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Beignets are probably most famous for going with coffee at the Cafe du Monde in New Orleans, Louisiana. They are a simple, rustic French version of donuts. The dough is essentially an enriched, sweet bread dough. It is flattened out and cut into squares and deep fried. Unlike regular donuts, beignets do not normally have a central hole. Properly made they are incredibly fluffy and delightful.
The dough for beignets will be pretty sticky. Once it has had a good chance (2 hours, or overnight in the fridge) to rise, turn it out onto a well-floured surface to work with it. We chose to divide it in half before cutting it into squares, but if your work surface is large enough, cut it all into squares, and freeze those you don’t want to cook immediately. Later, the frozen squares may be allowed to quickly thaw (they are thin so it takes an hour or less), and then be deep-fried whenever one wants beignets. How dangerous!
Beignets are not very good left over, so try to cook only as many as you want to eat. Dust them with powdered sugar immediately after they come out of the oil so that the sugar may form the proper sort of coating on the outside. We have had good luck using a 6:1 powdered sugar / cocoa powder mix; feel free to experiment with adding other fine powders to the coating to suit your own tastes.
Makes enough for 16 people, roughly 48 beignets.
Equipment:
deep frying setup
pastry board or clean countertop for spreading out the dough
stand mixer
mixing bowl or large glass measuring cup
Ingredients:
3 3/4 cup flour bread or AP
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp instant yeast or one packet active dry yeast, proved w/ water and sugar
3/4 cup water warm (~105F)
1/2 cup milk room temp
1 ea large egg
2 tsp vanilla or sub 1 Tbsp of sugar with vanilla sugar
1 tsp salt added late
4 Tbsp butter
1/4 cup powdered sugar for dusting or tossing
Procedure:
1. If using active dry yeast, combine a tablespoon of the sugar with the warm water and the yeast and allow to sit 5-10 minutes until the mixture becomes frothy, proving that the yeast is alive and vigorous.
2. Place the egg into a mixing bowl or measuring cup and beat it, adding in the yeast, water, sugar, milk and vanilla.
3. Place the flour into the stand mixer bowl, and then add the wet ingredient mix.
4. Using the dough hook, mix at a medium-low speed until the dough comes together. It will probably be necessary to stop the mixer two or three times to scrape down the sides and turn over the material at the bottom of the bowl.
5. Once the dough has just come together, let it sit for 10 minutes to allow the flour to fully hydrate.
6. Add the salt and mix to combine.
7. Add the butter to the mixer a little at a time, letting each addition be incorporated into the dough before adding more. Don’t forget to scrape down the bowl occasionally.
8. The dough may seem very sticky once it is done mixing, but it should be coherent enough to be pulling away from the sides even if it is very stuck on the bottom of the bowl.
9. Allow the fully-mixed dough to rise about two hours at room temperature, until it about doubles in size.
10. Set up the deep frying gear and let it come to 360F while finishing the beignets.
11. Turn the sticky dough out onto a well-floured surface and de-gas it while also spreading it out into a rectangle about 1/2” thick. If need be, divide the dough mound in half and form the beignets in two rounds, or freeze part of it for later.
12. Using a bench scraper or ideally a pizza cutter, cut the 1/2” thick dough into ~2” squares.
13. Line up any extra squares of dough on a parchment-lined sheet pan and freeze them. Once frozen, they may be stored in a bag or similar, in a deep freezer. It’s better not to keep them in a conventional freezer for too long, where they should stay on a pan in order to avoid them gluing themselves to their neighbors during defrost cycles.
14. Drop the squares of dough into the hot oil and let them fry for 30-45 seconds per side.
15. Drain cooked beignets on a wire rack, and dust immediately with powdered sugar, or toss in a bowl of powdered sugar for a more serious coating.
16. Enjoy while still warm, but be careful not to burn your mouth.
Music: www.bensound.co...
17 авг 2024
