in butter and rolled in sugar just after baking to give them a slightly crisp, sugary exterior that is reminiscent of the exterior of a deep fried donut. They’re fluffy and tender, and the cake itself is not too sweet, which means that their sugary exterior balances well with the cake. After baking, I piped a little bit of lemon curd into the center of the muffins for a spring twist.
I make my own lemon curd for the filling of these muffins, usually using a recipe for Lower Fat Lemon Curd to keep in the spirit of lightness with the baked donuts (and because it is delicious). Store bought lemon curd can be used if you don’t want to make your own. Similarly, I used fresh lemon zest in the muffin batter, but you could use lemon oil or lemon extract in place of the vanilla extract if you don’t have a lemon on hand to zest. Fresh zest and homemade curd are going to take your muffins over the top, but these are tasty, lemony treats no matter how you put them together.
This recipe could also be made into regular sized muffins for a larger treat. Follow the directions for the full sized Sugar Donut Muffins for baking times and fill them with lemon curd after baking.
+Continue Reading
Top Pot Donuts are some of the most well known donuts in the country. The company is based in Seattle, where the donuts have quite the following of fans, and they have been seen in the pastry cases at Starbucks stores, too. Top Pot Hand-Forged Doughnuts: Secrets and Recipes for the Home Baker begins with a brief history of this popular donut company, where the unusual name came from and what makes them so popular with their fans before getting to the recipes.
Most baking cookbooks have an introductory section that describes the equipment and techniques use in the book. This information is helpful, but tends to become a little repetitive for those who bake regularly. The introduction to donut making is a little more helpful, since many of us have never (or rarely) tried to fry a batch of donuts in our own kitchens. The introduction here walks you through the ingredients, equipment and techniques used in donut making and it will all help ensure that your donuts come out looking like they could be put in a pastry case – or served up with a mug of coffee for breakfast.
The photography in the book is mouthwatering, and even if you don’t end up making any of the recipes after reading through it, you’ll probably find yourself in the car on your way to the nearest donut shop. That said, the recipes are not difficult and well worth the effort that it takes to prepare and fry the dough to have homemade donuts. You’ll get walked, step by step, through the process from mixing your ingredients to glazing the finished product. There are also plenty of handy tips that will help ensure that your donuts are as good as they can be. Make a test batch to see where your comfort level is with donut making, then invite family and friends over for a brunch featuring homemade donuts to enjoy the rest! The donut shop might not have the same appeal after you’ve had homemade.
When I’m working with a shaped pan, like the Wilton Doughnut Twist Pan, I will often start out working with the recipe that comes on the packaging. These recipes are usually tasty and are always formulated to fit the pan, so there is no guesswork involved in trying out the recipe. The recipes are also a good jumping off point for making changes to a recipe easily because it gives you a basic formula that you know will work with the pan without making too much (or too little batter). This is exactly what I did with the Donut Twist Pan: I took the recipe on the back of the box, tried it and tried my own twist on it.
The recipe for baked crullers is simple, muffin-type recipe that is enriched with buttermilk to ensure that the crullers have a tender crumb and a moist interior. The original recipe has a few hints of spice added to it, but after playing around with it a little bit, I decided to make mine all vanilla. I omitted all of the spices, added additional vanilla extract and used homemade vanilla sugar to finish off my donuts. You can glaze the crullers with a glaze made with confectioners sugar and milk (or water), but since I like real donuts that are rolled in sugar, I rolled my baked crullers in sugar, too. This gives the crullers a crisp, sweet outer layer that is surprisingly similar to that of a fried donut.
This recipe is designed to work with Wilton’s Doughnut Twist Pan. If you don’t have one, you could use another type of baked donut pan or even a muffin pan, filling each cavity up about 2/3 full with batter. Brush your baked goods with a little butter, roll them in sugar and you’ll definitely be happy with the results of the baked donuts.
+Continue Reading
