Sugary Rings of Sweet Joy

School starts back on the 13th and I'm trying to get aaaaallll the baking out of my system.  I received a doughnut pan as a Christmas gift and, oh my lanta, I've been itching to use it.  Of course you can always make doughnuts in a big pot of sizzling oil, I like mine baked.  Yesterday I made cinnamon sugar doughnuts and today was all about chocolate. You really need a doughnut pan to make these, otherwise they'll just be "buns."

The basic recipe is the same for both doughnuts: the only difference is in the topping.

For the cinnamon doughnuts, I melted two tablespoons of butter and brushed it over one side of the doughnuts with a silicone pastry brush.  I mixed 1/4 cup granulated sugar with a tablespoon of ground cinnamon and dipped the wet side of the doughnuts in to coat them. I also substituted granulated sugar for brown, and white vinegar for apple cider vinegar.

For the chocolate doughnuts I just dunked the tops in chocolate ganache. To make ganache, just melt 1 & 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips with 1/2 cup heavy cream over medium. Stir it until smooth and transfer it to a bowl for dipping. When you dip them in the chocolate, press the doughnuts face down and lift them up and out: don't twist them.  Adorn them with colorful sprinkles, coconut flakes, or chopped nuts (I went with sprinkles!) I also added 1/8 teaspoon of nutmeg the doughnuts.  What's that? You have a lot of chocolate ganache leftover? Don't say it like it's a bad thing! It goes great with ice-cream or crepes.

What do doughnuts go great with? Coffee and friends! I got this precious giraffe mug at World Market and it comes in a set of four; enough for your friends. My favorite drink at Starbucks is a white mocha latte. Rather than spending 4-5 dollars on coffee everyday, I came up with a quick fix. I put 10-15 white chocolate chips in the bottom of my mug and pour the hot coffee over it. It's not quite the same thing as Starbucks, but it satisfies my craving. 

Oh la la. Doughnuts are easy to make and should be properly love and adored, otherwise you have no business making them in the first place. 

Peace and love. XXX.

One Less Smart Mouthed Kid

I had my wisdom teeth out yesterday and aside from desperately trying to avoid dry sockets, I have not been doing much of anything. Right now, I'm trying to get full on beef broth while binge-watching  30 Rock. My diet consists of GoGo Squeez applesauce and ice-cream soup, which is exactly what you think it is.  Now I'm sitting here with a swollen face, reminiscing about French press lattes and toasted English muffins topped with hot capocollo.  I began to flip through my December edition of Bon Appetit Magazine, but didn't feel like driving myself crazy looking at all the pictures of food I couldn't eat.

Let me tell you why I absolutely love my French press. I'm one of three coffee-drinkers in my house, and we've recently acquired a Keurig coffee maker. The single-cups of coffee are just really weak; they don't quite feed the bulldog. I like my coffee strong, but I know if I make a whole pot of joe I'll be the only drinking it. I like being able to make a personal pot of coffee as strong as I like it.

I use a MR. COFFEE French press which is cool because it's large enough to make a pot to share and it has a really good filter. The first French press coffee I had was made by a boy who had no idea what he was doing, using a press with a terrible filter. There were grounds floating all around my coffee, but he was so proud of his work that I couldn't say anything. In addition to an awesome filter, this press comes with an electric milk frother. I've been making more lattes than I really need.

Bottom line: coffee is important and having your wisdom teeth out is definitely not fun.

Peace and love. XXX.