Doughnut FRYday – French Crullers

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After all this doughnut making lately, coming so soon after two full years of paleo baking with, let’s face it, not fun to work with ingredients, I’m resolving myself to starting over in my baking education. Sure, I can bake a mean cake (like, the best fucking cake you’ve ever had), but when it comes to working with pastries and ratios and the basics of the science behind it all, I’m still a newb.

On Tuesday, I decided to make a cream doughnut, based on some rather old recipes from a really old cookbook I have. But let’s just say that…well, they sucked. They would have made a great bagel probably…tough, chewy and dense. You don’t know baking disappointment until you’ve worked for over an hour on a dough, heated your deep fryer, made icing and gotten everything ready. The minute the dough went into the fryer, I knew they were garbage.

It’s not just the disappointment of not getting to eat delicious hot doughnuts straight out of the fryer either. For me it comes down to the wasted time, energy and money. All those ingredients I had to throw away! I HATE food waste, it’s in my list of “Top 10 Things I Hate”. Yeah, I’m an optimist, so the list is pretty short.

In any case, the next day after committing to making no more doughnuts (WTF?!), I resigned myself to make a new batch using science based recipes. So I went to my handy iPhone and looked at Michael Ruhlman’s Ratio App that I’ve used successfully before. I’ll be going there much more often too, because it’s science and baking is a science…so, uh, well…they go together! Creating recipes is all about the right mix of ingredients reacting with each other.

Take these delightfully fluffy Doughnut FRYday – French Crullers, based on Ruhlman’s Pate a Choux recipe. They were perfect, light and fluffy little balls of awesome and they took no time at all. The app is great for all kinds of baking too, pies, cookies, muffins, etc. I can’t wait to see what else I can create using these amazing science based ratios. Hurray for Science!

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One year ago: Braised Rabbit
Two years ago: Paleo Pancakes
Three years ago: Whole Wheat Machine Bread (my MOST popular recipe of all time!)
Four years ago: Pumpkin Chiffon Pie
Five years ago: Crispy Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Cookies

Doughnut FRYday – French Crullers

Rating: 51

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 5 minutes

Total Time: 15 minutes

Yield: 30 balls

Perfect tiny balls of fluffy deliciousness. French Crullers, using Pâte à Choux dough are perfect every time!

Ingredients

    For the Crullers:
  • To make about 30 balls, you'll need the following ratio (derived from Michael Ruhlman's "Ratio" App):
  • 8 ounces (1 cup) water
  • 4 ounces (1/2 cup) butter
  • 4 ounces (1/2 cup) flour
  • 8 ounces (1 cup) eggs
  • You'll also need about 15g (about a tablespoon) of granulated sugar and 1/4 tsp of fine sea salt for every 1 cup of water (8 oz).
  • For the Glaze:
  • 1 cup icing sugar
  • 1 tbsp honey
  • 2 tbsp whole milk

Instructions

    For the Crullers:
  1. In a small saucepan, bring the water, butter, sugar and salt to a simmer over medium high heat.
  2. Add the flour and stir with a wooden spoon until it’s turns into a thick paste and pulls cleanly away from the sides of the saucepan.
  3. Remove from the heat and either transfer to a bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat on low for a minute or so to allow to cool slightly.
  4. Add the first egg and beat on medium speed until fully incorporated. Scrape down the sides and add the remaining eggs one at a time, stirring till each egg is incorporated.
  5. When dough is glossy and smooth, spoon rounded teaspoonfuls into 360°F oil (in a deep fryer or at least 2-3" in a pot over medium low heat).
  6. Balls will float to the surface and turn themselves over. Allow to fry for 2-3 minutes or until golden brown. (Do not remove too soon as undercooked crullers will deflate and be very sad).
  7. Dip or brush on glaze while still warm. Best eaten same day or given to neighbours as bribes for helping you with your dogs...:)
  8. For the Glaze:
  9. Stir all ingredients until smooth.

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What baked goodies would you like to see me tackle? I’m looking for real classics and your best imagined dessert mash ups too!

3 comments to Doughnut FRYday – French Crullers

  • Mc Jam

    Great recipe, but not a family friendly blog. I was looking for a cruller recipe with my kids and had to quickly shut down your site until a later time as I did not want them to read. Came back later, got the recipe, but I won’t be back.

    • Elizabeth

      It doesn’t say anywhere that it is family friendly. An in reality, I’m well known for my swearing capabilities. I’m sorry you can’t handle a little adult language.

    • Elizabeth

      Nowhere on my blog, does it state that I am family friendly. In fact, I swear in my profile photo at the top of the page. I’m sorry you can’t handle a little adult language but thanks for coming by!

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