Life Is But A Drink

Last year, I decided that I was going to be a doughnut person.  I was over cupcakes.

I bought a doughnut baking pan and a doughnut cutter and a doughnut cookbook.  Best laid plans and all. I haven’t made it too far in my doughnut-making experience (barely scratched the surface is more like it), but I have sort of perfected the Baked Cake Doughnut with Chocolate Glaze.  I’ve made them several times now and they are rather tasty, so I thought I’d share the recipe and try to inspire some of you to join me in this largely irrational doughnut-making mission.

INGREDIENTS

3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/3 cup superfine sugar
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons vegetable shortening
1/4 cup whole milk, heated in microwave for approximately 20 seconds
1/4 cup vanilla yogurt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg, beaten

DIRECTIONS

STEP 1:  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Lightly grease a doughnut pan. (By the way, I got my doughnut pan and the various other doughnut accoutrement through Amazon.)

STEP 2:  Sift the flours and baking powder together into a large bowl.  Whisk in sugar, nutmeg, and salt.

STEP 3.  Add the vegetable shortening.  Use your fingers to rub it into the dry ingredients, until evenly distributed.

STEP 4:  Add the warm milk, yogurt, vanilla, and egg.  Stir until just combined.  (Be careful not to overmix.)

STEP 5:  Use a spoon to fill each doughnut cup about 3/4 full.  Bake until doughnuts are a light golden brown and spring back when touched, about 18-20 minutes.

STEP 6:  Let cool slightly before removing from pan.   Let cool on a cooling rack until they are cool enough to handle.

STEP 7:  Dip each doughnut into the chocolate glaze (recipe below) so that the glaze covers the top half of the donut.  Flip over and let rest on a flat surface until the glaze has hardened slightly.  (If you want to use sprinkles, add the sprinkles before the glaze hardens.)

CHOCOLATE GLAZE INGREDIENTS AND DIRECTIONS:  Combine 1/2 cup of confectioners sugar and 1 1/2 tablespoons of cocoa powder in a shallow bowl.  Add 3/4 teaspoons of vanilla extract.  Add 2 tablespoons of milk and stir.  Continue to add milk 1 tablespoon at a time, stirring well in between each tablespoon of milk, until the glaze is pourable but still thick.

These doughnut and glaze recipes are adapted from my doughnut recipe book (see here).  Since I haven’t made much from the book, I can’t necessarily recommend it yet – but the pictures are amazing and there are some pretty tempting recipes in there (Margarita Doughnuts – uh, yea).

So, you know that I’ve had bad luck randomly picking items off the shelf at Whole Foods.  The whole garlic peanut thing still haunts me (see here). 

But, then, sometimes you hit the jackpot.  And all is once again right with the world.

I ran into Whole Foods last night to pick up some coffee beans and came across these chocolate covered caramels sprinkled with sea salt.  Yes, please.

I ate about 5 of them last night because they were so good.  And another for breakfast.  Yes, really.  Don’t mind if I do. 

I think I’m in love.

This is what’s going on at our house this week.

Our contractor is here working on a few things.  We thought it was going to be a quick job but, four days later and they are not done.  There is still a pile of contractor junk in the middle of my living room floor.  It’s not like they are dawdling or wasting time or not working hard to get the job done.  It’s just taking longer than we expected.

We’re hoping they finish up today because we kind of want our house back.  I’m not a huge fan of circular saw decor and construction dust and having to take my dog to doggie day care every day to stay out of the way of the guys as they work.  It’s starting to stress me out just a bit.

I wish I could say that we were having something amazing done – a new bathroom?  a kitchen remodel?  But, alas, we’re just having a few rooms re-painted and some damaged trim / windowsills replaced.  It’s a lot of little, detailed, finishing work.  We’re pleased as punch with how it’s looking.  I basically want to start sleeping in my entry hall now because it’s so clean and crisp and finished and lovely.

So now we just want it all to be done so we can enjoy it.

Wish us luck.