Monday, June 27, 2011

Om Nom Nom! It's The Cooking Corner!


So this is the very first post of a little segment of our blog that is going to be all about food!  We're both big time foodies and love eating and trying new foods.  I (Sugi) am the one that loves cooking and baking, mostly because I'm one of those people who loves to feed everyone!  So in our Cooking Corner posts I'll be sharing tips and recipes with all of you, but there will also be times where I'll be teaching Ai how to  make yummy treats.  Anyways enough of these long intro blurbs I keep doing and on to today's Cooking Corner recipe!  Today we're going to explore Doughnuts! 

The following doughnut recipe can be used to make any of the basic doughnuts you can find in a shop.  I made Boston Cream, Strawberry Glazed, and Powdered doughnuts with the recipe.

Doughnuts 

Ingredients

  • 2 (.25 ounce) envelopes active dry yeast
  • 1/4 cup warm water (105 to 115 degrees)
  • 1 1/2 cups lukewarm milk
  • 1/2 cup white sugar
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/3 cup shortening
  • 5 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 quart vegetable oil for frying

Directions

  1. Sprinkle the yeast over the warm water, and let stand for 5 minutes, or until foamy.
  2. In a large bowl, mix together the yeast mixture, milk, sugar, salt, eggs, shortening, and 2 cups of the flour. Mix for a few minutes at low speed, or stirring with a wooden spoon. Beat in remaining flour 1/2 cup at a time, until the dough no longer sticks to the bowl. Knead for about 5 minutes, or until smooth and elastic. Place the dough into a greased bowl, and cover. Set in a warm place to rise until double. Dough is ready if you touch it, and the indention remains.
  3. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface, and gently roll out to 1/2 inch thickness. Cut with a floured doughnut cutter. Let doughnuts sit out to rise again until double. Cover loosely with a cloth.
  4. Heat oil in a deep-fryer or large heavy skillet to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Slide doughnuts into the hot oil using a wide spatula. Turn doughnuts over as they rise to the surface. Fry doughnuts on each side until golden brown. Remove from hot oil, to drain on a wire rack. 

Tip: I made my doughnuts mini and I didn't have a doughnut cutter, so I used a small glass cup to cut out  round hole-less doughnuts.  Since they were pretty small they cooked all the way through without having a hole.  

Mini Boston Creams 


Ingredients

Above Doughnut recipe
3.8 oz (small box) of instant vanilla pudding or any custard recipe you may have

Chocolate Glaze
  • 3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
  • 3 tablespoons butter
  • 1 tablespoon light corn syrup
  • 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
Directions
  1. Make doughnuts using the above recipe.
  2. Let the doughnuts cool completely before filling.
  3. Fill the doughnuts with the custard using a marinade injector thing (I don't know what these things are    actually called >_<).  (The injector thing was perfect for the size of these doughnuts)
For the Chocolate Glaze
  1. In a double boiler over hot, but not boiling water, combine chocolate chips, butter, and corn syrup. Stir until chips are melted and mixture is smooth, then add vanilla.
  2. Dip doughnuts into glaze and let rest on a wire rack.


Mini Powdered Doughnuts

To make these you just need to put a few doughnuts (that you made using the above recipe)  in a brown paper lunch bag with some powdered sugar and shake the bag all around!  After a few vigorous shakes you'll have your own delicious powdered doughnuts!  


Mini Strawberry Glazed Doughnuts



Strawberry Glaze

  • 1/3 cup butter
  • 1/4 cup finely chopped strawberries
  • 2 cups confectioners' sugar
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
  • 4 tablespoons hot water or as needed

  • Directions

      1. Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add strawberries.  Stir in confectioners' sugar and vanilla until smooth. Remove from heat, and stir in hot water one tablespoon at a time until the icing is somewhat thin, but not watery.
      2. Dip the doughnuts (again the ones you made from the above recipe ^_^) into the glaze and let cool on a wire rack.


      So I hope you try out this recipe and enjoy your homemade doughnuts! 

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