Donut Factory

One Sunday morning, I turned my kitchen into a donut making machine. I had never made donuts before and since my husband had been begging for them for months on end, I finally found some time to do it.

As you can see from my photos, it was a bit messy but lots of fun! I chose a recipe that seemed easy to do at home and one that I didn't need to wait for the dough to rise. The donuts are a little more cake like in texture, like the chocolate ones you buy with the frosting and sprinkles. For a first attempt at donuts, they turned out great especially with a coffee on the side.

This recipe comes from The Donut Book by Sally Levitt Steinberg

Buttermilk Donuts

Ingredients:

2 eggs

1 egg yolk

1 cup sugar

1 cup buttermilk

4 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp grated nutmeg

1 tbs butter, melted

oil for frying

Beat eggs and yolk together, then gradually add sugar and buttermilk. Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together and stir into egg mixture; add nutmeg and melted butter

Heat oil to 360 degrees F in a pot

Roll or pat dough on a floured surface to 1/2-inch thickness

cut out dough with a donut cutter or hand form them into a donut shape (you can make donut holes too)

Drop donuts, a couple at a time, into hot oil. Fry until golden brown.

Drain on paper towels and serve immediately

Decorate them however you want:

• roll in powered sugar

• make a glaze by adding powdered sugar and some milk together

• glaze and add sprinkles

• roll in cinnamon and sugar

Show your Dog some Homebaked Love

Baking for your dog can be a real treat and your dog will love you even more for it! My dog, Paddington L-O-V-E-D these! This is a great recipe that makes about 30-40 snacks so you won't have to run out to the store for awhile.























Party Hearty Mix-It-Up Mix
from Three Dog Bakery Cookbook

You will need some cookie cutters, any shape and size will do. You will also need a rolling pin or something to roll the dough out.

Ingredients
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup honey
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
4 teaspoons skim milk
2 1/2 cups whole-wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

Mix together the oil, honey, vanilla, egg and milk in a bowl.
In a sepearte bowl, blend together the flour, baking powder, and ginger.
Combine the dry ingredients with the wet mixture and stir thoroughly.
Knead the dough on a lightly floured surface, roll out to a 1/4-inch thick and cut into shapes.
Place on a greased cookie sheet and bake for 15 minutes.
Cool on a rack and store in an airtight container.

These cookies lasted for a couple months.

A Birthday Surprise

My birthday was last week and my husband decided that he would take on my birthday cake since I am usually the one who is making the cakes. Little did I know how amazing it would turn out. I picked out the flavors that I wanted: Honey butter cake with peanut butter frosting. (I LOVE Peanut Butter!) This was the only detail he let me know about the cake and the rest of the details were all done in secrecy. We went out to dinner with some friends and family and the cake came along. It was such a hit, that the sous chef at Nopa even took a picture of it. So without further ado, I'd like to introduce the most fabulous cake that I have ever had on my birthday...

















PB& Jelly Sandwich Cake! With jumbo cupcakes that look like cups of milk and ants on a log to boot!















































Even oozed out like a true sandwich!

Fun with Sweets

Are those really earrings? You betcha! I found these fun dessert themed items by KungFuCowgirl. There's all kinds of fun stuff like magnets, pins, earrings and rings. Super Sweet!

So Sweet!

So my favorite San Francisco bake shop has a new location. If you have not yet been to Miette's, you should. It's as cute and as sweet as can be!
You can find the recently new shop in the Marina at 2109 Chestnut Street.