A Coincidental Masterclass with Michel Roux Jr

The October 2010 Daring Bakers challenge was hosted by Lori of Butter Me Up. Lori chose to challenge DBers to make doughnuts. She used several sources for her recipes including Alton Brown, Nancy Silverton, Kate Neumann and Epicurious.

Are you as excited by Masterchef the Professionals as I am?

I am backing Alice and Clare for now. The fact that those are also my names is not important. I also believe that it's about time that a girl won the competition.

Part of becoming the masterchef of course, involves several gruelling tasks. One round is to recreate a classic French dish that Michel Roux Jr showcases beforehand.

Can you believe that the day before my nervous hands were to attempt some doughnuts, that the French classic recreation round was to make perfect doughnuts with 3 sauces? I could not believe it either. It was as if I was having my own class with the Roux genius himself and I have to say, I think it made me feel much better about making them.

They were fun and surprisingly easy to make.

Even better to eat.

I made two styles of doughnut. Some Italian apple zeppole and a more traditional tiramisu inspired one with a chocolate and coffee dough, dipped in an amaretto-mascarpone glaze.

L has now challenged me to make some plain jam filled doughnuts, so watch this space!

Apple Zeppole

This is a lovely recipe, but a little wet, so I found it easier to drop smaller spoons of the mixture in to get little doughnut ribbons.

Ingredients

1 large apple, peeled and grated (about 1 1/2 cups)

1/4 cup sugar
1 stick butter
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup water
1 cup flour
4 eggs
2 tablespoons confectioners' sugar, plus more for dusting

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Method
In a medium saucepan combine the butter, salt, sugar, and water over medium heat. Bring to a boil. Take pan off the heat and stir in the flour. Return the pan to medium heat and stir continuously until mixture forms a ball, about 3 to 5 minutes. Transfer the flour mixture to a medium bowl. Using an electric hand mixer on low speed, add eggs, one at a time, incorporating each egg completely before adding the next. Beat until smooth. Add the grated apple and stir to combine. If not frying immediately, cover with plastic wrap and reserve in the refrigerator.

Meanwhile, pour enough oil into a large frying pan to reach a depth of 2 inches. Heat the oil over medium heat until a deep-fry thermometer registers 325 degrees F.
Using a small ice-cream scooper or 2 small spoons, carefully drop about a rounded tablespoon of the dough into the hot olive oil. Turn the zeppole once or twice, and cook until golden and puffed up, about 4 minutes. Fry the zeppole in batches so as not to overcrowd the pan. Drain on paper towels. Transfer the zeppole to a serving dish and sprinkle with powdered sugar mixed with the cinnamon using a small sieve.



Tiramisu Doughnuts

Put these in the fridge (if you dont eat them all as soon as they're glazed) to keep the mascarpone from melting

Ingredients
1/3 cup + 1 Tablespoon Water, Lukewarm
10g Active Dry Yeast

22.5 ml Honey
420g plain flour

2 tbsp sifted cocoa powder

2 tbsp ground coffee
3 tbsp milk

6 large egg yolks
74g White Granulated Sugar + more for rolling
pinch salt
42g Butter, Unsalted

Canola Oil 3 cup / 720 ml / (Or any other flavorless oil used for frying)

3 tbsp mascarpone cheese

1 tbsp amaretto

1 tbsp icing sugar

Method

1. In the bowl of a standing electric mixer, mix the water, yeast, honey,  and 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (160 gm) of the flour. (Alternatively, whisk the ingredients by hand.) Cover with plastic wrap and let stand at room temperature until foamy, about 1 hour.
2. Return the bowl to the mixer, fitted with a dough hook. Add the remaining 1 ¾ cups plus 2 tablespoons (260 gm) of flour, along with the milk, egg yolks, cocoa powder, ground coffee, 1/3 cup of granulated sugar and the salt. Mix at low speed until blended, then add the butter and knead at medium speed until silky but sticky, about 5 minutes; the dough will not pull away from the side of the bowl.
3. Using an oiled spatula, scrape the dough into an oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate overnight.
4. In a large saucepan, heat the canola oil to 360°F/180°C. Line a rack with paper towels. Fill a shallow bowl with 1/2 inch (12 mm)of granulated sugar. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough a scant 1/2 inch (12 mm) thick. Using a 2-inch (50 mm) round biscuit cutter, stamp out rounds. The original recipe said to not re-roll the dough, but I did and found it to be fine. Fry the rounds, 4 to 5 at a time, until they are browned, about 4 minutes (mine only took about a minute each – try to go more by sight). Be sure to keep the oil between 360°F and 375°F 180°C and 190°C. Drain the bomboloni on paper towels.
5. Roll them in the granulated sugar and leave to cool.
6. Whisk together the mascarpone, icing sugar and amaretto to a smooth paste.
7. Dip the cooled doughnuts into the mascarpone (and then into some chocolate sprinkles as I did) and leave for a moment to set.