Hole Foods

Saw this catchy title in Sunday’s Parade Magazine (comes with the newspaper along with a bunch of advertisements and coupons) and I realized that my secret is out! A while back (January of this year) I blogged a couple of times about eating and making Zeppoli, sweet little Italian dipping doughnuts, and well now all that read the printed word on actual paper also have the scoop. The bonus for me (since I already have the hole donut making thing down to a science) was in the glaze recipes, but I’m getting ahead of myself here. Here is the 411 on making donuts at home the easy way. All you need is a couple of cans of biscuits, the kind you pop out like Pillsbury Grands, and something to make a hole in each. I use the top of the vanilla extract as a tiny donut hole cutter. In a deep skillet heat cooking oil (enough to float a donut-about 2 inches worth), and fry the donuts and holes, flipping them over once to get both sides nicely browned. Drain them on paper towels when you remove them from the oil. Here is where my recipe differs from the article I read. I usually just roll the donuts and their fried holes in granulated or powdered sugar and serve still warm. But I am going to expand my (already considerable girth?) expertise and try out some of these glazes. All of them start with three basic ingredients, a cup of confectioner’s sugar, a teaspoon of flavor, and two tablespoons of liquid, for example, combine sugar, vanilla, and milk for the easiest glaze or try the glaze that intrigues me most, which is a combo of sugar, unsweetened cocoa, and coffee, yum. Time to get those leftover Christmas cookie sprinkles out to top your glazed treats too, or sprinkle with coconut, cereal, or mini morsels or candy pieces. And after that I’m going to try some lemon and orange glazes, combining sugar, fruit zest, and juice.    

So belated Happy National Donut Day! Now you’ll be ready when it comes around again next year!