Croissants Redux

I have branched out into pastries this week. This was my second attempt at making croissants using the traditional method. Will I never learn not to make these when it is over 100 degrees outside? Rolling out the stretchy dough is difficult enough without having the butter start to melt within 2 minutes of taking the dough out of the refrigerator. Here is a photo of the chocolate version of croissants:

I need more patience and a dough sheeter! I am considering making them again, but using my pasta roller to get the dough thin enough on the last step. I think it is a genius idea!

Pear-Toffee Cake Donuts

I made some salted butter caramel ice cream the other day that was sooooo good. I was inspired by the praline/toffee bits that were used as a mix-in for the ice cream. I thought it would taste great on a donut. Pear pairs well with toffee, so I made a pear cake donuts.

These turned out really moist and have a subtle flavor. I don't know that anyone could really identify the pear flavor in the donut, unfortunately. It may as well have been apple, but I still like it. I just don't know that I would bother with pear again. I may try using apple next time. Pear is such a subtle flavor, it's easy to overwhelm it by combining it with other ingredients. I even cooked it down and carmelized it a bit, adding some freshly grated pear while mixing the donuts.

I think the only way to be able to get the pear flavor would be to make a fresh pear compote and use it as a filling. I'm going to think about it. Anyway, the toffee idea worked out well. I could see using this on lots of different flavors. It has a bit of fleur de sel in it, which makes it all that much more delicious!

New Yeast Donut Recipe

Yeast donuts rising beautifully!

I tried my new yeast donut recipe today. BINGO! This recipe makes soft raised donuts with a yeasty flavor and only a slight crust. It took me a while to make them since it was the first time, but I think I can get a lot faster once I am familiar with the recipe. I was very happy with the finished product even fried in canola oil-- they were not greasy.

A cinnamon twist

I made cinnamon twists with the re-worked dough since it ends up having a slightly chewier texture. I'm going to work on the twists, hopefully developing some other flavors. My chocolate icing looked better this time, but I don't just love the flavor of it. It contains only milk, powdered sugar and cocoa powder. It dries a bit more, but I personally prefer the taste of the ganache. Oh well, I suppose ganache would be more expensive to use, anyway.

Next, I will try my new cake donut recipe so I can start making variations on it. I really want to make World Peace donuts! And drink some porter with them! It just sounds good to me.

Finished products