Right on time for National Donut Month!

Pumpkin & Hazelnut Donuts

When I found out I was going to turn 30, I freaked out about gray hairs and wrinkles and having to start dressing my age and then I segued into a general malaise over my lack of accomplishments. When I was in junior high I envisioned my 30-year-old self to be very sophisticated and probably married to someone semi-famous like a news anchor and I thought I would live in a Manhattan penthouse and spend my time solving crimes like a younger Jessica Fletcher. So much for all that.  To make myself feel better I made a list of 30 things I wanted to do before I turn 30. And then I forgot about it. For almost a year.

I have always wanted to make homemade donuts so that was one of the first things to make the list. At first I thought maybe I would cheat and make baked donuts using a donut pan because the idea of frying things scares me and also because I am lazy. But then I thought, isn't the whole point of this list to actually do things as they are meant to be done and not just half-assed like most of the other things I do in life? I knew I had to suck it up and do it properly so I called upon my personal baker extraordinaire, Jessica, who immediately agreed to host my donut-making extravaganza.

Here are all the ingredients we used: (you can find the actual ingredient list and recipe HERE)

To be honest, I thought maybe Jessica would just do all the work and I would 'supervise' and count that as 'making donuts'. But because Jessica knows of my list and also is an ardent rule follower, she handed me the recipe and sat back to watch. While I was hard at work, she taught me important things like the rules of butter temperatures and what to do in case of an oil fire (DON'T USE WATER!!! FOR THE LOE OF GOD SUFFOCATE THE FLAMES!).

Around this time, I apparently began to act a little anxious. I guess I was just concentrating super hard on not screwing it all up. Jessica gave me some bourbon and apple cider to calm my nerves.

This isn't my actual drink but you get the idea

Anyway, back to the donuts. It was really fun to use the cookie cutters to make the donut shapes. It reminded me of my Play-Doh days except I can actually eat this stuff without getting in trouble. Maybe next time I'll make donuts in other shapes. Like dinosaurs.

So it turns out, it takes a ridiculously long amount of time for oil to reach 375 degrees. We had a lot of time to drink our bourbon. Another tip from Jessica: Don't crowd the donuts! Here are some donuts frying:

Full Disclosure: I burned a few.

Once the donuts cooled for a few minutes, I coated them in a mixture of cinnamon, sugar and hazelnut flour, which is just hazelnuts that have been pulverized in a food processor.Who knew?

Et voilà! Donuts!

Overall, it was a really fun day and not as hard or tedious as I thought it would be. The frying part was still a little scary but I think I got the hang of it around 25th donut.  The bourbon helped. And thankfully, Jessica was there to make sure I didn't burn her apartment down. Thanks Jess!

Now back to that list...

Images courtesy of: Jessica Egan, Mia G for w*ink