Lara Ferroni Raised Doughnut

Douhgnuts.....I can't think of one thing I don't like about doughnuts. It's sweet...fluffy....with many kinds of (even sweeter) toppings or fillings....and it's fried!!!!What's not to like.

The first doughnuts franchise we've known in Indonesia was Dunkin Donuts......ooohhh...I can still remember clearly how the shops looked like back then...
There was those pictures on the walls of tiny men with bakers costume trying to roll a giant doughnut holes in sugar......must be a perfect world to live. Giant doughnut holes surrounded world......

They had so many flavours I can barely choose. Usually we were allowed to choose two flavours for each of us (my parents have four childrens, so my mom always bought a dozen of it and we can have two doughnuts ). Most of the times I had the marble frosted (chocolate glazed with sugar icing swirled on top) and double chocolate. Growing up I had different preferences....I start to choose a more humbly looking doughnuts, the ones with fillings. My favourites were lemon, rhum, or durian fillings. It still is actually. I would always bite the side without the fillings first.....so I can keep the delicious soft fillings for last.

Living in Holland currently I can't find those american doughnuts neither Dunkin Donuts nor Krispy Kreme. So I end up made it myself most of the times. Couple of weeks ago I found this recipe from Lara Ferroni which got good reviews. I decided to give it  a try. And it was really good, I mean really really good compared to my homemade doughnuts that tend to stale really quick. This one was really soft, and fluffy with slightly sweet crumb. Well of course it is best eaten fresh but my husband ate it at midnight (I  fried it in the afternoon) after work and he actually ate like seven of it at once=D.

Glazed Doughnuts Recipe

Ingredients

For the doughnuts

• 3 tablespoons active dry yeast
• 1 cup whole milk, heated to 110˚F (43°C)
• 2 to 2 1/2 cups bread flour, plus more for the work surface
• 2 tablespoons superfine sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 large egg yolks
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
• Vegetable oil for frying

For the sugar glaze

• 1 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted to remove any lumps
• 3 to 4 tablespoons milk or water
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract (optional)

For the chocolate glaze

• 1 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar
• 4 tablespoons cocoa powder
• 2 tablespoons milk or water
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions

Make the doughnuts

1. In a medium bowl, dissolve 2 tablespoons of the yeast in 3/4 cup of the warm milk. Stir in 3/4 cup of the flour to create a smooth paste. Cover and let rest in a warm spot for 30 minutes.

2. Combine the remaining warm milk and yeast in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Add the flour mixture along with the sugar, salt, vanilla, and egg yolks. Mix until smooth. Turn off the mixer and add 1/2 cup of the remaining flour. Mix on low for about 30 seconds. Add the butter and mix until it becomes incorporated, about 30 seconds. Switch to a dough hook and, with the mixer turned off, add more flour, about 1/4 cup at a time. Knead the dough on medium speed between additions until the dough pulls completely away from the sides of the bowl and is smooth and not too sticky. It will be very soft and moist, but not so sticky that you can’t roll it out. (You may have flour left over.) Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour and up to 12 hours.

3. Line a baking sheet with a lightly floured dish towel. Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface to 1/2 inch thick. With a doughnut or cookie cutter, cut out 3-inch-diameter rounds with 1-inch-diameter holes. (Note: If making filled doughnuts, clearly, don’t cut out the holes.) You can re-roll the scraps and cut out additional holes.

4. Place the doughnuts at least 1 inch apart on the baking sheet and cover loosely with plastic wrap. Let rest in a warm spot to proof until they almost double in size, 5 to 20 minutes, peeking every five minutes. To test whether the dough is ready, touch it lightly with a fingertip. If it springs back immediately, it needs more time. If it springs back slowly, it is ready. If it doesn’t spring back at all, it has over-proofed, in which case you can punch it down and re-roll it once.

5. While the doughnuts are proofing, heat a heavy-bottomed pot with at least 2 inches of oil until a deep-fat thermometer registers 360˚F (182°C). With a metal spatula, carefully place a couple of doughnut holes or doughnuts in the oil, being careful not to crowd the pot. Fry for 1 to 2 minutes per side, until light golden brown. Remove with a slotted spoon, drain on a wire rack over a paper towel, and let cool slightly before glazing. Repeat with the remaining doughnuts and holes, keeping the temperature consistent.

Make the glaze

6. Whichever glaze you’re making, place the sugar (and cocoa powder, if relevant) in a bowl and slowly stir in the milk and vanilla, if using, a little at a time, to make a smooth, pourable glaze.

Glaze the doughnuts

7. Pour the glaze into a shallow bowl. Dunk the doughnuts, let any excess glaze drip off, and then transfer them to a wire rack placed on a baking sheet or over a sheet of parchment paper to rest until glaze sets.

*Note: I didn't make the chocolate glaze, cause it was yummy enough with just sugar glaze

Mascarpone Taart with Forest Fruit topping

When price of fruits are at the lowest with the best quality like this moment, i try to buy and use them as much as i can. Like this easy mascarpone taart. So simple..so easy, no-bake, and ready to eat in couple of hours dessert which is just perfect in a hot summer days to fix my crave for sweet freshness.

It's very creamy, melt-in-your-mouth texture and not too sweet. Just perfect for afternoon tea, or to finish my light summer dinner meal. While it's very easy to make, there's nothing simple about the taste...yummm...

Mascarpone Taart with Forest Fruit topping

For the crust:
150-200 gr of your favourite biscuits, i used graham crackers
100 gr of melted butter
1/2 tsp of cinnamon powder(optional)

For the mousse:
250 gr mascarpone cream
200 gr whipped cream
2 tbsp fine sugar
2 gelatine leaves or 5 gr gelatine powder
1/2 vanilla pod or zest of 1/2 lemon

Forest Fruit topping:
a handful of mix forest fruit
2 tbsp of sugar for jam making (or more depends on how sour the fruits are)

Preparation:
1. Prepare a 24 cm round springform pan. Line the sides with plastic or aluminium foil to make it easier for loosing the taart.

2. To make the cookie crust process the biscuits in a food processor until crumbly, pour in the melted butter and cinnamon if you use and mix thoroughly. Press this mixture into the bottom of the spring form pan until about 1/2 cm thickness. refrigerate until firm.

3. To make the mascarpone mousse, lightly beat the mascarpone with a whisk just until smmoth. In a separate bowl beat the cream with sugar and scrap in the vanilla pod. Beat until creamy but not stiff (in consistency of yoghurt). Dissolve the gelatine powder in 2 tbsp of cold water and put it in warm water bath until it's transparent. If you are using instant gelatine powder this won't be necessary, you can dissolve it directly in hot water. And if you are using gelatine leaves then soaked the leaves in iced water just until it soften a little bit and then dissolve it in hot water.

4. Mix the mascarpone with the whipped cream mixture and at last pour in the dissolved gelatine. Pour the mousse onto the crust and smooth the top. Refrigerate until set.

5. When the mousse is about to set, prepare the topping by processing the mix fruit in a food processor and cook with the jam sugar just until it's cooked and the mixture thickens a little bit. Let the topping cooled down a bit and then pour it over the cold mousse, smoothen the top and refrigerate again.

6. To loosen the taart gently pull the spring form pan out and peel the foil/ plastic. Cut with hot water damped knife to get the best results. Enjoy!!

Chocolate-Coconut Mousse Cake

My husband works in a quite well known restaurant in Amsterdam. The restaurant is part of a hotel that located at a very strategic and chic street at the city. It is a fusion restaurant of asian-european food.
At employee's birthday the company gives compliment of a dinner for two which is a 3 course dinner and a bottle of wine. So, when it comes to my husband's birthday last April we are too got a free dinner for 2 =).

It was a beautiful day..it was sunny, not too warm, weather that's just makes you wanna smile to people you see at the street. So we went there for a dinner.
We arrives exactly at 7 o'clock, a perfect time. My husband's colleagues welcome us with big smiles, looking at us with curiosity(it's the first time i went there).

We got seated near the window, hubby don't wanna sit near the kitchen(he felt awkward he told me, having his colleagues cooking for him, he's always a lil' bit shy=)).
So we sat..ordered a bottle of cold mineral water, and having the menu handed to us, his colleague one of the waiter saying that we can order what we want from the menu, and that the chef already prepared something nice for us. It started very nice already...

So we ordered. Me, having tempura shrimp with yellow curry sauce, and shoft shell crab sushi for hubby as appetizer. And i ordered steamed white fish in soy sauce with enoki mushroom, and mixed of seafood curry as main course, plus rice and noodle as side dish. A moment later one of the sushi chef brought us a beautiful plate of sashimi salad with super fresh salmon, tuna, scallops arranged on a mount of green salad, topped with a fresh japanese dressing.

I can taste the freshness of the sea in every bite. It was delicious. Couple of minutes later we got our ordered appetizers.


Just as yummy as we expected. But by the time we finished the last piece of sushi i can feel my stomach's getting full.....


About 20 minutes later we got this plate with a whole fish which is the special from the chef...


...and another two bowls of food we ordered...

...and the side dishes...


We looked at each other and thinking...0key....so..we have to eat like...all this five plates of food.
Well, my hubby is a big guy, he's like 2 meters high and weighted about 90 kg. But...after having those appetizers..and then these pile of main courses. It's gonna be a loooong night for us. Well, we did't wanna be unpolite so we HAVE to finish all of those..

It was all so delicious...but believe me..it was A LOT. But we survived though...goin home looking like we both are three months pregnants and walking about five times slower than usual, we managed to got home safely.

So...having served that night with super sweet hospitality from everybody, i feel bad not to give anything back. So i do what i can do..baking. I made this mousse tart at the weekend..having the basic chocolate sponge ready in the freezer i decided to make something with asian touch also for them.

Chocolate-Coconut Mousse Cake

for the choc-sponge:
4 whole eggs
4 egg yolks
100 gr sugar
1 tsp choc-pasta (optional)
65 gr flour
15 gr cacao powder
50 gr melted butter

chocolate Mousse:
90 ml milk
60 gr sugar
2 egg yolks
1 tsp gelatin powder, dissolved in a little bit of water
300 ml whipped cream, whip until a thickness of yoghurt
100 gr dark chocolate(i used 70 % choc), melted

coconut mousse:
150 ml thick coconut milk
60 gr sugar
1/3 piece vanilla pod
1 1/2 tsp gelatin powder, dissolved in a little bit of water
300 ml whipped cream, whip until a thickness of yoghurt

pouring-ganache:
250 ml whip cream
50 gr glucose or light corn syrup (optional, for the shine)
200 gr dark chocolate, chopped
25 gr butter


Preparation:
1. Line a 22 cm round pan with baking paper, smeared with butter(or margarine) thinly for the choc-sponge. And warm the oven until 175 C.

2. Beat the eggs and sugar on high speed until pale, add the choc-pasta if using. Put the speed lower and add the sifted dry ingredients untincorporated, and add the melted butter at last and stop just until the batter are mixed well.

3. Bake in the oven about 30 minutes or until the top of the sponge spring back when you touch. Put in a wire rack to cool down and peel the paper. Set aside.

4.Prepare the choc-mousse by cooking the milk and sugar until sugar dissolved. Pour the warm milk in to the egg yolk and stir. put it back to a soft fire and stir regularly until it coated the back of a spoon. Take it directly from heat and pour in the dissolved gelatin. Pour in the melted chocolate and set aside to cool down a little bit stirring regularly to avoid skin of this custard mixture.

5. When custard mixture reaches body temperature(put alittle bit of the mixture at your lips with your finger to try, if it feels just nice warm than you're good to go) or about 35-40 C, pour it to the whipped cream mixing carefully but fast enough to avoid having pieces of chocolate in your mousse. It should have a pour consistency but not liquid.

6. Prepare a spring form pan 24 cm round lined with plastic(i use A4 plastics we usually use in offices for OHP projector and cut it to fit the sides of the pan).

7. Cut the cooled sponge horizontally in two or three(i did three, and i got 1 piece left which i usually kept in the freezer for further use). Put one layer at the bottom. At this step you can always spray the sponge with a mix of your favourite chocolate liqueur and simple syrup(1 part sugar: 1 part water) if you like. And then pour the chocolate mousse. Put carefully the second layer of the sponge and refrigerate till firm.

8. Meanwhile prepare the coconut mousse by cooking the coconut milk, sugar, and scrapped vanilla pod until it's just boiled. You can always add a piece of pandan leave instead of vanilla pod to add a more exotic flavour to your mousse. take from the heat and add the dissolved gelatine. Letting this mixture cooled down until body temperature using the same methode with the choc-custard. Mix this mixture with the whipped cream and pour this mousse to the refrigerated choc-mousse. refrigerate until firm.

9. Prepare the ganache for glazing by warming the cream, butter and glucose just until the butter are melted and the glucose are dissolved. Pour this warm mixture to the chopped chocolate and stir regularly until all the chocolate dissolved and the ganache are smooth. Let cool to 35-40 C.

10. When the mousse cake are completely firmed, carefully pull off the spring form pan and peel the plastic gently and you will have this smooth mousse cake. To prepare to glazing, what i did usually is i put the cake for a couple of hours in the freezer until it's really good cold and almost hard at the outside because it's easier for me to glaze.

11. Put this cold/frozen mousse cake on the wire rack and slowly the ganache strating from the center and slowly at the side of the cake. Because the ganache are quite colled, and the cake are really cold, you're gonna have a nice thickness of glaze. Take the mousse carefully with a spatula, put it on a nice plate and refrigerate to let the ganache set.

12. For decoration you can always go from browned coconut to chocolate curls, tablets, or anything fits your fantasy..or the occasion.