Brigham Young's Old-Fashioned Doughnuts and Mother's Day Cake



Lots of pictures in this one. I'd best skip the talky and jump straight to it! What's that you say? Why are you posting so many photos? It almost looks like you got carried away with the camera? Well, I must say I got carried away eating too so I guess it all evens out.

The first is a strawberry champagne cake - made special for my mom for mother's day. DELICIOUS. I haven't included the recipe because it's just the champagne cupcake recipe I did a few weeks back, with strawberries layered inside and on top. Really, really great combo though. Suspect, however, that the red pearl dust was ill-advised. Live and learn right!

















And second item! Old fashioned, home-made doughnuts. Don't know why they're specifically called Brigham Young's dougnuts, but it seems like a recipe those old pioneers might have used. And guess what! Those are my favorite kind. They were delicious, but be sure to eat them the first day, they get stale fast!







Brigham Young's Old-Fashioned Doughnuts

5 1/2 c all purpose flour
2 t baking soda
1 t salt
1 1/2 t ground nutmeg
2 c buttermilk
2 large eggs, beaten
1 1/4 c granulated sugar
6 T butter, melted
oil, for frying
granulated or powdered sugar (optional)
ground cinnamon (optional)

In a medium bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, salt, and nutmeg. In another large bowl, whisk together buttermilk, eggs, and sugar. Add melted butter to liquid mixture and whisk again. Add dry ingredients to the wet mixture and gently stir together with a spoon, not an electric mixer. Dough will be sticky. Let it sit 5 minutes before rolling.

In a large pot or deep fryer, heat several inches of vegetable oil (recipe says to 375, but I just warmed it until water splatted when flicked on it).

Roll out dough on a well-floured board (VERY WELL-FLOURED!) until 1/4 - 3/8 of an inch thick. Cut with a 2 inch doughnut cutter. Form scraps into a ball, roll out and cut again until all dough has been used.

Carefully place 3 - 4 cut pieces of dough into the oil. When doughnuts start to crack on top, turn. Cook on the second side until golden and cooked through. Remove from oil and drain on paper towels. Repeat until all remaining pieces of dough are cooked.

Doughnuts may be served plain, or while they are still warm, roll in sugar or a mixture of sugar and cinnamon.

4 comments:

Evelyn said...

YUM...I think I must try the donuts tonight. Question for you: I read that if you fry donuts in shortening rather than oil it'll absorb less grease...no clue if it's true, but I wanted to ask you if these seemed greasy at all to you. They look SO good, and that cake. No words needed, the pictures truly say it all!

Katie Davis Henderson: Editor and Writer said...

I was so intrigued I looked up BY's donuts: http://www.mormontimes.com/mormon_voices/mormon_experience/?id=6363

Seriously, that strawberry champagne cake, omg.

amlamonte said...

evelyn - i don't know about the shortening! this was my first foray into donut making. less grease seems like it would be a good thing :) but i didn't feel like these were particularly greasy. the dough is somewhat dense and cakey, rather than fluffy, so that might keep some of the grease from being absorbed. let me know how it goes!

kate - fascinating! thanks for looking that up! now i want to try it with yeast...or maybe saleratus if i knew where to find it :)

Evelyn said...

Awesome, thanks for letting me know Anna! I LOVE this blog, except that I am always left hungry! But that really, truly is a good thing:-)