Yoji and the Foodies

I’ve had this obsession with home-made doughnuts for the simple reason that I find Krispy Kreme (or Gonuts Donuts) too sweet. This obsession led me to about 20 doughnut recipes – one recipe looking better than the next. The basic dough mixture is the same across recipes but each of them added something unique in terms of flavoring. I am more than happy with a simple glaze or even a sprinkle of sugar mixed with cinnamon, so I took the very basic dough recipe from the list  and started working.

It’s easy to be intimidated when working with dough.  I am not. This is because I’ve been to dough hell and back. I’ve messed up many times in the past while working with cookie dough, bread dough, and pizza dough so I am no longer intimidated. It’s all part of the learning process.

Here’s the very basic doughnut recipe that I used.

2 cups flour
2 tsp.baking powder
1/2 cup caster sugar
icing sugar

1 egg
1/2 cup milk
50g butter
1 tbsp vanilla

optional:
icing sugar for glaze
cinnamon

Combine all ingredients to form a dough. REALLY! That’s how simple it is. Shape it into a big doughball and put in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes or so, knead the dough a few times to activate the baking powder. Use a rolling pin or a bottle to flatten the dough. When it’s ready, you can use a big cookie cutter to shape the doughnut. I used a “polvoron” mould because I don’t have a cookie cutter (you better believe it!). For the hole, use an apple corer or a much smaller cookie cutter. I used a bottlecap because I have none of those fancy contraptions.

You can either bake or deep fry the doughnut. I deep fried them because it’s faster.

To make the glaze, mix icing sugar and boiling water. Glaze the doughnut and let it cool for 5 minutes.

To make the cinnamon sugar, just mix cinnamon and sugar and sprinkle on the dougnut.

Not too sweet.

The pudding I’ve come to know (and enjoy) is the one made of 1-day old (or more) unwanted pieces of bread mixed and held together by flour, egg, coconut milk, and condensed milk, with a fews drop of vanila essence – then baked. If lazyness meter is too high, I just buy from the friendly neighborhood baker. If Iwant to splurge on a fancy pudding with vanilla sauce, I go to Figaro and order this:

So, a pudding cup is a big departure from the traditional pudding; but I picked up a 4-pack anyway.

I only realized that it was made by Hunt’s when I have finished eating 2 cups (I want to be defensive and say that I consumed the 2 cups in 6-hour interval and not in quick succession ). This is a 3-layer pudding with caramel in the middle.

The pudding looks very sweet and thick, but it isn’t. It took about 5 seconds to get used to the semi-liquid consistency, which is actually the time it takes to consume half of the content. It’s like a pudding drug. It’s hard to resist. It does not have a mindblowing taste, but it’s addictive. It’s one of those treats that you want to have easy access to. At 92 pesos per 4 packs, it is slighty cheaper than the healthier yoghurt cups. There’s the conundrum.

For what it’s worth…they used non-fat milk.