Molasses Gingerbread Cupcakes
click image for recipe
We decided to go at it the old fashion way to really complete the learning curve. So, our first stop was the mall to stock up on a few essentials. Though not necessary if you have some round objects around the kitchen, we chose to invest in a couple of mini doughnut cutters with removable centers. They were inexpensive, made our shapes cleaner, and allowed us to make both full doughnuts and additional doughnut holes with any excess dough. We also picked up some extra cooling racks and, most importantly, a candy/frying thermometer. Look for the kind that clips to the side of your pot and is made specifically for hot sugar and oil, as other thermometers won’t be able to stand the heat. Also, we already had these, but a pair of good long tongs will be extremely useful when you’re trying to retrieve your doughnuts from the hot oil quickly. Keep a metal spatula on hand as well for sliding the raw dough into the pot.
Gingerbread Doughnuts and Holes
Prep time: 2.5 hours; Cook time: 20 minutes (2 min. per batch); Makes approx. 4 dozen mini doughnuts and holes (you can split this recipe in half for less relatives!)
Equipment:
- metal spatula
- 3 inch doughnut cutter (or anything small and round)
- cooling racks, lined with paper towel beneath
- tongs
- fry thermometer
- 2 mixing bowls
- large heavy pot
- rolling pin
- standing or hand mixer
- parchment paper
Ingredients:
- 2 cups warm water (105-115 degrees)
- 3 tsp active dry yeast
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 2/3 cup melted butter
- 2/3 cup molasses
- 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
- 8 cups all-purpose flour
- 6 tbsp nonfat dry milk
- 2 tsp salt
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 2 tsp ground ginger
- 1/2 tsp ground cloves
- powdered sugar for topping
- a jug of vegetable or canola oil
In a large bowl, stir together the warm water, active dry yeast, and sugar and let stand for five minutes. Then, stir in the butter, molasses, and eggs. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, dry milk, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves. Add the yeast mixture and beat until fully blended. Cover the dough and let it rise for 1 to 1.5 hours, or until doubled in volume.
Punch the dough down, taking some of the air out of it. Remove from the bowl. When we did this, it was still much too sticky to work with. We added flour one small handful at a time until it was manageable. Do not add too much flour or the dough will start to crumble. Once the dough is workable, pull off a third or a half of it, depending on how much counter space you have, flour a rolling pin, and roll the piece of dough out until it is 1/2 inch thick. This does NOT require a lot of rolling. You are smoothing it out more than flattening it. Using the doughnut cutter, punch out as many doughnuts as you can fit. Use the 1-inch center to punch doughnut holes in the gaps between the other doughnuts. Place the finished doughnuts and holes on the floured parchment paper and set them aside to rise. Roll out the rest of the dough and continue cutting your doughnuts out, adding the scraps of dough left at the end to the next batch, until you have no dough (or just a small scrap) left. Let all the finished doughnuts rise for at least 45 minutes uncovered at room temperature.
As the doughnuts are nearing the end of their rising, prepare the frying pot. Fill the pot with 2 inches of oil. Insert your thermometer and turn the heat on, allowing the oil temperature to rise to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Keep an eye on the thermometer and turn the heat lower, but not off, as it nears 375. Dip the spatula in oil and use it to ease 5-10 doughnuts and holes into the pot. Let them cook for about a minute on each side, or until golden brown. This will happen quickly so be attentive. When they are ready, use the tongs to rescue them from the oil and set them on the cooling racks.Watch the temperature at all times, as it’s easy to get distracted and let it rise or drop too much. Try to keep it as close to 375 as you can throughout the frying process.
When all your doughnuts are fried and thoroughly cooled, sprinkle with powdered sugar to taste. Like most fried foods, doughnuts are best eaten on the same day they are made, so serve as soon as possible!
So there happens to be this boy, whom I’m dating that loves french toast. When ever I stay over there he always asks me to make him french toast in the morning, so I wasn’t the least bit suprised when he asked if stuffed french toast was possible!!
After searching many recipes I discovered one by my favorite food blogger Annies Eats :) (annies-eats.com)
So here is my adapted recipe for strawberry stuffed french toast!
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients:
For the filling:
1 cup sliced fresh strawberries
2 tbsp. sugar
1 pint heavy Whipping cream (the original recipe called for cream cheese, but I wasn’t a fan.)
- For the toast:
4 thick slices bread,from a loaf you cut yourself. If you can find a bakery with sweet bread, use that! - 1 large egg
¾ cup milk
2 tbsp. melted butter
1 tsp. vanilla
¼ cup all-purpose flour
¼ tsp. ground cinnamon
¼ tsp. salt
Unsalted butter
To make the filling, combine the sliced strawberries and sugar in a medium bowl. Mix well and set aside to macerate for about 15 minutes.
Mix heavy cream, and 1/2 cup sugar together with a hint of vanilla in a bowl on a high speed until it turns to Whipped Cream, Imagine that! :) strain the strawberries and FOLD into the whipcream.
To prepare the toast, carefully slice a pocket into the center of each slice of bread, taking care not to cut all the way through to the other side. Heat a large skillet over medium heat. In a shallow baking dish or pie plate, whisk together the egg and milk. Whisk in the melted butter and vanilla. Stir in the flour, cinnamon and salt and whisk until smooth. One or two at a time, place the slices of bread in the egg mixture, soaking about 30-40 seconds per side. Remove the bread and allow the excess batter to drip off. Transfer to a plate and repeat with the remaining bread slices.
In a pan brown both sides ( like normal french toast) and once cooked add filling into slits made. dolip a bit of filling on top and serve :)
This recipe for how to make french toast bread pudding along with caramelized roasted bananas is influenced by the famous dessert provided at Disney World’s Caribbean Beach Resort. Make sure you review the whole article, since there are multiple recipes used to make this scrumptious french toast dessert.
Overall Ingredients
3/4 banana, caramelized with a pat of butter and a sprinkling of brown sugar 4 oz Bread Pudding (see recipe below)
3 oz Carmel Sauce (recipe below)
2 oz French Toast batter (utilize your own favourite recipe)
2 oz cinnamon sugar
4 oz coconut ice cream
Instructions
Soak the bread pudding into the French Toast batter. Deep fry the French Toast until it is a golden brown, after which put it in cinnamon sugar as well as cut diagonally. Prepare the French Toast bits decoratively on a serving plate. Garnish along with the caramelized bananas and a scoop of coconut ice cream. Drizzle with caramel sauce.
Bread Pudding Ingredients
3/4 cup golden raisins
12 oz one day old croissants (with respect to the size of your croissants, you might need 3 or 4)
3 cups dairy
3 big eggs
2 big egg yolks
3/4 cup white sugar
1 vanilla bean
Bread Pudding Instructions
Preheat the your oven to 350 degrees. Stuff a cooking pan with a half-inch of warm water and set at the center holder of your own oven. In a different glass baking dish, scatter the raisins all over the base of the plate. Cut the croissants into thicker bits (around a half-inch thick is perfect). Put the croissants on the top of the raisins.
Combine the milk, whole eggs, egg yolks and white sugar inside a large bowl. Utilizing a paring knife, split the vanilla bean in two lengthwise. Reserve half of the vanilla bean seeds inside a plastic bag for another usage. Scrape the rest of the beans in the pan and throw-away the scraped through vanilla bean one half. Utilizing an electric powered mixer built in with a paddle attachment, whip the milk, whole eggs, egg yolks, white sugar and vanilla bean seeds over a medium-low speed for one or two minutes, right up until frothy and well-mixed.
Put the blend on the croissants. In case any croissants are staying out of the mixture, push down on them along with the rear of a spoon to make certain all things are appropriately submerged. Allow the baking dish remain for several minutes, occasionally pressing down on the croissants with a table spoon to resubmerge them in the egg blend, to allow the bread to relax inside the moisture. When the croissants are soaked, carefully place the glass baking plate in the water-filled cooking pot.
Bake until the croissants transform into a golden brown hue as well as the mixture is set, around 50 minutes. Take away the roasting pan as well as baking pan blend first out of the oven, after which take out the baking pot of French toast. Set the baking pot over a cooling rack.
Serve up the French toast warm. To prepare at a later time, let the French toast cool down fully and then cover the dish along with plastic wrap. Put it in the refrigirator for about 24 hours. Heat the dish back-up in the oven or perhaps prepare it cold.
Caramel Sauce Ingredients
4 oz white sugar
4 oz butter
4 oz brown sugar
4 oz light corn syrup
16 oz heavy cream
2 oz vanilla
1 pound (16 oz) bananas, roasted and pureed
Caramel Sauce Directions
With a sauce pan, dissolve the butter over a higher heat. Add the white sugar, brown sugar, light corn syrup and half (8 oz) of the heavy cream. Stir quite often. After the mixture comes to a boil, add the remaining heavy cream gently, taking care to not break up the boil. Mix and permit the blend keep boiling for three minutes. Take out of the heat, then put the vanilla as well as the roasted and also pureed bananas. Permit it to cool to room temperature, and then serve. Don’t refrigerate, or perhaps the blend will harden up.
