Tag beignet

Daylight Savings Breakfast of Champions: “Coffee and Donuts”

"Coffee and Donuts"With daylight savings time coming to a close this Sunday, November 3rd, you’ll get one extra hour of precious time for sleep waking up with a hot cup of joe. Make your mornings and breakfasts those of champions with luxuriously delicious homemade “donuts”. Brunch Beignets with Mocha Crème Anglaise are sure to impress friends and family (admit it, even the name is impressive!). These fun party poppers provide the perfect mix of cinnamon and sugar, not to mention the devilishly good dipping sauce – did anyone say cocoa, espresso and Kahlùa?! You’ll never want to opt for store bought coffee and donuts again!

Coffee And Donuts: Cinnamon Beignets with Mocha Crème Anglaise
This recipe and others can be found in our Dessert Recipe Library

DonutsIngredients
Mocha Crème Anglaise:
1 cup whole milk
¾ cup heavy cream
5 large egg yolks
1 Tablespoon instant espresso powder
1 ½ Tablespoon cocoa powder
3 Tablespoon sugar
2 Tablespoons Kahlùa
Ice for ice bath

Beignets:
2 ¼ cups milk
2 eggs
½ cup butter, melted
4 cups all-purpose flour
3 Tablespoons baking powder
2 teaspoons kosher salt
¼ cup granulated sugar
½ teaspoon cinnamon
6 cups vegetable oil for frying

Cinnamon Sugar:
½ cup sugar
1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon

Methods/Steps
Heat at least 2 inches of oil to 350° F in a large, deep pot.

Make Crème Anglaise: In a medium saucepan over medium heat, whisk milk, cream, espresso and cocoa powder until combined. Bring mixture to a slight simmer. In a medium bowl, combine the egg yolks and sugar. Beat the egg yolk mixture using an electric mixer until pale, light yellow and thick, about 3-5 minutes. Slowly, add half of the mocha milk mixture to the yolk mixture and whisk until blended. Add the second half of the milk mixture. Transfer the mixture back to a saucepan and cook over low heat until it reaches 160ºF or when mixture coats the back of a spoon. Quickly remove from heat (It will turn to scrambled eggs if it goes over this temperature) and strain immediately into a bowl placed on an ice bath. Whisk in the Kahlùa and stir until the mixture reaches room temperature.

Prepare Beignet Mixture: In a small bowl, whisk together the milk, eggs, and melted butter. In a separate medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, salt, sugar and cinnamon. Add the milk mixture and stir just until smooth. Be careful not to over mix or dough will be tough.

Make Cinnamon Sugar: In a medium bowl, combine the sugar and cinnamon. Set aside.

Fry Beignets: When the oil is heated, using a 1 inch ice cream scoop, drop dough into the hot oil. Fry 5 or 6 beignets at a time, making sure there is plenty of room for them to expand. Fry the beignets for 1-2 minutes on each side until deep golden and cooked through. Use a slotted spoon or spider to remove them from the oil and drain on a cooling rack over a sheet pan. When the oil has drained off the beignets and they are still hot, toss them into the bowl of cinnamon sugar and stir until they are well coated. Remove them to a platter and continue this process until all the beignets have been fried. Make sure to maintain the oil temperature at 350° F and to skim off any bits of fried burnt batter from the pot.

Serve: Place beignets on a serving platter and place the crème anglaise in a small bowl on the side.

Serves/Makes
Makes 32 Beignets

Parties That Cook’s March Madness Recipe: Slam Dunk Crab and Roasted Red Pepper Beignets

Oh, what’s going on in your town this weekend? Doesn’t matter. This weekend brings the Sweet Sixteen portion of the NCAA tournament, and we all know that’s about all you can handle. The one thing you can’t forget to pack for your marathon on the couch: the remote sustenance. So while you could just make this delicious Avocado and Persimmon Guacamole, or these tasty Shrimp Quesadillas with Tomatillo Salsa, Parties That Cook challenges you to think outside the box. Try these slam dunk Crab Roasted Red Pepper Beignets! Not only do they taste like a slam dunk, but you can literally dunk them into the deliciously satisfying herbed aioli. (And one?!) The crowd goes wild.

Crab and Roasted Red Pepper Beignets with Herbed Aioli
This recipe can also be found in our Appetizer Recipe Library!

Ingredients
Batter:
1 large red bell pepper
1 cup AP flour
1/4 cup cornmeal
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 Tablespoons kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
2/3 cup milk
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 scallions, minced
Zest and Juice of one lemon
12 ounces crabmeat, picked over
1 cup frozen corn kernels
4 cups canola oil, for frying

Herbed Aioli:
1 whole egg
1 egg yolk
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup canola oil
1 clove garlic, finely minced
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1 Tablespoon chopped basil
1 Tablespoon chopped cilantro
1/2 teaspoon chopped tarragon
1 teaspoon kosher salt

Methods/Steps
Preheat oven to 300°F.

Roast Pepper(s): Roast pepper(s) over a gas burner until blackened all over, turning with tongs as each side is blistered. (Alternatively, place under broiler). Transfer to a bowl and cover with plastic wrap, let stand about 15 minutes. Peel and discard skins, stems and seeds. Cut the pepper into 1/4-inch dice and set aside.

Make Batter: In a large bowl, whisk the flour with the cornmeal, baking powder, salt and pepper. Stir in the milk and beaten egg. Mince the scallion, zest and squeeze the lemon and add to the batter. Fold in the crabmeat, corn kernels, and diced red pepper. Let the batter rest for 5 minutes.

Fry Beignets: Set-up a cooling rack over a baking sheet. In a large high sided frying pan, heat 2-3 inches of canola oil to 350°F. Once the oil is hot, drop a heaping teaspoon or tiny scoop of batter into the oil. Fry until golden, about 1 minute per side. Check size of fried beignet and see if beignet is cooked all the way through. Then taste it to make sure it tastes good. Re season and make smaller if necessary. Once satisfied, fry the rest of the batter, without crowding the pan. Drain the beignets on the wire rack and keep warm in the oven while you fry the rest. Repeat with the remaining batter, adjusting the heat if the beignets brown too quickly.

Make Aioli Base: Place the egg, egg yolk and mustard into a medium bowl. Using a whisk, blend until thick (about 15-20 seconds). In a liquid measuring cup, combine the olive and canola oils. While whisking, add the oil drop by drop into egg mixture. Once a thick paste starts to develop you can slowly drizzle the oil into the bowl. Continue to do this in a slow, steady stream until all of the oil has been added. Do not add the oil too quickly and be sure that the emulsion is stable (has absorbed the oil) before adding more oil.

Flavor Aioli: Mince the garlic and juice the lemon. Add to the aioli. Finely chop the basil, cilantro and tarragon and whisk into the aioli. If the mixture becomes too thick, whisk in 2 or 3 tablespoons warm water to thin the mayonnaise and make a fluid sauce. Season the aioli with the salt. Taste and re season if necessary. Transfer to a small decorative bowl and garnish with an herb sprig.

Serve: Serve warm beignets on a platter with the bowl of herbed aioli.

Serves/Makes

Makes about 40 – 1 inch round Beignets and 2 cups Aioli

Recipe created by Parties That Cook® | www.PartiesThatCook.com.