Glitter mini doughnuts

We made it to FriYAY of the doughnut week! Well done everybody! I am sure it wasn’t too tough! Although mine was busy I loved every second of it (except for the guy who stole my parking today) 

Ending off doughnut week is something simple but elegant. Our dressed to impress Friday night mini doughnut topped in edible glitter! Great for a girls night or just to impress these little guys will make a huge impression! 

Ingredients:

•   150 grams cake flour

•   1teaspoon Baking powder

•   ½ teaspoon Salt

•   110 grams caster sugar

•   120ml buttermilk

•   2 Eggs

•   20 grams Butter (unsalted) melted

•      1 ½ teaspoon vanilla paste

•      ½ teaspoon almond essence

•      500 grams icing sugar

•      1 egg white

•      1 tub edible glitter

Instructions:

Preheat your oven to 160 degrees Celsius.

Spray your mini doughnut tin lightly and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl whisk together flour, baking powder salt and castor sugar. Whisking creates air and removes lumps.

In a separate bowl whisk together the milk, melted butter, egg, vanilla and almond essence.

Make a well in the flour bowl and in third stages mix in the wet ingredients. Whisking after each addition until fully combined in a batter.

Using a spoon fill the doughnut tin. Don’t fill more than ¾ full, as they will rise when they are baked. Bake in the oven for 8 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted.

Set aside on a cooling rack once baked.

In a separate bowl mix together the icing sugar and egg white. You are making royal icing which sets quickly and dries hard, so work fast. Once your icing sugar is mixed use a butter knife to ice the top of your doughnuts. Sprinkle edible glitter on them before the icing dries. Leave them to fully set on the cooling rack. 

Serve with cocktails and have an amazing weekend!

-Melissa  

 

Baked apple doughnut balls

I simply love how versatile doughnuts actual are. Through this week of doughnut madness I have learnt that they can be transformed, decorated and baked any which way you like. They are the chameleons of the baked goods world and simply a lot of fun.

This recipe is day four and worth the wait. It’s a great recipe to make for a party as it has different dippers and you can play around with the sauces you choose. Your guest can mix flavours or pick a flavour and dip and dunk away. I must admit I have always been a bit of a dunker myself but there is no judgment here!

They are interactive which I think can really elevate a dinner party and makes them a social affair. They are also great for children’s parties and you could mix things up with different frosting colours and sprinkles!

Ingredients:

·      2 cups apple cider

·      2 whole cloves

·      2 cups all-purpose flour

·      1 ½ teaspoon baking powder

·      1 ½ teaspoon baking soda

·      1 teaspoon cinnamon

·      ¼ teaspoon salt

·      1 large egg

·      2 tablespoons salted butter, melted

·      ⅔ cup light brown sugar

·      ½ cup buttermilk

·      2 tablespoons apple sauce, naturally sweetened - no sugar

·      1 apple pealed and finely chopped into little cubes

·      250ml cream

·      1 teaspoon vanilla extract 

Instructions:

For the baked apple cider doughnuts:

Start by simmering the apple cider with the 2 cloves in a small saucepan over medium heat for 15-20 minutes until the apple cider reduces down to ½ cup. Remove the cloves from the concentrate and pour the apple cider into a container and refrigerate while you prepare the doughnut batter.

Position a rack in the centre of the oven and preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Spray your doughnut pan or your mini cupcake pan with non stick spray and set aside.

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt, set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine the egg, melted butter, and brown sugar, whisk until smooth. Then, add in the apple sauce, vanilla, buttermilk, and the apple cider concentrate.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and whisk until just combined. Its okay if a few small lumps remain. They will bake out.

Pour the batter by the teaspoon into the prepared mini cupcake pan about three quarter of the way full. Make sure to not overfill, as they will rise when baking. Drop a small piece of apple into each doughnut ball. Mini doughnut balls take between 8-11 minutes. If you are making doughnuts, they will take about 9-12 minutes. Check them by inserting a toothpick and if it comes out clean they are ready!

For the cinnamon sugar coating:

Combine the sugar and cinnamon together. Dip the tops of each doughnut ball into the melted butter then coat with the cinnamon sugar mixture. Repeat with all the doughnuts. Depending on how long you dip the doughnuts into the butter, you may need more butter and/or more cinnamon sugar.

For the whipped cream:

Whip the cream and add the vanilla. Serve in a small bowl as a dipper to break the sweetness of the caramel.

If you want the caramel sauce from yesterday post it's a great dipper for this recipe

-Melissa

Warm doughnuts with caramel and plum sauce

So day three of my doughnut week brings you to another cheat recipe and I thought it would be perfect for a humpday cheat! We are over the worst of the week and that is worth celebrating! I suppose I am the type of girl that will find any reason for a party, especially one that involves food!

This recipe is really only going to teach you something new with the sauces but they are great to have in your arsenal as they can be used over and over again! The plum sauce is great to serve with a crumble and the caramel is a great dipper for baked apples! 

Ingredients:

6 large cinnamon and sugar doughnuts

Vanilla ice cream

6 large pitted and sliced plums

5 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon butter

1 tablespoon water

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup water

3/4 cup heavy cream

3 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 teaspoon sea salt, crushed or kosher salt

Instructions:

Plum sauce:

Pit and slice all your plums. Place them in a medium saucepan over a medium heat. Add your sugar and water and allow to soften and become slightly gooey. Add butter and whisk until all butter and sugar is dissolved. Set aside.

Caramel sauce:

In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, combine the sugar and water over medium-low heat until the sugar dissolves. Increase the heat and bring to a boil, without stirring. If necessary, use a wet pastry brush to wash down any crystals on the side of the pan. Boil until the syrup is a deep amber color, about 5 to 6 minutes. Keep an eye on it as caramel can burn very quickly!

Remove the sugar from the heat and carefully whisk in the heavy cream. The mixture will bubble. Stir in the unsalted butter, and salt. Transfer the caramel to a dish and cool.

Warm your doughnuts in the oven until they are hot. Serve them with a dollop of vanilla ice cream and top with plum and caramel sauce. 

-Melissa 

Doughnut bread and butter pudding with strawberries and almonds

Right so I don’t usually do this but I do know that not everyone has a whole lot of time these days before dinner parties. At the end of the day my blog is about teaching you how to cook without the recipe as well as to know how to make simple things taste amazing!

So here is the first of two recipes that both involve store bought cinnamon and sugar doughnuts. Mine come from Woolworths but I am positive any fresh cinnamon and sugar doughnut that is light and fluffy will do. 

Ingredients:

6 cinnamon doughnuts, torn

50 grams salted butter, softened

3 extra large eggs

75 grams castor sugar

1 teaspoon (5 ml) vanilla essense

1 cup (250 ml) milk

1 cup (250 ml) cream

1/2 cup Strawberries roasted with butter and caster sugar, to serve.

50 grams chopped almonds

Instructions:

Preheat an oven to 180 degrees celcius

Place the torn doughnut in a dish and dot with the butter.

In a bowl, whisk the eggs, caster sugar, vanilla essence, milk and cream together well.

Pour the milk and egg mixture over the doughnuts and bake in the oven for 30 minutes or until the custard is set.

Place strawberries in a small saucepan over a medium heat, sprinkle with castor sugar and add a knob of butter. Let them soften and remove from heat once sugar has dissolved.

Serve warm with roasted strawberries, almonds and whipped cream if you wish!

-Melissa

Do you get better than doughnuts?

I don’t think that I have ever met someone who doesn’t love doughnuts and because of this fact I’ve decided to do a doughnut week. I know you will love these recipes because they are fun, easy and will make you feel like a rock star in the kitchen. 

I’ve played around with recipes that are made from scratch and yes, there will even be cheat recipes. Who can blame me? In this day and age some of us barely touch side and at the end of the day this blog is about teaching you how to cook.  

We all need those little black book recipes and trust me; you are about to see a few! Have fun with them, bake them with friends and even better eat them with family! 

So the first recipe for the week is a simple cinnamon doughnut with a coloured glaze! 

Ingredients:

·      1 cup all purpose flour

·      ½ cup sugar

·      1 ½ teaspoon baking power

·      ¼ teaspoon salt

·      ¼ teaspoon cinnamon (optional)

·      ½ cup milk

·      ½ teaspoon apple cider vinegar

·      ½ teaspoon vanilla extract

·      1 egg

·      4 tablespoons butter, softened

For the glaze

·      2 tablespoons milk

·      ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract

·      1 cup powdered sugar

·      blue colouring gel (or which ever colour you want)

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 180 degrees celcius

In a large bowl whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. You can sift it if you wish but whisking it also removes lumps and adds air to the batter.

In a small saucepan bring together the milk, apple cider vinegar, vanilla, egg and butter.

Cook over a medium heat until the butter melts. Remove from the heat.

Add milk mixture to dry mixture and whisk together until combines into a smooth batter

Using a large tablespoon, spoon the doughnut mixture into the tin. Work as neatly as possible.

Bake for 12-14 minutes or until a toothpick comes out smooth.

Remove from the tin and set aside on a cooling rack.

For the glaze:

Place all ingredients in a saucepan over a medium heat and stir continuously until just combines and no lumps appear.

When the glaze cools you wont be able to dip your doughnuts in so place the glaze in a bowl over hot water and dip your doughnuts in.

Place them on a cooling rack as they will have some glaze drip off.

Give them a few minutes before you serve them!

-Melissa