2015 is sneaking up on us slowly. New year, new goals, new resolutions, new adventures are awaiting, but what better way to say bye, bye to the old year than as with some delicious sweet bites. In Germany there is this tradition to eat berliner on the New Years Eve. Berliner being a close cousin of the donut is sold on every corner in palettes to be consumed all night long. You can have it filled with jam or nutella, glazed with icing, sprinkled with sugar; there are no limits. As they are pretty affordable, for most people there is no need to make them at home.
Few days ago my intention was to test make some before NYE and surprise our German friends with sense of home, but somehow I ended up making the small french cousin of donut & berliner – the beignets. They seamed more cute, bite & transport friendly. Lately I came across beignets on different occasions. The most memorable: savory beignets with parmesan powder at SF’s Monsieur Benjamin, our new French kid on the Hayes Valley block. I have never experienced such soft pastry. And this fine cheese powder…. just heavenly. Yeah, heavenly is the right description for this encounter. Does anyone knows where to get cheese powder?
Anyhow, back to my beignets… Maybe not super good looking, but still gone by end of the evening, they seamed to be very admired by Patrick & our friends. Test passed. And the effort wasn’t that big. Yes, you have to let the dough rise for few hours, which was something that intimated me in the past to make anything with yeast, but since I figured out, I can do so many things done while dough is growing big and strong, I’m in when it comes to kneading. My inspiration was this buttermilk beignets + chicory creme patissiere by Local Milk. I have probably about 300 pins from Beth’s blog, but I haven’t made any yet. She is auch an extraordinary blogger & photographer. If you are not following yet, I highly recommend. So, this was my first attempt and I cannot await to cook more meals from her endless repertoire.
This was quite the beignets journey, from berliner to Monsieur Benjamin to Local Milk – I guess it’s time to share the recipe and wish you an amazing start into the New Year.
May 2015 bring you lots of joy, happiness and adventures!
THANK YOU so much for stopping by here, reading and following along. Your support means A LOT to me and if this blog of mine brings a bit inspiration to you, I’m happy.
Have a great time & see you soon!
Cheers to 2015!
JAM FILLED BEIGNETS
{ makes about 40 pieces}
INGREDIENTS:
Beignets
- 2 tsp dry active yeast
- 3/4 cup water
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 milk
- 4 tbsp butter (soft)
- pinch of salt
- 3 cups all pourpose flour
- 2 cups oil for frying
- 1 cup powder sugar for coating
Filling
- smooth strawberry jam or anything else creamy
INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Heat water just to be luke warm, not boiling. Remove from the stove, add yeast and sugar and let sit for about 5 minutes for yeast to activate until foamy.
2. In a big bowl add the yeast mixture, eggs & milk and mix to combine well.
3. Add in the first 11/2 cups flour and incorporate well. Add in the the butter and mix until well incorporated. Add in the rest of the flour and mix until dough comes together.
Note: The dough might be sticky in the beginning, it’s ok, it will come together at the end. Turn the dough onto floured surface and knead through.
Place the dough into a greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let sit for 2 hours until the dough has doubled in size.
5. Remove the dough from the bowl, place it on the well floured surface and knead through one more time.
6. Heat the oil in a pan to about °325F.
7. Roll out the dough 1/2″ thick and cut with a knife into small squares. Prepare a plate with paper towel for finished beignets to drain.
8. Transfer about 7 beignets to the pan and fry for about 4 minutes turning until golden brown.
9. With the slotted spoon remove the beignets from the oil, place on the plate and let sit. Proceed the same until you run out of the dough.
To fill the beignets:
I used a chop stick to make a whole in the beignets. Place jam in a piping bag fittet with 1/4″ nozzle. Press the piping bag into the beignet and squeeze until some jam fills the beignet. It is really just a quick squeeze, don’t squeeze to much.
Place the powder sugar into bowl and coat the beignets. Enjoy!
*Recipe adopted by Local Milk.
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