There are a lot of entrepreneurs in the business of making spice blends. Most people believe that this is an easy task. It can be, if all you are doing is mixing spices together. However, there is a whole other side to spice blends that is more scientific and a little bit amazing. The scientifically formulated spices have specific flavor transitions when they hit your taste buds. You first taste a smokey barbeque flavor, then the spicy heat and, lastly. a chaser of a sweet brown sugar flavor. No matter how you use this particular spice blend, the flavor will transition in the same manner every time.
Now, I am no scientist, but this is one donut recipe that falls into the sweet and savory category. It has black pepper in the batter along with mace. Also, after frying, it is coated in a salt/sugar/pepper blend. While crisp on the outside, the interior has a sponge-like texture that stems from the egg and potato ingredients. Except for the sugar blend coating-this donut is more savory than most. This recipe makes about 1 dozen donuts.
Spudnuts
adapted from Saveur Magazine
Ingredients
1/4 cup milk
2 eggs
2 tbs melted butter
10 oz of potato cubes (about 1 inch square from peeled baking potatoes)
1 tsp lemon zest
1 cup sugar
1 tsp ground pepper
1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp ground mace
non stick spray
canola oil for frying
Start by taking out 3 bowls and cutting out 12 four inch squares of parchment and spray each with non stick spray.
Pour 2 quarts of water into a pot. Put pot over medium high heat and add a few pinches of salt. Let come to a boil and then add the potato cubes. Let the potatoes cook, watching to make sure the water does not boil over. The potatoes will soften and be fully cooked after about 20 minutes.
Drain the potatoes and then pass through a ricer placed over one of the bowls. Set aside. In the second bowl, sift together the mace, flour, baking powder, 3/4 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper. Set this bowl aside also.
For the third bowl and final bowl, add the eggs and whisk until white and yolks are blended. Pour in the butter, add the zest and 1/3 cup of sugar. Stir together until evenly distributed and fold in the riced/cooked potatoes until the mixture is smooth.
Using a wooden spoon, mix the sifted ingredients into the wet mixture in 3 increments. Continue to blend until no dry streaks remain. Form into a ball and let sit undisturbed for about 10 minutes.
As the dough sits, set up your fryer or use a pot with a deep fry thermometer. Fill with 2 inches or more of oil and heat up to 370 degrees. Dust a flat surface with flour. Using floured hands, transfer the dough from the bowl to the prepared surface. Then flatten the dough round with your hands until it is about 1/2 inch thick. Cut the dough into donut shapes with a 3 inch cutter, using the dough scraps and donut holes to pat into another 1/2 inch thick circle for cutting. Place each cut donut on a prepared parchment square.
Before frying, whisk together the remaining amount of salt, sugar and pepper. Pour into a gallon zip lock bag. Then place a cooling rack over paper towels.
Once the oil is at the right temperature, use the parchment square to flip each raw donut into the hot oil. Only fry in batches of 3-4 donuts at a time. The donuts will take about 3-4 minutes to cook in the oil, so set the timer at 1 minute and 30 seconds and then flip and cook the other side for the same amount of time. Scoop out with a mesh skimmer and place on cooling rack. Let cool for a few minutes and then add to the zip lock bag of coating. Shake until fully coated and place back on rack to completely cool. Repeat the cooking/cooling/coating process until all donuts have been fryed and coated.
Tips and Notes:
1. If you are not into the salty/sweet, try turning this item into a more savory treat by adding freeze dried chives to the batter before adding the dry ingredients. You can also forming these into hush puppy type of appetizers with a garlic sauce for dipping by altering the shape and fry time.
2. Note that the dough is not rolled out. Less handling of the dough will avoid having a tough donut in the end.
3. This recipe never stated to maintain any temperature while frying. This means that the fluctuation in temperature when the dough is added to the oil is expected, so do not panic if the temperature reduces. The only setting to worry about is the initial 370 degrees.
4. As stated in the previous recipes if using a fryer do not use the wire baskets. The raw donuts are to be dropped straight into the oil.
**LAST YEAR:Mojito Bars**