Cinnamon Baked Doughnuts and Mexican-Style Chocolate Sauce

Kurt may not agree with this assessment, but I don’t think I have very many baking pans. I don’t have every possible size for cakes or tarts, and I really only have a few pans that are for specific things like madeleines or snowman-shaped cupcakes. Of course, I want every baking pan I ever see, and I imagine I’ll use all of them enough to justify them taking up storage space, but only very occasionally do I actually add to the small collection. I’d considered getting pans for baked doughnuts for ages, and when I saw the Cinnamon Baked Doughnuts in Barefoot Contessa Foolproof, I had to do it. In that book, the baked doughnuts are served with hot chocolate. We weren’t having hot chocolate weather when I made these, and I’d just read about several lovely chocolate sauces in Modern Sauces. So, I opted for Mexican-Style Chocolate Sauce instead of a hot beverage to accompany the doughnuts. The chocolate sauce has espresso, cinnamon, Kahlua, and some pure chile powders that give it depth and interest. Paired with the light and cakey, baked cinnamon doughnuts, it made for a delightful dessert.

Making the batter for the doughnuts is as easy as it gets, but the most important instruction is to fill the doughnut cups in the pans three-quarters full. Yes, I learned that the hard way. After mixing the dry ingredients in a large bowl, the wet ingredients in a smaller bowl, and stirring the wet into the dry, don’t overfill the pans. If the cups have too much batter, you won’t have holes in your doughnuts. I got it right on my second try. After baking, the doughnuts cooled for a few minutes before being tapped out of the pans. Then, they were each dunked into melted butter and then dipped into cinnamon sugar. You could dunk and dip both sides, but I only did one side for each doughnut. The chocolate sauce is simple to make and can be stored in the refrigerator and reheated as needed. Chopped dark chocolate, or feves as I used, is placed in a bowl. Cream is brought to a simmer in a saucepan. Off the heat, sugar, espresso powder, cinnamon, vanilla extract, almond extract, Kahlua, chile powder, and a pinch of salt are added to the cream. The cream is then poured over the chocolate which is whisked until smooth. You can use whatever pure chile powder you prefer, and chipotle is suggested. Instead, I used a big pinch of ancho powder and a little bit of cayenne. You’ll want to taste and add small pinches of chile powder until you’re happy since the richness of the cream flattens out the chile flavor. I wanted a subtle earthiness from the ancho and just a slight tingle from the cayenne. It took a few added pinches and taste tests to get it just right. Serve the chocolate sauce in small cups for dunking the doughnuts or for pouring the sauce on top of them. 

Buttery, cinnamony doughnuts are ideal vehicles for this rich and flavorful chocolate sauce. After this, I think my new baked doughnut pans will be getting plenty of use. And, now I have to ponder my lack of mini Bundt pans and possibly do something about that. 

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White Hot Chocolate with Vegetarian Marshmallows

Since I made the decision to avoid using gelatin, I had wanted to make homemade marshmallows with a vegetarian alternative. Then, I received a kitchen torch, and the desire to toast homemade marshmallows catapulted this project to the top of the list. I knew there was a vegetarian version of marshmallows made with xanthan gum in Demolition Desserts, but I had read that they don’t set up as firm as marshmallows made with gelatin. I decided to try them anyway. Once I had gelatin-free marshmallows and the ability to toast them, it seemed natural to then float them on top of some rich and delicious hot chocolate. I took a few cues from Ina for the technique and whipped up a white hot chocolate with a little espresso to balance the sweetness and some Kahlua to reinforce the coffee flavor with an alcoholic edge. A sprinkle of cocoa powder before floating the marshmallow added a bit of dark chocolate flavor too.

So, to make vegetarian marshmallows, the process is the same as for making ones with gelatin only instead of dissolving gelatin in a hot sugar syrup, xanthan gum is added after the hot syrup is incorporated into the egg whites. Water, cream of tartar, sugar, corn syrup, and half a vanilla bean were placed in saucepan over high heat and brought to a boil. The heat was reduced to medium, and a candy thermometer was attached to the pan. The syrup was cooked until it reached 248 degrees F, and meanwhile, three egg whites were being mixed in a stand mixer with the whip attachment. The hot syrup was added to the egg whites while mixing, and as soon as all the syrup was added, one and a half teaspoons of xanthan gum was added. You get the same, glossy, sticky meringue. That is then transferred to a cornstarch-sprinkled pan and left to set. I cut some marshmallows into heart shapes, and they did seem softer and a little gooey-er than marshmallows I had made with gelatin in the past. They held their shape well enough for floating on hot chocolate though. For the hot chocolate, I chopped four ounces of white chocolate and heated two cups of milk to a simmer. I poured the hot milk over the white chocolate and whisked until it melted. I poured that mixture through a sieve, just like Ina, into a small, heat-proof pitcher. Then, I added one tablespoon instant espresso, a teaspoon of vanilla extract, and a splash of Kahlua. After pouring into two mugs, I topped each with a sprinkle of cocoa powder and a toasted marshmallow.

I have to say I was very pleased with the slightly bitter edges of the toasted marshmallow in combination with the sweet, white chocolate. The resulting color of the hot chocolate itself with the added espresso and Kahlua isn’t exactly a beautiful shade of off-white, but the flavor made up for the unremarkable looks.

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Mocha Sherbet Freeze

I spotted this sherbet on Saveur.com the other day, and it seemed like a very good antidote to our unrelenting August heat. I was ogling the frothy, icy, chocolaty beverage and wishing I had a glass of it in my hand when Cowgirl Chef all but dared me to go ahead and make it. So, I did. The recipe is also found in The Perfect Scoop, and since it’s a sherbet, it’s not terribly decadent. It’s made with espresso, cocoa powder, and milk. Once the sherbet has been churned in an ice cream maker and then left in the freezer to firm up, it’s then blended into a slurpingly good mocha freeze and topped with whipped cream making it a little more decadent than how it started. I made one change to the blended beverage by adding some Kahlua, and it did help alleviate the hot weather at least until my glass was empty.

I have to tell you a little more about the whipped cream garnish. I received a creative whip from iSi North America which makes whipping cream a very fast operation. I added a couple of teaspoons of sugar to a small container of cream, closed the top and shook the container to dissolve the sugar, and then poured the cream into the creative whip which is charged with nitrous oxide. You shake the creative whip canister a few times, and then pull the trigger for thick, whipped cream. That was so much easier than whisking for several minutes or pulling out the mixer. Obviously, you could use this tool for all kinds of creative foams or meringues, but I was thrilled to simply have effortless whipped cream on my mocha freeze. As I mentioned, I added some Kahlua. To make the freeze, you combine scoops of the sherbet with ice cubes and more espresso in a blender pitcher. I used half the suggested amount of espresso and half Kahlua. It was blended until smooth, whipped cream was piped onto it, and chopped chocolate-covered espresso beans were sprinkled on top.

Coffee and chocolate are great year-round, and in a frozen format, this fit perfectly with my criteria for summer desserts. It was cold, not heavy, and flavorful without being too sweet. Scoops of the sherbet all by itself were delicious too, but the blended beverage was a special treat.

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Mocha Kahlua Cake

Let’s just jump straight to dessert. Back when I baked the oatmeal maple bars from the Greyston Bakery Cookbook, I mentioned that the mocha kahlua cake from that book might be nice for dessert on Christmas Eve. Well, it most certainly was. This is a cake of rich, chocolate layers with a kahlua custard between them, and it’s topped with a mocha buttercream frosting. If you follow the instructions exactly, you’ll have a very grand cake that’s three layers tall. I went for a slightly less grand final version of only two layers, and I baked the remaining layer’s worth of batter into cupcakes which are in the freezer now. I made the full amount of custard and the extra bit intended for a second layer of filling became a nice, little snack. I also made the full amount of frosting and gave the top of the cake a thick coating.

The cake batter was made with cocoa powder and espresso powder and six separated eggs plus two additional egg whites. The whites were beaten into soft peaks and carefully folded into the batter. After the cakes came out of the oven, they were brushed with kahlua which added flavor and kept them moist. As the cakes cooled, the custard was made with the two remaining egg yolks, sugar, cornstarch, half-and-half, and kahlua. I tasted it several times as it thickened to be sure it was as delicious as I thought it was. It was. The custard was chilled and then layered between cakes, and then the stacked layers were chilled for about an hour. Last, the buttercream was made with, of course, butter, cocoa powder, more kahlua, confectioner’s sugar, and half-and-half. It was a thick and sturdy frosting with just enough chocolate flavor. The finished cake does need to remain in the refrigerator, and I just barely had space for it.

As the cake sat for a few hours, it became even more tender from the kahlua soaking and the custard layer. Although kahlua was added in several places throughout this recipe, this wasn’t a boozy tasting cake. It was chocolaty and mocha-sweet with just a little taste of the liqueur edge. There was a nice mix of flavors, and that mix was just rich enough without being too much. When asked to choose a type of cake, Kurt has always said ‘chocolate,’ but from now on, he may start saying ‘mocha kahlua chocolate.’




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South of the Border Irish Insomniac

My bottle of Kahlua was wondering why I hadn’t used the rest of it, so I searched around for something that included it. I found an interesting cocktail in Viva Margarita, but I didn’t really like the name for it in the book. It’s made with espresso, tequila, and Baileys Irish cream in addition to the Kahlua, but the name ‘Tijuana speedball’ didn’t seem to do justice to all those great flavors. I wanted to call it ‘an Irishman woke up in Mexico’ but decided that sounded like the beginning of a joke, and I didn’t have one to go with it. Friends and family all tried to suggest other possible names, but nothing seemed quite right. I gave up just now, and went with the name you see above. Send me a better idea if you have one.

Throughout the book, the drink recipes are written for either one or two drinks. In this case, it was for one. I made slight changes and will give quantities below for two drinks as I made them. The suggested garnish was to float espresso beans on the top surface with some cinnamon. Instead, I finely chopped chocolate-covered espresso beans and sprinkled that on top with a dusting of cinnamon. Because this is a chilled cocktail, I brewed the espresso in advance and left it in the refrigerator for about an hour.

The hint of caramel from the Kahlua and the smooth Baileys added just enough sweetness to the espresso and tequila. A small, six ounce serving was just enough for a caffeine jolt with a kick, and the dusting of cinnamon and crushed chocolate-covered espresso beans on top was delicious. I’ll definitely be mixing more of these, but what should I call them next time?

Espresso, Kahlua, Baileys Cocktail That Needs a Better Name:
1 ounce tequila
1.5 ounces Kahlua
1.5 ounces Bailey’s Irish Cream
3 ounces espresso
Cinnamon
3-4 chocolate-covered espresso beans, finely chopped

Add a handful or two of ice to a cocktail pitcher (or shaker) and then pour the tequila, Kahlua, Baileys, and espresso over the ice. Stir (or shake) to blend and chill. Strain mixture into two six ounce cocktail glasses and sprinkle tops with cinnamon and chopped chocolate-covered espresso beans.

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Midnight Martini

This dark, murky espresso cocktail is for grown-up trick-or-treating. It was taken from Ina Garten’s Halloween for Grown-ups, but I changed a couple of details. In her version, she used orange-flavored vodka. First, I wasn’t sure I would want any orange flavor at all, so I started with plain vodka. Then, I added just a little orange liqueur, quite liked it, and experimented with how much was just right. I used a natural, premium, locally made liqueur called Paula’s Texas Orange. PTO is also excellent, if not necessary, in margaritas. In the end, the espresso and orange flavors mixed quite nicely. My version of the cocktail:

1 c brewed espresso, chilled
3/4 c vodka
1/2 c Paula’s Texas Orange (or another orange liqueur)
1/2 c Kahlua
1 cup ice
Sliced blood oranges

-place ice in a cocktail pitcher and pour espresso, vodka, orange liqueur, and Kahlua over it; stir to combine and continue stirring for several seconds to chill the mixture; pour into four martini glasses while straining out the ice, and garnish each with a slice of blood orange

Blood orange slices add a nice touch of color, and their name even sounds Halloween-oriented. Given the amount of alcohol per martini, they surprisingly lack harshness as the Kahlua performs well in smoothing out the edges. Can I say it’s hauntingly good? Too easy. Mysteriously enchanting? No. But, it’s Halloween, and this is a great cocktail, so give it a go.

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