Friday, September 10, 2010

Developing Dessert



Well, here we go--my first post from my new kitchen! I have to say, it's taken awhile for me to feel comfortable cooking somewhere else. Of course, the kitchen at my parents' is much nicer than the one I have now, but that was also the kitchen where I developed my rhythm. I've been in my new place for about three weeks, and I still don't feel completely at ease, but don't worry--that hasn't kept me from cooking! Here are a few random pictures of things I've created in the new place:



A perfect lunch--baugette, goat cheese, honey, walnuts, and tarragon


:

Spaghetti cooked with swiss chard and fresh tomato sauce



Miniature red peppers stuffed with sauteed corn


The real reason of the update, however, is to talk about a dessert I made last night. I'm not a huge dessert person. I like dessert fine enough, though I don't eat it that often, and I certainly don't cook it that often. But I was watching an episode of Master Chef (something else completely out of character for me), and one of the challenges was to make a dessert. So I guess that got me thinking. It was pretty interesting how these amateur, yet talented, chefs were freaking out when they found out they had to make a dessert. But it makes sense. Dessert is an entirely different ball game. Dessert is measuring quantities and getting your dough, custard, or pastry to have just the right consistency. There's less room for improv in dessert. BUT--there is some room for improv. How did dessert recipes come to exist in the first place? Someone got an idea, tried it, tasted it, and wrote it down (if it worked!).

Well last night, that someone was me.

I'de been having a hankering for fried doughnuts. There's a recipe for them in this Mexican cookbook that I like to make, doughnuts flavored with anise and sprinkled with cinnamon sugar. But I moved, so I don't have that cookbook anymore. Well, I thought, I will just make my own. I was feeling inspired from the show, I wanted to do something great, so I thought about it a little, and went for it.

It started with me thinking about the anise. I didn;t have any anise, and I do have fennel seed, but that wasn't quite the flavor I wanted. So my mind wandered to cardamom. Yes. I've made sugar cookies with cardamom before, and they were delicious. When I think of cardamom, I think of India, and when I think of India, I think of tea. A great lover of tea, I sometimes try to incorporate it into my cooking, and this seemed a good opportunity to try. I decided I would make a syrup with the tea to put over the doughnuts, and when I was getting my ingredients out, I spied some dried apricots, so those became part of the syrup as well. So here you go, my recipe for Cardamom-Spiked Doughnuts with Ceylon-Apricot Sauce:


For the doughnuts:

1 c. flour

1/2 tsp. salt (maybe a little less)

1/4 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. crushed cardamom

1 tsp. baking powder

3 T. butter, melted and slightly cooled

1/2 c. milk (I used condensed milk because that was all I had)

2 T. honey





For the sauce:

2/3 c. of strong brewed Ceylon tea (or other black tea)

1/3 c. sugar

4-5 dried apricots, sliced


Mix first five ingredients in a bowl, using a whisk to make sure they are well incorporated. In another bowl, use a whisk to incorporate milk and honey. Whisk well! Add milk/honey and melted butter to the flour mixture. Stir to make a sticky but firm dough. Will look something like this:


Put the dough in the refriderator to chill for about 15 minutes. While this is happening, you can make the sauce. In a small saucepan, mix tea and sugar. Bring to a boil and boil for about 5 minutes. Turn down the heat, add the apricots, and simmer until a syrup-like consistency is acheived.


After the dough has chilled, fry the doughnuts. Pour vegetable oil in a pan, so it is about 1/4 inch deep. Heat at medium-high heat. Once the oil is hot, turn down the heat to low (this is so the doughnuts cook all the way through and do not burn). Form the dough into little balls and flatten them--the doughnuts will puff up as they cook. Drop the dough into the oil and cook for about 2 minutes on each side. Adjust the heat as needed so the doughnuts brown and don't burn. Move cooked doughnuts onto a plate lined with a paper towel. To serve, put on a plate and drizzle with sauce. Enjoy!


A note about the sauce: I would recommend brewing the tea very strong. Because there is so much sugar needed to make the sauce, the flavor of the tea can easily be drowned out. That is the one big change I will make to this recipe in the future, because I did not brew my tea strong enough!


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