Posts Tagged ‘glaze’

I watched the first episode of Good Eats: Reloaded, which aired Monday. I wasn’t sure what I would think of Alton revamping his classic episodes, as I felt that he might be diminishing the integrity of his original work. That being said, I feel that Alton did a good job of intertwining new techniques/technology with his original content. Plus, he’s only reloading a small number of episodes – those which he feels need to be revisited and improved upon. How can I argue with that when it is his body of work?

Certain Good Eats episodes are about food topics I am super excited to get in the kitchen and make. Episode 108 was all about doughnuts, a food item I had never before made, but that had always been on my list. Once again, this project gave me the incentive to get in the kitchen and scratch another food off my to-do list.

Yeast Doughnuts

Alton’s doughnut recipe is for yeast doughnuts, which are much lighter than their cake counterparts. Yeast doughnuts are obviously leavened with yeast, while cake doughnuts are leavened with baking powder. While yeast doughnuts are light and airy, cake doughnuts tend to be heavier and more dense, and I happen to think both are fantastic. The first step for Alton’s doughnuts is to put 2 1/2 ounces shortening in a bowl and heat 1 1/2 C milk until the milk is just hot enough to melt the shortening (I heated my milk in the microwave). Once hot, pour the milk over the shortening and set aside.

In a small bowl, sprinkle two packages of instant yeast over 1/3 C warm water and set this aside while you gather the other ingredients.

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Yeast sprinkled in warm water.

You will also need 2 eggs, 1/4 C sugar, 1 t fresh nutmeg, 1 1/2 t salt, 1-1 1/2 gallons vegetable or peanut oil, and 23 ounces flour.

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Ingredients for doughnuts: yeast, eggs, sugar, salt, nutmeg, shortening, flour, and milk.

Next, pour the yeast and shortening mixtures into the bowl of a stand mixer, along with the eggs, salt, nutmeg, sugar, and half of the flour.

Stir the dough on low speed with the paddle attachment. Once the flour is incorporated, increase the speed and mix the dough thoroughly.

Next, add the rest of the flour, mixing at low speed until incorporated. Increase the speed and mix the dough thoroughly again.

Now it is time to knead the dough, so replace the paddle attachment with the dough hook. Let the hook knead the dough on medium speed until the dough begins to pull away from the sides of the bowl.

Transfer the dough to an oiled bowl, cover it with plastic, and let it sit for an hour, or until doubled.

When the dough has risen, sprinkle flour liberally on a smooth surface and turn the dough out onto the flour. Sprinkle the top of the dough with flour also.

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Dough turned out onto floured surface, and liberally dusted with flour.

Fold the dough in quarters a couple times, pressing out any gas bubbles with each fold.

Next, use a rolling pin to roll the dough to 3/8″ thick; the dough will be quite sticky, so you may need to consistently dust it with flour.

Cut the dough into doughnuts using either a 2 1/2 inch doughnut cutter, or, as Alton prefers, a 2 1/2 inch pastry ring for the outsides and a 7/8″ pastry ring for the centers.

Transfer the doughnuts to a floured sheet pan, cover them with a tea towel, and let them rise for 30 minutes (this is called “bench proofing”).

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Doughnuts transferred to floured baking sheet to proof.

You can set excess dough aside, covered, for an hour and re-roll/cut more doughnuts. I ended up with a total of 25 doughnuts. Once proofed, heat the vegetable or peanut oil in a Dutch oven until it reaches 365 degrees.

Add doughnuts to the hot oil, avoiding overcrowding them. Cook the doughnuts for one minute per side, transferring them to a rack over a sheet pan to drain/cool. Tip:  use chopsticks or skewers to flip and transfer the doughnuts.

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Doughnuts frying for 1 minute per side.

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Alton’s yeast doughnuts.

Allow the doughnuts to cool completely before glazing with one, or both, of the recipes below. I did have to sample an unglazed doughnut, and I can report that it was lightly crispy on the outside and super airy on the inside. The dough was just lightly sweet with a hint of nutmeg. Now, on to those glazes…

Doughnut Glaze

Alton’s first doughnut glaze recipe is super simple, coming together in just a few minutes. Combine 1/4 C milk and 1 t vanilla in a saucier over medium heat.

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Milk and vanilla in a saucier over medium heat.

In the episode Alton specified that you want the milk to reach 150 degrees, but I just heated it until it was pretty warm. Once warm, whisk in 2 C sifted powdered sugar until smooth.

Remove the glaze from the heat and dip the doughnuts into the warm glaze.

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Alton’s glaze.

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Glazed doughnuts.

If you are glazing a lot of doughnuts, you may need keep the glaze warm by setting it over a bowl of warm water, but I did not need to do that. Let the glaze set up for a few minutes before eating. This glaze is great, giving the doughnuts a sweet vanilla flavor and a pretty sheen.

Chocolate Doughnut Glaze

If you happen to be a chocolate fan, Alton has you covered with his chocolate doughnut glaze. The chocolate glaze begins in the same way as the original doughnut glaze, combining 1/4 C milk and 1 t vanilla in a saucier over medium heat.

Heat the milk until warm and whisk in 2 C sifted powdered sugar.

Once the sugar is incorporated, add an additional teaspoon of vanilla, 1/2 C butter cut in pats, 1 T corn syrup, and 4 ounces chopped bittersweet chocolate.

When half of the chocolate has melted, remove the pan from the heat and continue stirring until the glaze is smooth.

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Glaze stirred until smooth.

Dip the doughnuts into the glaze, allowing it to set before eating.

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Alton’s chocolate glaze.

This glaze is also quite outstanding and results in super pretty doughnuts. The glaze sets up, but is still smooth and creamy. It gives the doughnuts a punch of chocolate flavor, though you can still taste the flavor of the doughnuts themselves.

IMG_9697IMG_9703I really enjoyed this episode, and doughnuts will be made in my kitchen again. They really are quite easy and much better than what you can buy at the store. Personally, I think I liked the vanilla glaze more than the chocolate one, but I really liked both. I gave some doughnuts away and also froze some for later glazing. I think I know what we’ll be eating for breakfast Saturday!

 

Clotted Cream

Though I heard of clotted cream, I had never had it before I made it for this episode of Good Eats. And, as recipes go, it does not get easier than this one. Place a paper coffee filter in a coffee filter basket, setting it over a bowl or measuring cup. Or, you can do as I did and use a Chemex coffee maker. Pour cream into the filter, filling it almost to the top.

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Cream poured into paper coffee filter, allowing whey to drain into container below.

The key here is to use cream that is not ultra-pasteurized. I actually used raw cream.

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Raw cream.

Refrigerate the cream for 6-8 hours, allowing the whey to drain into the bowl, while leaving the thickened cream in the filter. Scrape the sides of the filter every two hours with a spatula until you have cream that is the consistency of softened cream cheese.

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Cream after being refrigerated for several hours.

Serve the clotted cream with fresh strawberries.

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Clotted cream with fresh strawberries.

I thought this was fun and easy to make, and the unsweetened cream paired well with sweet berries. I think I will make this again when the weather gets warm. Next time, I will probably opt for pasteurized cream, rather than raw, because the raw cream had a bit of an animal-like flavor. I served Alton’s clotted cream with the following recipe for macerated berries.

Macerated Strawberries

My mom used to make macerated berries quite often, but her version was quite different from Alton’s. While Alton’s version is wine-based, Mom’s version simply used balsamic vinegar and a little bit of sugar and black pepper. Mom usually made these in warmer months, serving them as a light dessert after dinner. Trust me… balsamic vinegar pairs wonderfully with strawberries. For Alton’s macerated stawberries, pour a bottle of red wine into a large bowl, adding two pints of hulled/sliced strawberries.

Note:  Alton has an excellent trick for hulling strawberries – simply use the star tip for a decorating bag, twisting it into the top of the berry and pulling the hull out. Works great!

To the berries, add 1/4 C orange blossom honey, 1 t lemon zest, and 1 t black pepper. If you want softer berries, also add 1 1/2 C sugar (I added the extra sugar, as Alton indicated that you want softer berries for the next recipe).

Marinate the berries for two hours before serving.

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Berries after marinating for 2 hours.

I reserved half of these berries for the next recipe, while we ate the rest of these with Alton’s clotted cream. These berries were quite tasty, though I will say the dominant flavor was that of the wine. I have to admit that I would choose Mom’s macerated berries any day over Alton’s. So, if you want good macerated berries, try Alton’s. If you want great macerated berries, try Mom’s.

Strawberry Pudding

Of the recipes in this episode, this is the one I most excited to make. It just looked like it would be fun. For this one you’ll need 1/2 a recipe of Alton’s macerated strawberries and 16 slices of potato bread, with four of the slices buttered on one side (I halved this recipe since I only needed two servings).

You will also need four 13.5-ounce cans with both ends removed, along with four of their lids. Finally, you need four full soda cans and a sheet pan lined with parchment paper. To begin, use the empty cans to cut a round out of each slice of bread. Cut the buttered slices last, leaving the rounds in the bottom of the cans, butter side up.

Top each buttered round with ~2 T of macerated strawberries, topping with another layer of bread. Alternate the berry and bread layers, finishing with bread.

Place the can lids on top of the last bread layer and weigh the lids down with the full soda cans. Refrigerate the cans for eight hours.

Transfer each can to a plate, using a spatula. Carefully slide each can off, and remove the can lid. Pipe whipped cream or serve clotted cream on top of the puddings.

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Strawberry pudding after removing can/lid. Topped with clotted cream.

These were fun to make, super easy, and pretty. And, honestly, you could make this with any fruit. I am not quite sure why this dessert is called a “pudding,” but we really enjoyed it. This is one I will be making again for sure. We don’t have kids, but I would imagine kids would really have fun with helping to make this too.

Glazed Strawberries

This recipe is not posted online, but Alton prepped these berries in the episode. Using an unfolded paperclip, pierce the big end of a strawberry.

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Unfolded paperclip in a strawberry for dipping.

Dip each berry in 1 C of apricot preserves melted with 1 T orange liqueur.

Let the berries cool slightly. Devour.

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Glazed strawberries.

These were easy and really delicious. They are sweet and slightly tart, with just a hint of orange. They also look super pretty, as the glaze gives the berries a very nice sheen, enhancing their red color. These would be super pretty on a plate at a party. I highly recommend these.