One Hour “Pastries”–Mini Doughnuts

For those that want to know, doughnuts are not pastries.  Technically, given the way they are made, they would be closer to cakes.  That being said, doughnuts are often sold in bakeries that specialize in pastries, because they are crowd pleasers.  And America is well known for taking liberties with food categories.  The truth is, I recently purchased a new baking pan from Bed Bath & Beyond and I wanted to play with it.  It was very quick, so I thought I would share my results with you.
First off, I will show you a picture of my helper chef, D’argo, who was a little too eager to be a part of the baking process that he was banned from the kitchen while I worked.  He almost tripped me twice, with his frenetic running around.  But he was hopeful through the end of the process that he would be allowed back in.


I promise to only trip you when you are carrying bacon...

 As always, I gathered my ingredients together, to make sure I had everything.  Success!  I had enough for a double batch, assuming everything turned out right.


If you have ingredients in jars your Grandma would love, it will taste even better!

 Here is the pan that started it all.  Isn’t it cute?  On the back of the packaging is a simple recipe for cake doughnuts, made with buttermilk and a touch of sugar.  Wait… there is also a tiny recipe for a vanilla glaze for the doughnuts…


These make mini-doughnuts... or large Cheerios.



If you can't read this, I give all the amounts below.

               















Let’s make that too.  I have the ingredients.  There’s not much to a glaze other than water, a touch of flavor, and a load of sugar.  I even have food coloring.  Ooh!  And sprinkles.  Great donuts have sprinkles! <drool>


Powdered sugar... the most dangerous powder I ever deal with.

 Anyway, back to the doughnuts.  First step, preheat oven to 425.  Second step, spray the doughnut trenches with vegetable oil spray.  Then, judging by the recipe – which you should always read through before making for the first time – my third step was to melt the butter.  As it wasn’t but 1 1/2 tablespoons of butter, it took about 25 seconds in the microwave.


Delicious delicious sunshine!

 Dry ingredients first.  In a big bowl, mix 1 1/4 cup flour, 1/2 cup sugar, 1 1/4 teaspoon baking powder, 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg, and 1 1/2 teaspoon salt.  Mix it all up.  I just stir with whatever mixing spoon I used last.  But, I'm not that picky.


Avoid the temptation to throw this at someone.

 Add the liquid ingredients: 1/2 cup buttermilk, the melted butter, and 1 egg, lightly beaten.  Stir until moistened.  Do not over stir, because you don’t want to de-fluff the dough.  The key to a great cake donut is fluffiness.  Just ask anyone who has ever eaten a squished doughnut.  They suck.


Don't' fling this at anyone either.



Okay.  You can fling this.  Just a little though.

              










If you have a pastry bag, this dough is just thick enough to load into it, which really helps in loading the tiny doughnut trenches in the pan.  I didn’t have a clean one at hand, so I did what anyone in a hurry would do.  I loaded it into a quart-sized Ziploc bag, sealed it really good, and cut a tiny piece of one corner off.  Quick-time pastry bag.  Fill the doughnut trenches half full says the recipe.  That is easy to do with a pastry bag.  Not so easy to do with a spoon.  You can trust me on this.


They kind of look like tortellini right now.



It looks gross, but trust me, this works.
















                             
Pop the pan in the oven and bake 4-5 minutes.  The doughnuts will be done when you touch one and it springs back.  For anyone who tries this and doesn’t know what this means, if you put your finger on a doughnut and it doesn’t leave an indention… they are ready.  They will still be pale, but don’t let that bother you.  Let it cool for 5 minutes before flopping out of the pan.  Mine pretty much fell right out.  Let them cool on a wire rack.  Respray the pan and load up another dozen.




If you eat one now, you will lose a few tastebuds.  Totally worth it.

     
The recipe says it makes 2 dozen of these bad boys.  But I made a little over three dozen.  As you can tell by the picture below, they overfilled a trench every so often.

This is how Spaghettios make each individual noodle

Now, on to the glaze!  Actually, as the recipe says, it is more of an icing than a glaze.  I added just a touch of yellow liquid coloring.  As you can tell by the photo, I over did it a little.  Well, I like it anyway.  If you want to make a donut glaze to make it look more like your traditional donut... heat the glaze just a little.  This will require you to dip the donut into the glaze, turn it back over, and let it drip over something as it dries (and it will, never fear).  That sounded like a little too much work for me, so I didn't do that.


That looks almost like liquid uranium.

 I decorated the doughnuts three different ways.  First, I used another Ziploc pastry bag (snack size this time) to put a circle of glaze on each doughnut, followed by sprinkles.  Second, I used the pastry bag and swiped stripes across several doughnuts, again followed by sprinkles.  Third, I left some without icing.  My husband, Brant, doesn’t really like icing, so I knew he would eat those.  Melted chocolate would also go over great with these.  But when hasn't chocolate and doughnuts gone together?


Just like the Simpson's doughnuts.... only yellow.



Plain.. for people who can't stand the happiness of sugar.



Tiger striping... you can pretend you are fierce when you eat these!

       
Now that they were done, I needed a taste-monkey to see if they were really good or just so-so.  Brant was the victim – er, taste-monkey – last time, so I decided to try someone new.  The dogs volunteered, but since they can’t talk and will eat anything I thought to find someone else.  So I took the doughnuts to work, and asked a friend from our neighbor lab, Stephanie Brosius, to try.  I captured her immediate reaction.


Taste-monkey Stephanie approves!



We want to eat doughnuts!  (and bacon!)

            

Tips for a Hobby Shopping Trip

I will admit this freely: I am not a shopping enthusiast.  I own about four pairs of shoes, only one of which I wear on a regular basis, I hate clothes shopping, and groceries are as boring as milk toast to me.  But I do love to shop around for one thing: hobby supplies.  My main hobbies are almost in constant flux, with new gadgets put out quite frequently, and everything updating to the digital age.  Whether I am looking for paint supplies, scrapbooking, cooking, or other... it is so much fun to look at the new stuff and imagine all the things I could do with them.  Unfortunately, I have to be realistic.  Most of this stuff likely will not get used, or I won't like it after I get it home, or don't have any real use for it... you name it.  Also, there is a budget to think of.  I know I don't want to spend hundreds of dollars everytime I go on a hobby run.  And my time budget is always precious.  So, here is a list of tips I have garnered from personal experience, both good and bad, to help you stay on target with your shopping excursion.

Rule #1: MAKE A LIST OF WHAT YOU NEED FOR THE WHOLE PROJECT.  Include on your list everything you need, even if you already own it.  For baking, I even put down the oven (and temperature), pans, pots, wooden stirrers, spatulas, everything.  Shopping trips for hobbyists should begin in the home.  After you have made the list, go through your hobby area (for this example, my kitchen and pantry) and cross off everything you already have.  Take this opportunity to put everything in one convenient place, so when you start, you will not have to stop to go looking for the cardamom, or something else you rarely use.

Rule #2: SEE IF ANY ITEMS CAN BE BORROWED.  This is true in all my hobbies.  It is great to have a circle of friends who all do the same thing.  When I lived in Auburn, I would scrapbook on Saturdays with a friend of mine, whose nickname is Six, and we would spend a good deal of that time using each others die cuts, stamps, inks, trade papers, you name it.  It saves a lot of time if you have an item your friend needs, and vice versa.  This also cuts down on the amount of stuff you own but rarely use.  This rule is also a blessing if you don't follow the next rule, because friends often want stuff you do not anymore.

Rule #3: ONLY BUY WHAT IS ON YOUR LIST.  As a scrapbook paper hoarder, please learn from my experience.  Even if you are just starting out scrapbooking and have virtually nothing: DON'T BUY EVERYTHING YOU LIKE.  I have a ton of paper that I bought in those giant paper books that I think are so boring and atrocious now, I don't think I will ever use them.  Everything looks good in the store, all nice and unused.  Your tastes will change, so don't buy just because they look cool.  Buy only what you need.  And along with this tip, don't buy any bulk items unless you are making bulk items.  Don't buy a Big Stack of paper wtih designs for pets on it, unless you are making a pet scrapbook.  The only exceptions to this rule are neutral cardstocks.  Black, white, and the browns are okay, just don't buy a ton of them.

Rule #4: STEER CLEAR OF SPECIALTY ITEMS IF AT ALL POSSIBLE.  Back to scrapbooking again.  I can always talk myself into buying specialty paper, like vellum or mulberry, because I like to use it.  But this rule relates back to rule #3.  If you buy a lot of things you don't need for this project, they will get lost, forgotten, what have you.  And when you need them, you may not even remember you have them.  I have about 100 sheets of clear vellum for this very reason.  Specialty items get easily lost.  Specialty items also include new equipment, three-dimensional stickers, the ten thousand different ways to stick stuff to paper, oddly shaped baking sheets, a new keyboard... anything you don't already have that you didn't know you needed.

Rule #5:  IF YOU CAN MAKE IT, DON'T BUY IT.  This sounds easy, but it can be tricky.  I can make most of the things I put on a scrapbook page myself.  Three dimensional stickers are totally simple to make, thanks to Xyron machines.  But, you have to include in this equation how much time you have to make these things.  If making accents for your page takes up half the small amount of time you have to scrapbook, I would consider it likely too hard to make, and would buy them.  The same goes for baking.  I can make my own blended spices, whipped cream, icings, and glazes, but sometimes I just can't budget for the time.

Rule #6: CHECK PRICES ONLINE FIRST.  All of my hobby stores are online, and I have those saved as favorites.  Hobby Lobby and Michael's both have weekly coupons that I treasure.  Some websites can even tell you if the item is in stock at the store before you go out to get it.  Heck, order online if you don't mind waiting for it.  Many stores have free shipping if you are willing to pick it up at their physical store.  And price check with online only stores, like Amazon.  If, again, you are willing to wait for the items, sometimes it is cheaper to order it there.

Rule #7:  SET LIMITS WHEN BREAK A RULE. Don't be hard on yourself if you slip up on one of these rules.  It is a hobby, not a job.  You won't get fired if you just have to have that adorable new baking pan for mini donuts (guilty).  The trick to not getting depressed here is what you mother probably did for you when you were little and she needed to go shopping herself: set a limit.  If you just have to buy the new toys, limit how much money you will spend.  If you forgot to check for coupons online, see if they have paper ones near the entrance before buying items full price.  If you decide that the Jolene stickers are way better than what you think you can make, go ahead but keep the purchase small.  If you were so excited about going shopping that you forget to see if your friends already have some of the stuff on your list, just buy what you are sure they don't have.  I wanted to get something shiny for baking the last time I was at Bed, Bath, & Beyond.  So I decided a little baking sheet was much cheaper than the awesome baking sets I saw there.  And the end result is: this weekend I am making mini donuts.

Happy shopping.

Scrapbooking in Pieces

I learned how to scrapbook the summer of 2005, when I discovered a wonderful little scrapbook store in Auburn, AL called "PaperJazz." I was going to Auburn University working on my masters and went there to fulfill my insatiable need for a creative outlet. I hung out there so much that I got a job working there part time. They had 6 hour crops on Friday nights, and I ran them, basically helping the women (as everyone there seemed to be) find the items they need, and keeping things clean. If I had time, I was allowed to work on scrapbook layouts. I learned two things from that awesome time working at PaperJazz. One, I really like playing with color. And two, planning is crucial for doing a good amount of scrapbooking the way you want to.

Whether you are just starting out in scrapbooking and just have a wish to make a cute book to display treasured photos, or you are like me and have your own warehouse full of paper and gadgets to do just about anything you want, there is something you probably already know. Scrapbooking takes time. Someone out there is going to read this and say "I can punch out a 20 page scrapbook in an evening, it doesn't have to be a big production." And they are right. You can do a whole scrapbook in an evening, or you can take six hours to make a single page. The amount of detail you put into your pages is up to your individual wants, needs, and capability. That is not what this blog post is about. This is about how to plan to do the scrapbooking you want to do in a small amount of time.  I am currently working on a pre-made scrapbook for my niece that recently got married. She and her new hubby went on a hiking honeymoon through the beautiful vistas of Utah, and I wanted to give them something fun to display those pictures in. I knew this was going to take some planning. I also knew that on a good weekday I would only have about three hours to do anything. So I broke the project down into small, doable sections.

The first phase of the project was the purchasing phase. I wrote down in an email all the things I needed for their scrapbook: the album, matched sets of paper with a hiking and camping theme, cardstock to match, stickers, accents, and double stick tape. I then sent the email to myself so I could bring up the list on my phone. This comes in super handy if you only have a few spare minutes to create the list, but can't go shopping for a few days. Then the fun execution of this plan is hunting through whatever scrapbook store you like and picking out the goods. It is important here to remember NOT TO OVERBUY. Just get what is on the list, even though everything looks great. You don't need it now, you only need the items for this project. Just keep telling yourself this while you check items off the list.

The second phase is the planning phase. I planned on making twenty pages of pre-made pages based around a hiking theme. For those times when i only want to make a page or two, I plan what I want them to look like. There are several places to look for inspiration, based on your level of scrapbooking prowess. You can go through old scrapbook pages you have made and pick and choose items from them that you would like to do again. You can troll the internet or scrapbook magazines for layouts and find one you like. There are hundreds of pre planned layouts there you can use; just Google "scrapbook layouts." Or, you can doodle until you some up with something you like. Remember the following questions as you pick layout(s). How many pictures do you need on these pages? How much time do I want to spend on putting special accents on the page? Does this page need pockets for ephemera (keepsakes)? This phase can take a long time, but it can be done whenever you have time.

The third phase is accent prep. I myself love to make accents more than buy them. All I need is a pencil, some cardstock, scissors, and my Xyron machine. I also have a QuicKutz die-cutter to make some of the cutest items ever. Confetti, borders, photo corners, and other popular accents can be handmade, giving your scrapbook a more unique feel. This can usually be accomplished in a night, if the other phases have gone well. The fourth and final phase is actual page creation. I suggest saving your biggest stretch of time for this, and try to do this in one or two nights, tops. By this time, I usually get frustrated at my lack of that feeling of having a pretty page to show off. With the freshly purchased items, layout plans, and accents from the previous phases around me, something special happens here. I run through the pages at a great rate, and feel so creative! I am almost finished with the scrapbook for my niece, and pictures will follow for everyone to oogle over. But, this is how I plan to do a big scrapbooking project using the small chunklets of time I have to actually do them in.