Cooking with Kids: Bacon Doughnuts
Photograph by Matthew Amster-Burton
See these awesome maple-bacon doughnuts I made? I actually can’t take any credit for them. The idea came from Voodoo Doughnuts in Portland, Oregon, where they serve a maple bar with bacon strips on top. The idea of doing it at my house, with bacon sprinkles, came from Dana Cree, the talented pastry chef at Poppy in Seattle.
The raised doughnut recipe is from Baking Illustrated, which comes from the editors at Cooks Illustrated. Making raised doughnuts at home sounds like a major undertaking, but it’s not. All you need is a lot of hungry people to eat them, because one batch of dough makes a lot of doughnuts, and you don’t want to waste your precious frying oil—especially if it’s organic lard, like I used.
I started the dough after breakfast and it was ready to roll out after lunch. The maple glaze takes about 30 seconds to make (whisk together 1 1/4 cups powdered sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla, and 1/4 cup Grade B maple syrup). My bacon was from Nueske’s in Wisconsin.
Try this at home, really. The bacon doughnuts were better than breakfast for dinner. Even my daughter Iris, age four, liked them. At least, I think.
“What was your favorite doughnut?” I asked her.
“The bacon,” she replied. I beamed, until I realized she was eating a plain strip of bacon.
About the author: Matthew Amster-Burton lives in Seattle. His work appears frequently in the Seattle Times and Seattle magazine. He also maintains the blog Roots and Grubs. His favorite food is pad Thai.
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16 Comments:
Those are some AWESOME looking donuts! I definitely want to try them.
BrooklynBrownie at 10:57AM on 10/24/08
Thanks for posting that link to the raised doughnut dough. Donuts are on my list of fall cooking projects. I was going to do the French Laundry ones, I think I may try this recipe too.
simon at 11:18AM on 10/24/08
I've had the Voodoo Doughnut maple bacon bar. It's awesome. Actually, every doughnut I had there was awesome. These look like fun. Where does one get organic lard?
pbelardo at 11:55AM on 10/24/08
Thanks, folks. I buy organic pork leaf fat from Skagit River Ranch at my local farmers market, and I render it at home. If you have an organic pork producer in your area (you probably do), they should be able to supply you with lard. Alternatively, if you don't insist on organic, check at an Asian or Latin American grocery; both should carry fresh lard or pork fat which will be much, much better than shelf-stable lard in a box.
mamster at 12:45PM on 10/24/08
Must go to Portland.
beth1 at 1:19PM on 10/24/08
These look so good. What a great idea! I can almost taste the flavor combination. We've never made donuts at home before, but I'd really like to taste these. Bacon sprinkles!
MuseinTheKitchen at 9:03PM on 10/24/08
Organic lard? I never thought about that! Have you used it for other things, like pie crust? I must tell my brother about this - he's the best pie-maker I know and will be making the pies at Thanksgiving, as usual - would love for him to try it.
In college I usually cooked in my room (my meal plan was what was termed "Independent"). My fondest culinary memory is the time I made yeast doughnuts - I had them raising on cooky sheets all over the room, and fried them in a little pot on my hot plate. Good times.
mcmvoices at 12:39PM on 10/25/08
mcmvoices, I use lard for all sorts of things. Pie and Cornish pasty crusts, flour tortillas, refried beans, stir-frying. It really does make the flakiest crusts, although beef suet is also great.
mamster at 3:35PM on 10/25/08
These look really beautiful and I love sweet and savoury, but I am wondering if my 14 yr old son would think it a bit weird? He might expect nuts on top of the wonderful maple icing...
snowmoonelk at 2:00PM on 10/27/08
looks DELICIOUS!
megannesta at 8:16PM on 10/27/08
Wow. I'm not sure what to think of that...but I'd definitely want to try it.
avocadoboba at 3:14AM on 10/28/08
@snowmoonelk: It would certainly be easy enough to top half of the doughnuts with bacon and the other half with nuts, then you would have a variety. As a matter of fact, since the recipe makes so many, you could use several toppings, including chocolate, so everyone would have his/her favourite. I think that's what I will do. The doughnut itself is the most important part of it all. (I usually prefer the 'glazed' myself.)
Carolina de Witte at 11:31AM on 10/28/08
The mighty Bompas & Parr are also doing bacon donuts in the UK. They call them donut bacon buttes in England. Check out the link:
http://www.jellymongers.co.uk/drivethru.html
epergne at 9:55AM on 11/02/08
Is this a West Coast thing? My 2.5 year old and I were visiting my family in my hometown of Port Angeles, WA and my brother took me to the FABULOUS Cock-a-Doodle Doughnuts and he got a maple bar with bacon. I haven't eaten pork since we had to dissect pigs in sophomore biology, but I had a bite and it was GOOD. My bubba also liked it as well. My husband can't wait to try this. I've made doughnuts, but not for more than a decade. I guess it's about time. I'll let him add the real stuff. I'm perfectly happy with my turkey bacon. I know...it's all a mental block...I've tried to get over it...
MaresyDotes at 3:13PM on 11/02/08
Awesome photo. I am drooling!
mylastbite at 3:48PM on 11/03/08
@Carolina de Witte - thanks, sounds like a good idea!
snowmoonelk at 11:16AM on 11/06/08