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breakfast

5 Days of Coffee and Sweets with Irene’s Beans: Crumb Cake Donuts

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Coffee was never a drink that was associated with my friends Irene and Andy. Wine yes, beer definitely! But now they are in the coffee bean roasting business, Irene’s Beans– and even though Irene is late to the coffee drinking party- her beans are quite delicious and her passion as intense.
After a full adult life without coffee, a chance cup post dinner in Mexico opened the heavens for Irene, and got her onto this new path. Her beans come from many different places, including Mexico, Papua New Guinea, Barundi and from where I am writing now, Antigua, Guatemala.
Irene sent me 5 different beans, all with very different flavor profiles. They are all so yummy that I felt it best to showcase them all. So for the next 5 posts I will feature a different sweet to go with each of Irene’s Beans.
The first of the five coffees is the Mexican Altura which started the craze. It has a fruity, caramel aroma with a hint of chocolate. I paired it with a baked cake donut, that has a hint of brightness from the buttermilk in the recipe and a simple, crunchy, crumb sugar topping that offsets the bitterness in the coffee.
Though I truly adore donuts- and fresh out of the grease is truly the ONLY way to go- but they can be such calorie bombs, which is only insulting because who can eat only one? This baked version is surprising and light for the heftier cake version, as opposed to a yeasted version. The cake part itself is also not terribly sweet, so the sugar topping adds a nice texture and zap of sugar.
To make these I purchased a donut pan Though I am not a fan of kitchen gadgets with a singular purpose, this pan is so worth it. The donuts turned out perfectly and slipped out of the pan with ease. I’m also going to confess, that the fact that the pan only made 6 donuts was a blessing- small batches are the way to go, and even sticking to eating two is difficult.
Baked Crumb Cake Donuts
(adapted from Wilton Recipe)
makes 6
 
1c all purpose flour
6T granulated sugar
1t baking powder
.5t salt
6T buttermilk, room temperature
1 large egg, room temperature
1T neutral olive oil
1t vanilla
 
6T granulated sugar
3T all purpose flour
2 T neutral olive oil
pinch of salt
 
.5c Confectioner’s sugar for dusting
 
Preheat oven to 425˚
 
In large mixing bowl combine flour, sugar, bp, and salt. Stir to combine.
 
In separate bowl, combine buttermilk, egg, olive oil and vanilla.
 
Similarly to making pancakes, pour the wet ingredients into the dry and stir swiftly and only until incorporated. The acid in the buttermilk will react with the bp immediately and you don’t want to beat that down.
 
Carefully spoon the batter into each of the rings and using the back of a spoon, spread evenly.
 
In a separate bowl combine the flour, sugar, salt and oil for the topping. Mix together with your fingers and pinch into lumps. Feel free to adjust ratio here to get that effect.
 
Distribute the crumb topping over the donuts evenly. These are not the traditional heavy crumbs, they are more of a crusting and not a heavy layer like in a coffee cake.
 
Place the pan in the middle of the oven and bake for approximately 12 minutes. The donuts should spring back to the touch when pressed.
 
Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 2 minutes. Then remove the donuts onto a cooling rack. Wait another 2 minutes and then dust with powdered sugar.
 
 
 

Power Packed Oat Scones: One healthy, the other healthier

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As I have been packing up all my various china (and mind you, there is a quite a bit of it) I am reminded of my days when I would have friends over for High Tea. This was back in the early 90’s when Victoriana was the rage. For those parties I made teeny cucumber sandwiches, bitty raspberry tartlets and, of course, cream scones. We would gather all lady like and I would set out a spread, all served on pretty little plates, with delicate cups and saucers, silver trays and lace linen napkins. Mind you, this was in my funky railroad East Village apartment.
Those were the days…
I’m a big fan of the scone. Not too sweet, not too buttery and a mouthful that requires huge slugs of tea or coffee to wash it down. When I first moved to NYC I lived off of them. I was a darkroom hack in those days just out of art school, with student loans and no money. From the Korean deli on the corner I could buy a huge boulder of a scone for a buck, and for another 75 cents get a giant cup of coffee. There was always a lump of scone sitting at my bench slowly getting nibbled away, keeping me company in the dark.
Yesterday I had a hankering for a healthier oat version. Something that I could grab on the way to the gym and not feel guilty for it. Something that would nourish me mid afternoon after a few hours of packing.
I started out with a recipe that I found in Breakfast, Lunch, Tea by Rose Bakery– but that was only a guideline. I added in wheat germ, flax seed oil and protein powder. The recipe calls for whole wheat flour and a smattering of rolled oats and I exchanged the butter for vegetable oil. I tossed in some cranberries at the last second.
The result was a hearty scone that in my opinion could have used a bit more milk. Lovely though. These will not win any culinary awards for scone of the year, but considering the power packed ingredients, these are wonderful.

The second batch was a recipe I took from my old cookbook Simply Scones, originally printed in ’88. I made their Oat Currant Scones, using raisins in lieu of currants, oil instead of butter, and milk instead of heavy cream.

The consistency was more right on and they baked up the way a scone should. Honestly, I think there were both pretty close. You can see from the photo below the crumb was pretty much the same. Using oil made them a little denser than they would have been had I used butter, but again, a healthier version was the goal here and with that in mind, these were great.

Whole Wheat Oat Power Scone
adapted from Breakfast Lunch Tea
makes 12 2″ scones
 
1.75 c AP flour
.5c whole wheat flour
.5c rolled oats
.25c wheat germ
1 scoop protein powder
1 heaped T bp
.5t salt
.25c sugar
2T flax seed oil
.75c vegetable oil
6T milk
2c fresh cranberries
 
Oven set to 400˚
 
Mix flours, wheat germ, protein powder, BP, salt and sugar into a bowl and toss to combine. Toss in Cranberries
 
Stir in oils and mix with hands to incorporate into flour. This will be mealy and lumpy.
 
Add the milk and swiftly, carefully pull the dough together. Turn out onto work table dusted with flour, and give a turn or three kneading the scone.
 
Pat into 1.5″ thick mass and cut out 2″ scones and place on paper lined baking sheet.
 
Glaze with a little milk or beaten egg if desired and bake for 20-25 mins.
 
 
Raisin Oat Scones
adapted from Simply Scones
makes 8 wedges
 
2c AP flour
1c rolled oats
.25c sugar
1T bp
.5t salt
.25t cream of tartar
.5c milk
.5c vegetable oil
2 large eggs, beaten
2 large handfuls of raisins
 
Oven set to 400˚
 
In large bowl combine dry ingredients.
 
Add in oil and work in with fingers to get a lumpy mealy texture.
 
Add in milk and eggs, give a turn or two then toss in raisins. Pull dough together, turn out onto floured worktable.
 
Pat into an 8″ diameter circle. But into 8 wedges and place onto baking sheet.
 
Bake 15-20 mins
 
 
 

Breakfast For The New Year: Lightened Bacon Waffles

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A lighter version of a waffle with bacon cooked right into it.
Now this is a breakfast combo I can relate to.
Pre-cooked smokey bacon is placed right onto the waffle iron and the batter poured over. Not only is the presentation dynamic, but some of the bacon fat melts into the waffle and infuses it with flavor.
I made the batter savory by eliminating the bit of sugar a typical recipe calls for. This was just a personal choice. Since I would pour gorgeous maple syrup on it, why add white sugar when it’s not really needed?  I’m not a fan of super sugary breakfasts, and I like the bready, cakey contrast to the bacon and syrup. For those who like the taste of savory/salty/sweet this is heaven.
But to be honest, I didn’t add syrup, these waffles are an incredibly savory way to start the day. In fact they were lightened up a bit by using non fat milk and I used oil (and reduced the suggested amount) rather than butter in the batter. Because of it’s savory taste I can see this combination as a base on which to place a silky succotash on top, or a minced chicken in a cream sauce. Brunch? Dinner?
Making waffles from scratch takes all of what… 10 seconds? seriously, it’s super quick, especially when using the oil, which eliminates the step of melting butter. And cooking them takes only a few minutes. I use a stove top waffle iron. I place the iron on the stove over medium heat while I pull together the batter. 10 mins tops is all this recipe takes. Got kids that are running out the door? Or if you’re that kid- this is a great hand held breakfast on the go.
Since this is the dawn of a new year and a new you- make this with Turkey Bacon and sneak in a dollop of a neutral tasting protein powder. Truth be told I cooked the bacon in the microwave. Just a great way to pull all unnecessary grease away from the strips and the clean up is just too easy. I cook them on paper towels, but I remembered that I also have a plastic steam rack made especially for the m-wave. I will try that next time and capture the grease for other purposes.
Gail’s Lightened Up Waffles With Bacon
makes approx 16
 
1.75c AP flour
1T baking powder
.5T salt
3 whole eggs
6T oil
1.5c reduced fat milk, warmed to room temp
 
Precooked strips of bacon- 1-2/waffle
 
 
While the waffle iron is heating up, combine the flour, bp and salt in a mixing bowl.
 
In a separate bowl combine the eggs, oil and milk and whisk smooth the break up and incorporate the eggs.
 
Dump the wet into the dry and stir together with as few strokes as possible. Lumps will happen, don’t sweat it, just try to avoid huge boulders that will leave floury bombs in the waffle.
 
Pour batter into the waffle iron, then place bacon right on top. Close the lid and cook to perfection-2-3 mins on one side and then flip for a minute or two longer. 
 
Left over waffles can be frozen and reheated. Can’t say this is my favorite way to do things- nothing beats the fresh version.