Mini Lemon Bundts

As I have said in the past, I have been collecting Cooks Illustrated Magazines since my U.C. Berkeley days.  I have 17 years worth of magazines to prove it as well as a splattering of miscellaneous issues from 1980 through 1992.  The earlier issues have these really beautiful covers. They are all hand done water colors.  I just can't get rid of them.  They are as much a part of me as they are a part of my cook book library.

a few old cooks covers

the actual covers are so beautiful

I have made this particular pound cake in the past and it never fails.  Rather than making one big cake, I made little mini bundts.  These were one of three desserts (pecan tassies, and mini cheesecakes) I made for last weekends fund raiser.  They came out perfectly.  They were light, moist, tart, and sweet.  Isaac ate 6 of them.  And asked for more.

ingredients
cake
3 lemons, zest grated + saved, then juiced
3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla
3/4 cup buttermilk
3 large eggs, room temp.
1 large egg yolk, room temp.
18 Tbls. unsalted butter, room temp.
2 cups sugar


glaze
2-3 Tbls. fresh lemon juice
2 cups confectioners' sugar
1 Tbls. buttermilk


instructions
cake
• preheat oven to 350*. spray mini bundt pans with spray.
• mince lemon zest to fine paste.  combine lemon zest + lemon juice in small bowl; set aside to soften
• whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, + salt in a small bowl.  combine lemon juice mixture, vanilla, + buttermilk in medium bowl.  in another bowl whisk the eggs and the egg yolk. in a standing mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar until pale and fluffy.  reduce speed and add half the eggs, mixing until combined.  add the other half of the eggs.
• add the 1/3 of the flour mixture and then 1/2 of the buttermilk and then repeat ending with the flour mixture
• scrape the side of the bowl and scoop into the mini bundt pans
• bake until the tops are golden, around 15 - 20 minutes.
• let cool 10 minutes and then invert it onto a plate.

glaze
• whisk the ingredients together
• while cake is still warm, pour half the glaze over the cakelettes.  let cool one hour and pour the remaining glaze over the cakelettes.  let sit for 2 hours.

Doughnuts-All Kinds!

This was a fun day! And these doughnuts are yum-o-licious!

I have been wanting to make doughnuts for forever, but was a little hesitant. I committed myself to making doughnuts for my friend, Jillian's birthday in two weeks. Jillian is turning 11 and wants me to help her with a cooking party. As the theme is going to be "Mexican", she had mentioned wanting a churro for dessert. We came up with the next best thing, doughnuts. I wanted to do a trial run. I couldn't walk into that party not knowing whether these were going to be good enough.

Whenever one is using yeast, one has to remember that it is a lot easier than it appears. One just has to be able to play the waiting game. That is exactly why I picked a cloudy, fall-like day.

I trust Sherry Yard, and that is exactly why I chose to make her doughnuts from Desserts by the Yard. I may have overcooked a few of them, but with that said, they were really good. Fried dough...can't really go wrong! The recipe says to eat within two hours of making them. I wasn't going to make my family eat 18 doughnuts (however, if they had their way, they would have gladly done so). Instead we packed them up and went door to door. We put a few smiles on our neighbors faces!

The winner of the doughnut challenge was...the glaze! Eli wants to make these again, however make them all glazed. I kind of don't blame him.

ingredients:

1/2 oz fresh yeast or 2 tsp. active dry yeast
1 cup milk, heated to lukewarm (80*)
4 cups all purpose flour
1 cup buttermilk
1tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
1tsp grated lemon zest
1 1/2 tsp. salt
2 oz unsalted butter, softened
vegetable oil for frying

directions:

In the bowl of a standing mixer, whisk the yeast and 1/2 cup of the milk until the yeast has dissolved. Let stand 5 minutes, then stir in 1 tbls. of the sugar and 1/2 cup of the flour, forming a thin batter. Cover this sponge with plastic wrap and let rest at room temp for 20-30 minutes, until bubbles form.

Reheat the remaining 1/2 cup milk to lukewarm. Stir the warm milk, buttermilk, nutmeg, lemon zest and teh remaining 1/4 cup plus 1 tsp sugar into the sponge. Place the remaining 3 1/2 cups flour and the salt on the top of the sponge. Put the bowl on the mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on low speed for 2 minutes or until the dough comes together. Scrape down the bowl and the paddle and change to the dough hook. Increase the speed to medium and knead the dough for 5 minutes.

Turn the speed down and add the softened butter, 1 tablespoon at a time. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides. Mix for 5 minutes or until the dough comes together and is smooth. Scrape the dough from the sides of the bowl, cover with plastic wrap and set it aside to rise at room temperature until doubled in volume, 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

Line two 12 x 17 inch half sheet pans with parchment and lightly dust with flour. When the dough is ready, turn it out onto a flat surface, dusted with flour and roll it out to a 10" square with a thickness of 1/2". Wrap the dough in plastic and put in freezer for 20-30 minutes. Using a 2 1/2" doughnut cutter, cut out the doughnuts and the holes. Dip the cutter in flour each time. Place doughnuts and holes on the sheet pans. Cover with lightly sprayed plastic wrap and let rise 30 minutes.

In a deep heavy skillet (I used my Le Creuset), heat 3" of oil over medium heat to 350*. Carefully slide 4 doughnuts at a time into the hot oil. Brown on one side, then the other, using a slotted spoon to flip. Drain them on paper towels.

Toppings:

1. Cinnamon sugar - 1 cup sugar mixed with 1 1/2 Tbls. cinnamon. Coat these right away when doughnuts are still a little wet.

2. Chocolate - melt 4 oz. of bittersweet chocolate with 4 oz. unsalted butter in a bowl over simmering water.

2. Glaze - 2 cups of powdered sugar mixed with 1/4 cup milk and 1 tsp. vanilla.

Eat these right away!