With sprinkles, of course!

Yesterday it was so hot the thought of eating anything besides cold, fresh fruit made me want to lie on the bathroom floor and cry. I realize it’s August in the Midwest, and I am normally the first one to say, “Shut up you baby!” when people complain about the weather – but this has been record-breaking heat and we’re people who don’t even bust out our winter coats until the thermostat reads below 40. So a 91 degree Saturday is flippin’ hot. Plus, I’m nursing an awesome sunburn I picked up at Great America last week end so five seconds outdoors feels like an eternity on the surface of the sun to me right now.

After dragging Teno into the car and away from the 400 degree oven he calls a playground we ran into our favorite fruit stand, grabbed everything that looked good and headed home. We had to get an extra orange for Teno who has recently become obsessed with the Annoying Orange series on YouTube. Tony washed and chopped and I whisked together a dressing because I can’t leave well enough alone. We tossed the salad (heh) with 1/2 cup vanilla Greek yogurt mixed with 1/4 cup honey, 2 tsp lime zest and 1/4 cup lime juice and let it sit for about 15 minutes. The dressing reminded me of a donut glaze so Tony and I started crossing our fingers that it wouldn’t be so hot today so I could make that dream a reality.

Truth be told, I haven’t left the house all day so I have no idea if it’s hot or not, but it’s a frosty 72 degrees inside the Slater fortress so Teno and I whipped up some honey lime donuts at 9am this morning. Baked donuts like these are really just donut-shaped muffins, but a hearty dunk in glaze helps the illusion.

You’ll need:

• a donut pan
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup honey
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp lime zest
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup + 3 Tbs milk
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 Tbs shortening (non-hydrogenated, preferably)

plus:

• 1 cup confectioner’s sugar
• 2-3 Tbs lime juice
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Then you:

Pre-heat your oven to 325 degrees and grease your donut pan. In a large bowl, mix flour, sugar, honey, baking powder, lime zest & salt. Stir in milk, eggs, vanilla and shortening. I used a whisk to get the shortening incorporated. Fill each donut cavity about 3/4 full, bake 8-10 minutes until donuts spring back when lightly touched. Cool slightly before removing from pan.

Once the donuts are cool, whisk together the glaze ingredients. Dip one side of each donut into glaze and then into sprinkles or colored sugar if desired. I completely covered a few and Tony said those were too sticky & tart so I recommend just glazing one side.

This set of recipes embodies my split personality during the winter months. There’s a side of me that’s ecstatic for the cold weather because it’s an excuse to indulge in comfort foods. But there’s another side of me that wonders why I continue to live somewhere that’s buried under snow for four months out of the year – and that side wants to forget about fall and winter flavors and turn its attention instead to light, summery flavors that are just around the corner. Turns out, that second personality has gotten her way, and I’m taking off to visit my grandparents in Florida this week*. So as an ode to Florida, and to my grandparents’ love of a traditional breakfast at a low-low price, I made this trio of desserts called The Early Bird Special.

French Toast Donuts

You’ll need:

• A donut pan
• 3 Tablespoons granulated sugar for the pan
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup pure maple syrup
• 1 Tablespoon butter, melted and cooled
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp maple flavoring

Then you:

Pre-heat your oven to 325 degrees and grease your donut pan with vegetable shortening or oil. Sprinkle the cavities with sugar, shaking out excess.

In a large bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Set aside. In a small bowl, mix together the brown sugar, syrup, butter, eggs, milk, vanilla and maple flavor. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry, mixing just until combined.

Fill each donut cavity 2/3 full and bake for 8 minutes, or until the tops spring back when lightly touched. Remove from pans while still hot and cool on a wire rack. Best served warm.

Bacon Nest

Being a vegetarian, I used Morning Star Farms veggie bacon for this, but the real thing will work as well.

Using a pizza cutter, slice cold bacon into thin strips. Heat two tablespoons oil in a large skillet. Carefully drop strips into hot oil, allowing them to curl as they cook. Turn pieces over to ensure proper cooking. (Veggie bacon tends not to curl, so to achieve the “nest” look you’ll need to manipulate it with tongs while it cooks.)Place nest atop donuts and drizzle with maple syrup.

OJ Granita

You’ll need:

• 1 1/4 cups water
• 1/2 cup sugar
• Zest of 2 oranges
• Juice of 6 oranges (12 oz)
• Juice of one lemon

Then you:

In a small sauce pan, bring water, sugar and orange zest to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until sugar is dissolved. Mix in the orange and lemon juice, and pour into a shallow pan. A baking sheet with raised edges works well, or a jelly roll pan.

Cover with foil and freeze 1-2 hours until solid around edges. Scrape mixture with a fork, mixing from the edges inward. Repeat the freezing and scraping process every 30 minutes (at least three times) until the entire mixture is flakey.

When ready to serve, scrape into serving dishes.

Chocolate-covered Espresso Beans

You might want to use decaf if you are actually serving this to your grandparents.

Choose freshly roasted medium roast coffee or espresso beans – a local roaster is best for truly freshly roasted beans. (Coffee & Tea Exchange, for example.) Any good quality chocolate will do – I like Ghirardelli dark chocolate. You can use chunks, squares or chips.

Set up a double boiler – which is simply one heat-proof vessel sitting atop another. I use a Pyrex glass bowl over a large pot. In the bottom pot, heat 2” water on medium-low heat– you don’t want the water to actually touch the top pan or bowl. Place the chocolate – chopped, if you’re using squares or chunks – in the top bowl and slowly melt it while you stir. Once the chocolate it smooth, turn off the heat and allow it to cool for a minute.

Mix in 1/3 cup of espresso beans. Use a small spook or fork to remove the beans from the chocolate and place them on a sheet of wax paper to cool – make sure the beans are not sticking together. You can cool them in the refrigerator or freezer if desired. When the chocolate cools and hardens, serve them in an espresso cup along side your donuts, bacon nest and granita.

*I visited FL in mid-January. Don’t sweat it, Chicago, I’m back!

Let’s talk about food first, ok?

Gingerbread donuts! You may recall some other posts I’ve done about baked donuts. I know it goes against donut nature to bake and not fry them, but it goes against my nature to eat fewer than 3 donuts in a sitting and now that I’m 30 I’d like to maintain my current pant size. Previously, I’ve had a lot of problems with my baked donuts getting really chewy and weird after as little as a half hour. I’m ok with eating a dozen donuts in a half hour, but I prefer not to. Well, I don’t know what I did differently this time, but I made these last night and this morning my mother-in-law was proclaiming them the best donuts she’s ever tasted. So there.

You’ll need:

• A donut pan
• 2 cups flour
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 Tbs butter, melted
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ground cardamom
• 1/4 tsp ground clove

Then you:

Preheat your oven to 325 degrees and grease the pan. Make sure you grease the part that sticks up to form the center of the donut or you will cry. Mix all the dry ingredients into a large bowl, I like to use a whisk for that. Then throw all the wet stuff in, making sure the butter has cooled or you’ll make scrambled eggs. Scrambled egg donuts are probably good, but that’s not what we’re shooting for here. Mix everything together and fill the donut pan 2/3 full. Bake for about 8 minutes or until the tops spring back when lightly touched. I pry them out of the pan when they’re hot so I can cool them on a wire rack and get to decorating as soon as possible.

I topped these with white chocolate, but lemon glaze would be tasty too.

In non-donut-related news: Cupcake Wars is airing on Food Network this Sunday, December 27th at 9pm CST! Check out my totally professional commercial:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=yO8mdK46AU8

You can find more info and air times on Food Network. And check out my last post for links to some of the stuff I posted while I was filming in LA. If you like what you see make sure you email Food Network and tell them! And I wouldn’t be mad at you if you mentioned that though I am adorable in anything, next time you’d like to see me NOT in a burka!

As I mentioned in the video, I will be live-Tweeting the whole show at 9pm CST so follow me on Twitter @bakeanddestroy to tune in! I’m sure to Tweet at least 500 times about the delicious salted caramel cupcakes More is providing for my guests and me. I’m literally more excited to eat those cupcakes than I am to see the show.

For my Chicago peeps, I will be on WTTW’s Chicago Tonight on January 12, 7pm. I don’t know what I’m even there for, so don’t ask me any questions, just watch!

Why do I keep making new blogs when I can barely even keep up with this one? Well, I have a new one, check it out at: http://donutdatabase.blogspot.com/

I do have some new stuff planned for poor ‘ol Bake and Destroy – a facelift, a new URL, super-special limited edition gear…

I’m not dead, I’m just takin’ a nap.

sprinkle donuts

Originally uploaded by Bake & Destroy!

I found this recipe on Recipezaar. I’m usually anti-putting stuff besides bread in the bread machine. I dunno… seems like cheating. But I’d never made donuts before so I figured I’d cheat this time and try harder next time. Actually, I super cheated, because Tony actually made these. I rolled the dough and cut the donuts out, but he made the dough and fried them up. We got over two dozen donuts with this recipe, and some big ones we cut into viking helmets and battle axes. (You can see those on my Flickr page.)

For the donuts you’ll need:

• 1 & 1/4 cups milk
• 1 beaten egg
• 1/4 cup shortening
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 & 1/2 cups white flour
• 1 & 1/2 teaspoons dry yeast

Then you:

1. Measure ingredients into your ABM baking pan.
2. Select dough setting and start machine.
3. Roll finished dough to 1/2 inch thick. Cut with a 2-1/2 inch donut cutter.
4. Let rise, covered, 30 minutes or until doubled.
5. Deep fry in fat at 375 degrees.
6. Turn donuts as they rise to the surface. Fry until brown on both sides.
7. Drain on absorbent paper towels. Either glaze or dust with powdered sugar.

This glaze recipe is from Food Network’s website.

You’ll need:

• 1/4 cup whole milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups confectioners’ sugar

Then you:

Combine milk and vanilla in a medium saucepan and heat over low heat until warm. Sift confectioners’ sugar into milk mixture. Whisk slowly, until well combined. Remove the glaze from the heat and set over a bowl of warm water. Dip donuts into the glaze, 1 at a time, and set on a draining rack placed in a half sheet pan for 5 minutes before serving.

You could feasibly color this glaze, or flavor it with something besides vanilla. It’s pretty sweet, I only glazed the tops of my donuts.