teardrop, tart-hearted coco donut

teardrop, tart-hearted coco donut

I wish I could tell you – after an exhausting trip in the quest for the only MRI machine for animals in China – that the kids are all right.  That we are all right.

Unfortunately, the bad wasn’t the worst.  Turned out, Bado isn’t epileptic after all…  Instead, she’s been baking a bun in her brain (quite literally) in total secrecy for quite some time now… probably because she didn’t want to share it with anyone.  And this vicious bun is poofing and expanding just like a bun ought to, and causing all types of trouble for her… I do hope it’s at least the most delicious bun a dog can bake.  See, I knew this bottomless appetite of hers would eventually be messy…  Our devastation is without words.

I made these hot and chewy, raspberry stuffed coco donuts with dark rum salted caramel sauce the night before the trip because I sometime go a bit crazy under stress.  After the bad news, Jason said maybe a couple of these could make him feel better… he’s always been the optimistic one, and I hope you are, too.  Please sugar-coat my donuts for me, will ya?

Makes: approx 17 donuts

You can substitute tapioca flour with regular BREAD flour if you want, but I urge you not to.  It just won’t create the same type of chewiness that makes this donut unique.

I may be repeating myself but let me say it again, when it comes to home-frying, the pot that you use will not only save you oil, but produce better results.  Use a pot that is as narrow as it is deep.  The narrower your pot is, the LESS oil you’ll need to fill it up to desired level.  And the deeper (taller) the pot is, the LESS splatter can escape and hurt you-know-who.  I usually use a SMALL cast-iron sauce pot, which I then position on the burner slightly tilted so I can gather a “deep puddle” without using a lot of oil.  It allows me to fry 3 donuts at a time, and as long as I keep “scavengers” behind the yellow dotted line, a perfectly acceptable rate.

Ingredients:

• Raspberry inside coco dropped donuts:
  • 3/4 cup of tapioca flour
  • 1/2 cup (63 grams) of all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 cup (22 grams) of coco powder
  • 1/4 cup (50 grams) of sugar
  • 1/2 tbsp of baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp of salt
  • 1/2 cup + 2 tbsp (152 grams) of whole milk
  • 1/2 of a large egg (approx 3 tbsp)
  • 1 tsp of vanilla extract
  • 17 ~ 20 raspberries
  • 2 cups of vegetable oil for frying
• Dark rum salted caramel:
  • 3/4 cup (150 grams) of granulated sugar
  • 1/4 cup of dark rum
  • 1/3 cup (80 grams) of heavy cream
  • 3/4 tsp of sea salt
  • 1 tsp of dark rum, optional

To make the dark rum caramel:  Add sugar and dark rum into a deep sauce pot and heat over medium-high heat until the sugar has melted and starts to foam and bubble.  Occasionally give the pot a swirl and let the mixture cook until the sugar takes on a rich, amber color, and slight smoke is coming out of it.  Turn off the heat, then add the heavy cream and sea salt.  The mixture should bubble up and expand slightly in volume.  Swirl it with a fork until the mixture has settled.  For more boozy-ness, add an extra tsp of dark rum at the end.  Set aside.

To make the dropped donut:  Whisk together tapioca flour, all-purpose flour, coco powder, sugar, baking powder and salt in a large bowl.  Add the whole milk, egg and vanilla extract, then whisk into a thick batter with a fork.

Heat up the frying oil in a narrow but deep sauce pot over medium-high heat.  Stick a wooden chopstick in, and if you see bubbles coming out on the surface of the chopstick, the oil is hot.  To form the donuts, hold 1 large spoon on each hand, with approx 1 tbsp of the batter in one spoon with a raspberry sitting in the center.  Fold the batter back and forth in between 2 spoons as if you are scooping the content of 1 spoon to the other, and repeat a few times until the raspberry is completely folded/covered into the batter.  Scrape the donut into the hot oil using the other spoon, then repeat with the next donut.  You have to flip the donuts as you go, and remove the ones that are browned and ready onto a cooling rack.  If you donuts are getting burnt before they are cooked thorough, lower the heat down to medium.  Repeat the steps until you are done with all the batter.

Dust the donuts lightly with powder sugar, and dipped in dark rum salted caramel sauce.