20070628

the girl who ate doughnuts.

cinnamon vanilla sugar honey brioche doughnut

ay, that girl. again, with the food! she really will eat everything, i think, one day. earlier this month, miss robyn reported on national donut day, and i was a little surprised at the ones she preferred, which i had previously found lacking. but that is me, and i have never been fond of doughnuts, although i feel like i should as they are, in theory, a wonder of the modern world. shouldn't deep-fried dough equal sweet, fluffy light poofie cakes with a tiny bit of crispness and some sort of fatty richness? it should, but i rarely feel like it does. most doughnuts i've tried do not actually taste like anything and act like vehicles (reliant ks, not mini coopers) for fat or sugar--they are stodgy, there is very little subtlety, and frankly, very little flavour.

i have had a few excellent doughnuts before, so i knew it wasn't a lost cause. i prefer yeast doughnuts with some sort of filling or glaze over cake-type ones with flavours incorporated into the batter; since i was already working with brioche dough, i thought that this was the perfect opportunity to see if it would make as good a doughnut as i thought possible. however, i didn't think that the brioche recipes i had tried previously would work; the high butter content was a concern to me, as i thought maybe it would melt off too much in frying, or just burn up. so, the handy-dandy internets yielded this recipe that has a healthy amount of eggs and butter, which to me is an imperative.

cider glazed honey brioche doughnut

i had a lovely cinnamon-scented honey; on brioche it became even moreso--the silky, earthy, slightly musty amber blended well with the equally sumptuous and rich bread. it was a natural match, so i decided to swap out the sugar in the doughnut recipe for honey. i didn't feel the need to compensate for the extra liquid that the honey would add as extra moisture in bread doughs doesn't have to hamper the final product as long as there is sufficient kneading. which, actually, is a LOT of kneading. i find brioche doughs to be somewhat difficult in that the eggs and butter can make it a sticky unwieldy mess; however, keep kneading and eventually it comes together in a beautifully golden-tinged elastic ball. yeast doughnut doughs, too, can be just as difficult to work as brioche, perhaps even more; at least with brioche i don't have to use a mixer to get a good dough (although it helps)--with a mixer, this doughnut dough took something like 30-45 minutes to get properly elastic, and smooth. that along with an overnight proofing time means it will take something like 11 to 12 hours to complete. despite these doughnuts not being something that can be knocked out on the spur of the moment, the work that must be done is pretty easy-going. yes, they are fun to make. also, i thought the final product was well worth the effort; dusted with cinnamon and vanilla-bean infused sugar, or glazed with apple cider and more of that cinnamon-scented honey, these doughnuts were golden brown, airy, light, not too sweet, and tender. truly delicious, and packing more flavour than the ones offered at your average donut hut.

doughnut innard

14 comments:

Mmm, they look wonderful!

I really like your dishes too. They're so cute. If you don't mind me asking, where did you find them?

Your doughnuts are so perfect, Santos!! Are you sure you're not a convert now? ;)

can'y stop drooling over those doughnuts.. if u start a shop, i will first in line to buy!

I DO EAT IT ALLLL!

Your donuts = beautiful! Ahhh! THEY GLOOOW...with tasties. Your description of donuts, "sweet, fluffy light poofie cakes with a tiny bit of crispness and some sort of fatty richness," is spot on! And they usually don't taste like that! Right? :(

There's better stuff than Frittelli's (like a FRESH donut...I've only had the day old stuff), but it was one of the best I've had, which might tell you how many donuts I eat (almost none). Most donuts tasted leaden and heavy while the Frittelli's ones tasted...not so much. Somehow light and heavy at the same time.

..now i want a doonuuut...

looks so wonderful santos ...

the honey would have been pretty amazing i reckon.

I'm afraid I'm not nearly so discerning as you when it comes to donuts, that together with the fact I haven't had one in ages makes me want to pounce on the two you've pictured above. They sound and look incredible - save one for me!

Wait... that didn't come out right! What I was trying to say is that I love most donuts... however yours look particularly tempting!

I should be looking at the doughnuts but I find myself staring at your cup and saucer sets. They're gorgeous and fun! I love them so much, any chance they come in Cow? ^_^;;

hol&j and chrissie, the plates are from mountain mountain, a japanese graphics design company. there's a list of places around the world that carry their products on the website; i bought these from giant robot. chrissie, i don't think there's a cow, but there's a hedgehog i've got my eye on!

patricia, not quite! if the production time wasn't so long, then maybe :)

mallugirl, you're sweet :) maybe i'll open my first shop in new jersey!

robyn, i'm glad you eat it all because then you write about it and it all sounds soooogoooooood. but then i have to eat it all and then it sounds soooobad.

deborah, it's lovely honey. it was just honey that had been simmered with some cinnamon sticks. i reckong that would be an nice home project one day.

cathy (laughing) i totally got what you meant the first time. they do look particularly enticing don't they? it's the same in real life. which is why they are long, long gone.

i recently heard that there is a campaign to bring you to sydney! :)

so i should tell you that the pastryshop up the street from me has a brioche donut, as lovely golden as yours, but also filled with lemon creme. i haven't had it yet, because i am so distracted with everything else when i go in there... but i thought you might like to know.

yes! i will come to sydney, although when is the question. however, a sunny yellow wedding is a celebration not to be missed!

lemon creme and brioche. mmmm. MMMMM! i hope you'll get to it one day soon and let me know how it is.

your doughnuts looks soo good. I bet my kids would love this :)

anne, i think you would as well!

the cutest donut pictures ever. I had a donut fixation when I moved to NYC... a place not even known for them...I would seek out fresh "marble" donuts, buttermilk and chocolate swirled....mmmm...