Create Your Best Doughnuts

 What makes a good doughnut? Is it the yeast? The flour? The amount of cinnamon or vanilla used? That's the question. There are some tips to help making the perfect circle.

What are the key traits to a good doughnut. Not  surprisingly AI comes to the rescue with this.The texture is the most memorable. A yeast doughnut should be  soft and airy in your mouth .If you;re making cake doughnuts then think a denser cake like crumb. There should the a moist interior (especially the cream and jelly filled), Fried ones should have an all over crispy exterior thanks to a crust setting properly without soaking up too much oil.You can  either make cake or yeast. bake for fried.If you're making cake ones either use cake flour or all purpose. King Arthur and PIllsbury have the best.As for the yeast one, always use unbleached all purpose flour for a light , fluffy and tender bite. This type also provides a goods structure for one. The only oil that should be used is canola.It has a neutral taste and a high smoke point You can also use peanut or palm oil. However many homemakers don;t like frying because there is the possibility of a bad burn or hot oil splattering.Then its; time to use the air fryer which can produced hot tasty doughnuts in ten minutes.

Flavor is crucial to a good and memorable doughnut. Fall brings about the taste for anything apple and pumpkin spice. Many home chefs are looking to King Arthurs' boiled cider to give the perfect apple taste. You can buy a bottle on line or make it yourself which is easy. You'll need a two gallons jug which will boiled down to approximately two cups.You can use a Dutch oven for this or a soup pot that will hold five quarts.First bring it to a bowl over a medium flame. Then lower it and simmer the cider for about five to six hours..Give it a quick stir every hour in the beginning and then every fifteen minutes towards the end.It;s done when copper color bubbles come to the top. As for pumpkin spice, this is a mix of ground cinnamon, ginger , nutmeg, allspice and cloves. You can buy a jar from Mc Cormick and use it also uin other baking products as well as in coffee. You can also make your own.Keep in mind that most fall doughnuts have a cinnamon sugar coating. This is just sifting cinnamon and granulated white sugar together. You can vary the percentages according to taste.

A good fall diught starts with texture and taste. Try any of these for a tasty dessert or snack with your favorite hot coffee or tea. They;re sure to chase away that autumn chill.

The Vegan Lamb Part One

Today I tried the vegan lamb cake recipe taken from the blog ,Vegan Cooking In Colorado (which was taken from  Issa Chandra Moskowicz's great book,Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World). It was kind of scary because I kept thinking the cake wouldn't bake or rise. Yet, this animal friendly pound cake did.

Baking a scratch cake is always a leap of faith.It could go wrong even though leavening has been added. Of course it starts with a greased and floured pan.

It's the same as with the regular (non-vegan?) cake, generously grease with I Can't Believe It's Not Butter and then a generous coating of flour.

These are the liquid ingredients. The  1/2 cup vanilla soy yogurt and 2/3rd cups canola oil make up for the lack of eggs.The recipe calls for soy milk but I've had good luck with the almond kind so I went with Almond Breeze's.It just takes 1 and 1/3 cup.

I also had to add vanilla and almond extracts too. It's 2 tsps vanilla and 4 tsps almond . It'll give the cake a lovely almond aroma and flavor.

These are the wet ingredients mixed with 1 and 1/2 cups of sugar

This is the almond meal. It looks like polenta and taste like what else - ground almonds. Use 2/3 cup of it. The dry ingredients are the meal, two cups plus 4 tablespoons of flour, 3 tsps baking powder, 1 tsp salt (I used the coarser, grittier Celine's gray  sea salt) and 2 tblspns cornstarch which lends more cohesion to the batter.

 This is the batter thoroughly mixed. You can see why I was nervous. It  looks really thin, doesn't it?

It was easily poured into the mold and all the batter went into it so no extra cupcakes like the other recipe. The mold was tied together with twine. I was so ansty about the recipe that I forgot to put the five toothpicks in the neck area. (the recipe didn't stress adding the toothpicks so maybe it'll be all right and the lamb's head won't fall off 😲😲)

Bake in a 350 degree F oven for 50 to 60 minutes. I took it out at 55 minutes and let cool. You can see it's a pound cake because of the splits in the surface.

It's paler than the first box mix one , probably because there's no artificial colors used. I plan on checking out the cupcake recipes and other ones in Ms. Moskowicz's recipe book. This is definitely the recipe for vegan birthdays and for inclusive holiday sweets. 

Tomorrow is the icing - with some interesting twists. Stay tuned.

A Good Healthy. Start

With the mornings turning cooler, it's vital to have a hearty yet healthy breakfast.This sets the tone for the rest of the day,A good breakfast mean better concentration at school or at work along with not having the need for an 11 AM snack.The quandary is what constitutes a good breakfast? Most people agree that a good breakfast starts with eggs and bacon.That is true ,flavor wise however health wise, it's not that great.The meal is high not only in calories, but in cholesterol.Add buttered toast and it goes up.You can make it better for you by creating a tofu scramble.This is relatively easy to make.Take tofu cubes and crumble.You can add turmeric or cumin to give it that yellow eggy color .Add mushrooms, tomatoes or spinach for more nutrition as well as flavor.You can serve it with turkey bacon or the even healthier soy bacon.People balk at this last but it really is good and tastes like the real thing.You could also serve it with some breakfast sausages or patties. As for the side of toast and jam, nix the white bread and definitely go for the whole wheat .Serve with margarine and a fruit confit.This last is a tad more healthier thanks to the small amount of sugar being used.Frog Hollow Farms of Brentwood CA has excellent confits.They can be made at homeas well especially with pears and apples. Another rib sticking day starter is a stack of pancakes.We all love them,dripping with syrup and melted butter.Again this is the perfect fall breakfast but it can be tweaked for less calories and more benefits.Start with the pancakes themselves.First of all use buckwheat or whole wheat flour.As far as the liquid use soy, rice or almond milk instead of regular.You can also use buttermilk for zing.Skip the recipe need for melted butter and use canola oil.Also have aside of berries or cooked apples as opposed to the maple syrup and butter.French toast is another great breakfast yet it is rich.This usually fried dish can be baked instead of fried.Also use whole wheat bread or even a baguette would work.You do need eggs however for any kind of French toast however you can just use the whites.For sweetening it's brown sugar,which is much better than the refined white.For flavoring think nutmeg and cinnamon with a pecan topping.As for a cup of hot something, think a Droste hot cocoa where you can add the sugar or just a coffee with almond milk and stevia added.Herbal teas are soothing go withs, and perfect. For any intensely flavored breakfasts. A hot breakfast is the best way to start off a cool late summer morning.Make it not only a hearty one bit a healthy one too.It'll be good for you soul and body too.