Old-Fashioned Buttermilk Doughnuts with Bourbon Maple Vanilla Glaze
I’ve been pretty uninspired these past few months. It’s hard to tell exactly why but maybe it’s all the existential dread.
Who even knows anymore
One of the real issues I’ve been having is I can’t actually take the kind of food photos I love. Which is a serious problem. So I got some new supplies and set about teaching myself how to take dark food photos. I’m not sure I’ve got the hang of it just yet but it’s a start.
My second problem is that since my fibromyalgia diagnosis, I've gone vegetarian and rarely touch sweets. I even had to give up alcohol with the exception of a drink or two once a week. What is even happening? I don’t know.
So I sat around and thought about what I could do with food and photography that would bring more of what I love into the frame. And then it dawned on me.
Books. This blog needs a lot more books.
I know lots of adults who have fond memories of reading Laura Ingles Wilder as kids, but I could never really get into that pioneer life. With one exception. Farmer Boy.
Farmer Boy is Wilder’s account of her husband’s childhood in upstate New York and for some reason, the entire book is chock full of food descriptions. Almanzo is a boy and I guess he’s hungry all the time but I don’t even care because the terms in which Wilder gushes about every meal the family sits down to had me absolutely riveted.
One of the big features of the Wilder table was homemade doughnuts, so I set about recreating the flavors featured prominently in Farmer Boy. Starting with a little buttermilk, I folded together a sweetly scented dough speckled with vanilla beans, then popped these holes into the bubbling sizzle of oil before drowning them in a maple syrup glaze.
It is also perfectly acceptable to enjoy these without glaze as a companion for your cup of morning coffee. Or slice into these perfectly round, plump little pillows and let them soak up a little artisan maple syrup. There are no bad options here.
Cheers to you and if you’re still convalescing, might I suggest a good book, a cheery fire, and a scrap of something sweet? It keeps the existential dread at bay. Love and light to you… I’ll be back in the spring with something new.
Old Fashioned Buttermilk Doughnuts with Maple Vanilla Glaze
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/1 a vanilla bean, split and scraped
3/4 cup buttermilk
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 large eggs plus one egg yolk
6 cups vegetable (canola) oil
For the maple glaze:
4 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup maple syrup
INSTRUCTIONS
In a large mixing bowl, mix together 1 cup of flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
In small mixing bowl, whisk together buttermilk, butter, vanilla bean, and eggs. Add wet ingredients to the dry and mix on medium speed for about 30 seconds.
With speed on low, gradually mix in the remaining flour a little at a time. Add more or less flour as necessary to make a soft dough that is moist and slightly tacky. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and chill for 1 hour.
Place oil in a Dutch oven and heat to 375°.
Prepare the glaze by whisking together the powdered sugar, vanilla beans, and maple syrup until smooth. Add milk to dilute if it’s too thick to drizzle.
On a lightly floured surface, use a floured rolling pin to roll out the dough to 1/2 inch thick. Use a floured small biscuit cutter (or a shot glass) to cut out the doughnuts. Gather scraps together and roll out again to cut more.
Cook several doughnuts at a time, flipping them over as they rise to the surface and turn golden brown, about a minute per side or less. Drain on a wire rack.
While still warm, dip the doughnuts into the glaze. Swirl the doughnut in the glaze a little, then pick it up and let the excess glaze dribble back into the bowl. Return the glazed doughnut to the rack to let the glaze dry. Repeat. Store in a sealed container for up to three days or freeze unglazed for longer storage.