October 07, 2007

Designer Donuts, the new cupcake?

Oct_07_2007_004_2

Is it too soon for donuts? (or, is it doughnuts?)

After Krispy Kreme decimated the country with its light, airy donuts that inflamed passions with resulting donut burnout, is it too soon for donuts to stage a comeback?

On the west coast, artisan & "designer" donuts are popping up at Farmer's Markets (Staccato Gelato's donuts in Portland are great) and at shops like Fritelli's in Los Angeles. Is there room in other US cities for similar stands and shops?

Oh yeah!

I love the copy from the Fritelli's web page:

"Alison Winston, owner and founder of Frittelli's, has created a unique line of designer doughnuts for this Beverly Hills hotspot. Frittelli's choreographs textures, shapes, colors, and sizes to provide the "perfect doughnut." "

Ah...a Fritelli donut...like a dance, but edible. I wonder, though: do "designer" donuts have tons of calories and fat? Does it matter?

Yesterday, Betty Turbo and I tried our hands at making "artisan" donuts. I started out the morning by whipping up a few jams for filling - an apple pear and a strawberry apple (I used McIntosh for pectin). I pulled out The Joy of Cooking, which, of my 30 or so sweet goods cookbooks, is the only one to have multiple recipes. I made up about 4 recipes - a yeasted sweet potato that tasted terrible and didn't rise, two baking soda recipes that I modified with ingredient changes (including making one gluten-free), and an Alton Brown yeasted dough recipe that was unnecessarily complex so I simplified it. I figure that if he and I went to culinary school together (we did), I am certainly qualified to adjust one of his recipes that contains way too many steps (it did).

The Joy of Cooking basic dough recipe - made with 4 teaspoons of baking powder - was perhaps the most successful. Replacing vegetable shortening with butter made a huge difference in flavor. I found that organic pastry flour, made with whole grains, made lousy donuts. I did replace some of the granulated sugar in one of the recipes with honey, which still tasted great. I used yogurt in any recipe that called for buttermilk or sour cream - again, it tasted great.

Of course I forgot to take pictures of the process. This morning I pulled out the camera and finally took some pictures - a jelly donut, above, and a plain donut with lemon glaze, below. I'm going to bring these to a party. Before I do so, I'm going to dust them again with confectioner's sugar. Mmmmmm. And come winter, I'll try these again. The humidity took a toll on the sugar, dissolving it quickly.

Oct_07_2007_001

Oct 7, 2007 12:22:10 PM | Cake

The comments to this entry are closed.

NEXT POST
Cookbook Monday: Eric Kayser's Sweet and Savory Tarts Tarts intimidate most bakers I know. Perhaps it is the requirement that some tart shells be blind baked before filling, perhaps it is the delicate nature of the tart dough. Perhaps it just seems too complicated, too advanced, too time consuming. Eric Kayser, a 4th generation baker (a fact revealed in the book description, the introduction, and just about any where M. Kayser's name is mentioned), has put together a marvelously simple, easy-to-follow cookbook that reveals the secrets - and simplicity - of making great tarts. Usually when I see a cookbook like this, where the author's name is larger than the name of the book, I'd have something sassy and mocking to say - I don't really care for cooking celebrities. But Eric Kayser is not yet a household name here in the states, despite the presence of three of his baking ventures in the Los Angeles area. And...
PREVIOUS POST
Cookbook Monday: Cooking With Shelburne Farms Have I ever mentioned to you that I spent two years of my life in Vermont, while I was a student at New England Culinary Institute? Actually, that's a bit of a lie. I only spent a year, cumulatively, in Vermont, but winters have a way of slowing down time, and I can still remember my frozen breath, my crystalline eyelashes, the endless cold that pierced my warm, scarf-covered intentions. I spent the summer of one year at the Essex Junction campus, close to Burlington but just far enough away from Shelburne Farms to make it inaccessible, but for special occasions, like the visit of my parents. Other students spent internships at Shelburne Farms, using cheese from the dairy, vegetables and herbs from the gardens, and meats from other local farms. A meal at Shelburne Farms, a former Vanderbilt Estate and current land trust and working farm, was elegant and...

Cake and Commerce

The Typepad Team

Search

Recent Comments