I’ve been doing a bit of baking these past few weeks. I get the inspiration every now and then. The funny thing is, I don’t necessarily love sweets or do I? I tend toward salty foods, but now that I think about it, I occasionally enjoy a chocolate croissant from Starbucks along with my latte, as I am now as I tap away.
It’s soothing to sit in a cafe, looking out the window at the trees swaying in the wind, casting shadows on the pavement, people walking in and out to get their morning treat. There’s something calming, too, in the way the cafe hums, the crunch of plastic food wrappers, clinking canisters, beeping timers, the swoosh of steam, customer voices, Billy Holiday singing in the background.
So, a couple weeks ago, for some reason I wanted to make donuts, but not fried. I remember…it was an episode of a baking completion on Food Network and every baker had to make donuts and incorporate a certain flavor. Anyway, I found myself wanting to cook donuts too. I started searching Google looking for baked donut recipes to see how they sounded and if it was possible.
It’s great being able to experience things like a child–for the first time; and that’s how it was for donuts and me.
I tried a simple recipe that I found. I tracked down donut pans, which surprisingly, to me, were not that difficult to find. I decided that because there was already enough sugar in the recipe, I would pass on the glaze.
The photo here is of my second batch of donuts. The first time, I only made a half dozen plain. The second time, I made a full dozen. I had also been craving a pineapple upside down cake (I didn’t use Marciano cherries; they would have looked cute), and hubby was craving donuts again, so I searched for another baked recipe and was in luck. I decided to split the dozen and left four plain and sprinkled four with cinnamon and sugar. I must say these little cake donuts are (were) delicious.
The first recipe I used for the first batch look really pretty with the glaze as shown in the baker’s post.
https://aseasyasapplepie.com/vanilla-glazed-baked-donuts/
https://www.mrshappyhomemaker.com/pineapple-upside-down-cake-donuts/print/
My next baking project is to make homemade focaccia bread. There is a local restaurant that has the best, and that’s what I’m hoping to replicate. I think I’ve settled on a recipe that seems straight forward.
Depending on which route I take to work, I am either constantly trying to see the wondrous clouds illuminated with sunlight through the rear window mirror or I’m looking over my shoulder, taking peeks as I drive by on the open road.