Homemade Beignets for dessert

Last night was a great night at our house. We had two great friends over for dinner, the weather was gorgeous (we left the windows and doors wide open, we build-our-own cheeseburgers for dinner and had homemade beignets for dessert.

If you look at my last post, I walked you through prepping the beignet dough or choux pastry, so it could chill in the fridge all day. Tonight, after dinner was put away and cleaned up, we pulled that puppy out of the fridge and made beignets!

this is what the pastry dough looks like after sitting in the fridge all day

I used a Tablespoon size mechanical scooper to drop dough into the oil

As pictured I used my countertop deep fryer, but you could certainly use a dutch oven on the stovetop as well.

floating beignets will soon double in size

removed from oil and dusted with powdered sugar

beignets served with, homemade whipped cream ala Jamie and dipping sauces ala Tim (thanks guys)

flaky outer shell and fluffy hollow interior

These perfect little donuts are ridiculous! I won’t tell you how many I ate…let’s just say I threw my GI Diet out the window today, out the window and down the street, threw it out like a moldy piece of bread from the bread drawer….I ate a lot of them. It’s kryptonite.

Check out my post from yesterday for the recipe.

Preparing for Beignets

Beignets. Tonight. I. Can’t. Wait.

If you’ve never had beignets before, imagine the best doughnut you’ve ever eaten, then make it fluffier, egg-ier, more deep-fried, and cover in powdered sugar. Even then, I can’t describe the utter perfection they are. Their hollow insides make them PERFECT for dipping into chocolate sauce or raspberry sauce as well as homemade whipped cream.

The first time I ever had beignets was at The Grand Lux Cafe and they were eye opening! I’ve managed to duplicate them somehow and am quite a bit of danger of gaining 50lbs from making them at a whim.

Only weeks ago, I found out beignets are made of Pate a Choux (the pastry that makes cream puffs and eclairs) but whereas the creme puff is baked, beignets are deep fried. What?!

SOooo, I took a reliable choux pastry recipe I had been using and dropped it in super hot oil and, well, it was a very exciting night. It was such a big hit, we decided to bless our guests that we are having over tonight with a fresh batch. I made the dough last night so it has time to chill (and so I have more time to clean my messy house before our guests arrive tonight)

WARNING! Once you try these, you’ll never be satisfied with a regular donut again.

Here’s what you need to do…

8 tablespoons butter on medium heat

1 cup of water

combined butter and water

add 1/4 tsp salt

add 1.5 Tablespoons sugar

in another bowl, add 1/4 teaspoon baking powder

and 1 cup of all purpose flour

sift the dry ingredients together ….pretty like snow

get your biggest wooden spoon out

stir the water and butter mixture

when it starts to boil its ready

add the flour

start stirring like its going out of style

dough starts to form a ball

cook for 3 more minutes to cook flour

dough forms a tighter ball

transfer dough to the bowl that i used to sift flour

I get the pot in hot water right away to make for easy clean-up

add eggs 1 at a time and mix until combined

getting there…

…there

(5 eggs later)

for making beignets, chill the dough. Old lunchmeat containers are the perfect size

chill for 4 hours or overnight…yes that is lemon curd on the shelf below…yum

Beignets Recipe (Pate a choux)

8 Tablespoons Butter; unsalted

1 Cup Water

1/4 tsp salt

1.5 Tablespoons sugar

1 Cup flour, sifted

1/4 tsp. Baking Powder

5 eggs

powdered sugar

Cook water, butter, salt, and sugar over medium heat until it boils gently

Sift flour and powder together

Add flour to liquid and stir until it forms a dough ball; cook 3 minutes longer

add eggs 1 at a time

Put in container with lid and store in fridge for 4 hours or overnight.

Drop 1 Tablespoon dollops into HOT 365 degree oil (canola oil)

fry 3-4 at a time so it doesn’t crowd the oil

Remove from oil to lined tray, sprinkle with powdered sugar sifted over them

Tonight my guests are supplying the dipping sauces, so I’ll let you know what we end up with and I’ll be sure to get pictures along the way. Check out tomorrows post to see the finished beignets. Can’t wait!!!!!