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I haven’t forgotten about this newsletter. Still sorting through life over here, but given my most recent resto column about doughnuts, I thought I’d raise my head (get it? RAISE) and share a recipe.
This week’s dispatch is mostly photos (with relatively little blithering). If you’d prefer to make your own, my recipe for sufganiyot follows.
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A hole lot to nibble on
In one of last month’s dispatches, I mentioned that we’ll be trying different things with our restaurant column. My piece that ran this past Friday, about local doughnutteries (and a doughnut trail I’ve discovered), let me forego starters and mains and head straight to dessert.
Since the fancy doughnut trend started about a decade ago, we’ve seen a few indies open their doors in Waterloo Region – gourmet spots and ones with more traditional fair. So yes, I made it my mission to do some investigative work and nibble down the trail to find probably more than 100 flavours/varieties fresh-made daily.
My rules: Local to Waterloo Region. Storefronts. No restaurants. No chains. No franchises.
Yeah, it’s a tough gig.
Here’s a visual of what was sampled.
New from me:
· I’m still going on about AI-produced recipes. This time, I wrote about my adventures and spoke with some awesome digital media and ethics experts about what it means to turn to something that’s really the antithesis of humanity for so deeply entrenched in humanity: Recipes developed by robots leave me hungry (12 May 2023)
· The aforementioned ride down the doughnut trail: Mmmmmmm…doughnuts (19 May 2023)
· My March-April World of Food column, Connecting The Dots, featuring the very awesome Thompson Tran is now online!
· And my very last World of Food column for Grand Magazine came out in print this month. While my first column was about holiday foods around the world for the Nov-Dec 2018 issues, my first local profile featured an Indigenous student’s food journey. This last one is a bit full circle and is about a local First Nations caterer and her food learnings. I’ll share it here when it’s online.
What I’m reading:
· Hahaha. I wish I could have put something here.
Foodish things I’m doing:
· Working on a few cool stories for The Record
Sufganiyot
Sufganiyot are jam-filled doughnuts that are eaten during Hannukah – the frying oil symolises the miracle of the oil. They’re usually filled with red jam or jelly (such as strawberry) but feel free to use your favourite. Sometimes, while frying, an air bubble forms, keeping the doughnut from flipping after it rises to the top. To deal with this, just lift it out of the oil, pop it with the tip of a sharp knife and return it to the oil.
Preparation time: about 2 ¼ hours (including rising time)
Cooking time: 30 minutes
Yield: 36
100 g (125 ml) sugar, divided
140 ml (9 tablespoons) hand-hot milk (or more, as needed)
8 g (1 teaspoon or one sachet) dry active yeast
35 g (2½ tablespoons) soft butter
½ teaspoon salt
2 egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
350 g (585 ml) all-purpose flour (or more, as needed)
190 ml (¾ cup) jam or jelly (or more, as needed)
1.5 L (6 cups) peanut oil or flavourless oil suitable for deep frying (as needed)
Icing sugar or castor sugar for rolling
Dough
Dissolve a half-teaspoon of sugar in the milk, and then add yeast and let bloom (this will take about 10 minutes). As it froths, cream butter, remaining sugar, and salt in a separate bowl, then beat in yolks and vanilla.
When the yeast has a nice frothy head, pour it into creamed butter and mix to combine. Beat in flour then knead for 10 minutes (using a stand mixture, longer if done by hand). The dough should be firm, slightly tacky, and not stick to the sides of the bowl.
Place dough in a buttered bowl and cover. Let rise until doubled in volume—you can either do this by placing it in the refrigerator overnight or place it in a warm, draft-free spot for about 1¼ hours.
Frying
If the dough is coming out of the fridge, let the bowl sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes before making the sufganiyot.
Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and gently roll to 6 mm (¼-inch) thickness. Cut with a 5 cm (2-inch) round pastry cutter. Gather and re-roll scraps and cut remaining discs. Let rise until doubled in size, about 30 minutes.
Line one tray with a double layer of paper towels and place a wire rack on top. Heat 5 cm (2 inches) of oil in a heavy bottomed pot to 195°C (385°F).
Carefully lower the discs into the oil, being careful to not overcrowd the pot—there should be at least 3 cm (about 1 inch) between them. The discs will sink and then rise. After they rise, carefully flip them onto the second side. Turn them every 10 to 15 seconds until both sides are cooked to a golden brown; each batch will take 2 minutes (or less) to cook. Remove and cool on the wire rack. Return the oil to temperature between batches.
Filling
When cool enough to handle, use a paring knife to bore a small hole into each sufganiyah. Fill with a teaspoon of jam (or as much as it will hold). You can do this with a piping bag and nozzle or with a coffee spoon. Roll in sugar and serve.
(A version of this recipe appeared in the November-December 2017 issue of Grand Magazine)