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

Spring is in the Air

A few weeks back I made cupcakes for a friend's afternoon get together. Although it wasn't quite Spring yet, it sure was starting to feel like it. Now it is officially Spring, so here's to all the wonderful things it brings (one of those being brightly colored cupcakes)!

Not Your Average Garbage

Recent birthday cakes that I worked on included a cake for my husband and a 60th birthday cake.

The 60th birthday cake was for a surprise party for my sister's boyfriend's dad's birthday. He runs one of the garbage companies in the East Bay so we decided that a garbage cake was the only way to go on this one.


























































For Steve's birthday, I made a fudge cake with vanilla Butterfinger buttercream on the inside and decked with various candies on the outside.

Pink Caterpillar

Last weekend I had a job for a one year olds birthday party. Her mom wanted to do cupcakes that formed a caterpillar that would go with the cute caterpillar invitations that they sent out. This was a ton of fun to work on and it turned out super duper cute!

Cakes!!

Just thought I'd share some of my recent cakes.

Birthdays and 1 Baptism

L • O • V • E

In honor of Valentine's Day but more importantly – Love.

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.