Wednesday, December 7, 2011

If At First You Don't Succeed Try Again: Gluten-Free Donuts

Last week Tiffani from Dancing Branflakes sent out a plea for real gluten-free donuts.  You know, like, real donuts that are fluffy and light vs. cake donuts.  She tugged at my heart strings (and truth be told read my mind. As a former Krispy Kreme visitor and child of a donut maker life just isn't quite the same) and memories of growing up with a mom and grandma who made the best homemade donuts in all the land.  So many times after school I would walk through the door and find fresh made glazed or sugar donuts waiting for me.  Sigh.  Those were the days.

So with these things fueling me I worked up the courage to find a recipe that looked like it just might work.  Now I'm not a professional baker by any means and a lot of gluten-free baking is by trial and error.  With the Chef backing me (read: egging me on) I set out making the dough on Saturday.  It appeared to work and, following instructions, I set it in the refrigerator overnight with dreams of donuts dancing in my head all that night.
Cut to scene and there I was Sunday morning.  It was donut time!  The Chef bought me a little gift:  candy thermometer for the side of my deep fryer.  There was no way I could fail now.  It was go time.  Go donut time. Whatever.

Step one: roll out the dough.  Was it going to hold together?  Could it handle it?
Why yes, yes it could.  Sigh of relief.
I took it back to the old school and rolled the dough out on my dining room table just
like my mom and grandma used to do.  Everything was on track.
I laid the donuts and donut holes out to rise for an hour or so (lightly covered) and crossed my fingers.

The rest was kind of a letdown.  After an hour and a half the dough had only risen maybe half as much as I wanted it to.  Chances are (and my gut was telling me) gluten-free dough may work better without that time in the refrigerator slowing the yeast down.  At the end of it all I decided to deep fry a few donuts just to test the texture of a finished product.

Here's what I got:
Pardon my giant thumb and not so fancy plate.  
By that time I was pretty much traumatized and disappointed that I wouldn't be having any of the 
super light and airy donuts that had filled my dreams just hours before.

What I can say is this:  the taste is there.  The texture on this batch was a little heavy, but lighter than a cake donut so maybe, just maybe, if I tweak the recipe just a bit there may be a chance for a donut that is a little closer to the fluffy ones of days gone by.  Wish me luck!  I'm hoping to go in for round 2 this weekend if I can manage to get the Christmas tree purchased at some point this week.  And then there's always that Christmas shopping that isn't near done...or even significantly started yet.  Where is this month going??

28 comments:

Elizabeth Daisy. said...

They look super scrumptious darling.

www.candyflosscurlscupcakesandcouture.blogspot.com

Eda ♥

Anonymous said...

Maybe dont opt for the free shipping if you Christmas shop online. I'm going to be biting my nails until the 24th - thats the day Amazon tells me everything should be here. Awesome.

RosaLovesDC said...

Good luck girl! You got the taste down so just a little work on the texture like you said and these donuts will be awesome. Though they look tasty in the picture.

Polly said...

Ooooh Good luck, I know you can do it and can't wait to see the final product.

Collette Osuna said...

These turned out great....and I bet they taste even better than they look.....Im with you on the shopping....nothing bought yet....ugggh....I just cant deal with all the people, lol

A Funky Little Fashion Blog

Lisa Griffin said...

They still look delicious! I think the non refrigeration could be the key!
In Dramatic Fashion

Closet Fashionista said...

Well they look pretty darn tasty! I hope you can get them to rise more this next time! :)
http://www.closet-fashionista.com/

Courtney Erin said...

They look really delicious...I hope you can get them to turn out just the way you want (and then maybe mail me some?).


xoxo ~ Courtney
http://sartorialsidelines.com

Barbara von Enger said...

Deliciously scrumptious my lovely. I'll have three please;-)

Elle Sees said...

I know! I thought I had plenty of time, and now I have so much to do and wedding to help with. Enter my StyleMint Giveaway for 5 shirts!

LyddieGal said...

I haven't purchased a single christmas gift.... oh dear....

And now you've got me craving donuts... I've never even had a homemade one. I hope you get your recipe perfected!

Chic on the Cheap

Tiffany Kadani said...

You are freakin' awesome! They totally look like Krispy Kreme (which, by the way, has gone the way of all the earth in Northern California so I miss it terribly.) Thanks so much for doing this. I am so impressed you were able to pull it off so well. I literally looked everywhere for a recipe and could not find one.

ps... awww to third power that the chef bought you a thermometer.

Josie said...

I say you're well on your way, Carrie! I think they do look pretty fluffy; if they rose just a touch more they'd be perfect!
xo Josie
www.winksmilestyle.com

A Crimson Kiss said...

But they look so beautiful! I know you can get this to work, I know you can! Just like I can get my ass into gear and make those agave caramels I keep promising...

Grace (The Stripe) said...

Yum! They still look delicious!! I'm impressed... gluten free cooking can be tough.

Claire Kiefer said...

You make so many things that intimidate me. I would never have dreamed of attempting donuts! Partly b/c I'm scared of stuff like dough (which can screw up so easily), and partly because I definitely cannot be trusted not to eat the whole batch. So . . . doubly intimidated. :)

I'm so impressed with your efforts, though, that I may have to try my hand at it. I wanna see how your second attempt turns out! I'm fantasizing about glazed donuts now . . .

Amber said...

those do look good but the taste of a hot Krispy Kreme donut is a hard thing to duplicate

TheChambrayCountess said...

If you hadn't expressed your lack of enthusiasm for them, I would have thought they were amazing bc they look great! PS- your childhood donut-tales are like my wildest dreams come to life ;)

BonBon Rose Girls Kristin said...

Who needs gluten? Those look amazing!

Faith said...

wow, that looks incredible! i want donuts in my life now. but really just yours.

Lori said...

Bravo to you for trying Carrie ~ I will wish you luck on your next batch and throw in fingers crossed and some pixie dust!!

Caitlin @ Candyfloss & Persie said...

well good job trying at least~ it doens't seem like a total loss. Baking can be tricky like that. I've never baked anything gluten-free but I would love to try! And yes... Katie is such a B for being done so soon!

Tracy D said...

Good on you for even trying...I would have read that same thing & thought 'hmmm, hope she figures it out'.

Anonymous said...

Oh these look so good!! I love Tiffany... she's a sweetie! xo

Jess said...

Hey, I'm impressed! I can't even remember the last time I baked....

FRANKIE HEARTS FASHION said...

Based on the picture they look freaking delish! (And I'm sure they were. Can't wait to hear how round 2 goes! x

She Wore It Well said...

i make pretty good donuts using a traditional recipe (not gluten free) but tell me! at what temperature do you deep fry them? mine ALWAYS burn. i can't seem to get it right.

HULP!

Annie said...

they definitely LOOK delicious...

LinkWithin

Related Posts with Thumbnails