Serves 5

Tired of eating stale doughnuts (is it doughnut or donut?) from a local coffee shop or bakery? Well I’ve got a quick way to whip up a batch of fresh delicious doughnuts as a treat for your co-workers or just to enjoy at home. If you’re diabetic or just looking to cut down on your sugar intake, toppings can just as easily be made with Splenda or any other sugar substitute. After trying this easy recipe, you may never buy another donut again! Believe me when I tell you that they will taste just like any other donut you’d find elsewhere.

You will need:

• 1 4-inch quart pot
• 1 measuring spoon or biscuit cutter
• 1 pair of tongs
• 1 plate or cookie sheet
• a few sheets of paper towels

Ingredients:

• 1 can of buttermilk or home-style biscuits
• 2 cups of canola oil

To make rings and pop-ems:

Start by pouring your canola oil into the pot and preheating it. I use canola oil because it has zero trans-fat and I think it tastes better when I fry certain foods in it. Carefully separate the discs of raw biscuit dough from each other, then scoop out the center of the biscuit with your spoon and place the little ball of dough aside, leaving a ring (check my new instructional video for details). The little balls will be made into pop-ems, or munchkins or holes or whatever you call them. They go by many names.

You will know that the oil is hot enough to fry the dough when you will see smoke coming from it. You can also take the end of a wooden spoon and place it in the oil then if you see the bubbles around the handle then the oil is ready. Make sure you cook them on each side until they are golden brown. After they’re done, place the donuts on a cookie sheet with paper towels to drain all of the excess oil off. These plain donuts are ready to eat once they are dry.

Toppings

Here’s where you can get really creative as well as give those plain donuts a taste you and your guests will never forget!

Powdered

You will need:

• A small resealable food storage bag (at least big enough to hold a few donuts)
• A cooling rack

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup of confectionary sugar (or Splenda)
• 1/2 cup of ground cinnamon.

Pour the sugar and ground cinnamon together into your food storage bag. Confectionary sugar is very sweet, so the cinnamon balances out the sweet taste. Unfortunately, Splenda does not make their product in powdered form (I checked their website). If you want powdered Splenda you can put it into a hand held coffee grinder or a food processor to grind it into a fine powder.

While your donuts are still warm, drop them into the food storage bag and shake the bag up and down so the donuts can be covered as evenly as possible (check out my new instructional video for more details). Carefully remove the doughnuts from the bag and place them on a cooling rack to dry and allow the topping to stick.

Chocolate glazed

You will need:

• A bowl
• A cooling rack

Ingredients:

• 2 cups of semi sweet chocolate chips

Pour your chocolate chips into a bowl and place it in the microwave for about 2 minutes. You will know when it’s done once they are completely melted. While the chocolate is still hot, place one side of your donuts (or flip them over and cover both sides) into the melted chocolate.

Sugar glazed

You will need:

• A teaspoon
• A bowl

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup of powdered sugar
• 3 teaspoons of water

Pour your sugar into a small bowl and add water. Stir with the spoon until the contents mix completely and resembles a smooth sticky glob. Place one side of your donuts (or flip them over and cover both sides) into the glaze and let dry. This method works best when your donuts are still warm.

The sticky glaze will make it easier to decorate a donut with sprinkles. Rainbow sprinkles, chocolate sprinkles, or even the sprinkles I used in my besos. The only limits are your imagination.

chocolate, pastry

Serves 16-20

Hey every one, happy spring! I hope you have been enjoying my recipes.

Since the weather is getting warmer and the outdoors are becoming more inviting, I decided to share a recipe that embodies warm weather and warm welcomes. It’s called pineapple spot cake. You may ask why it’s called pineapple spot cake and not upside down pineapple cake. I figured, why not use pineapples throughout the entire cake instead of only the bottom? Also, if you’ve ever seen the outside of a pineapple, you’ve noticed it is covered with brown spots. So I thought it would be cute to make a cake that looked like a pineapple turned inside out with chocolate chips for spots.

Pineapples always remind me of tropical weather and in many cultures pineapples are associated with the idea of welcoming someone. So try my new tasty recipe and enjoy it with your family and friends, or welcome someone new to your neighborhood, school or workplace with a slice or two.

You will need:

• 1 greased medium sized square pan
• 1 large mixing bowl
• 1 whisk
• 1 colander
• 1 non stick pan
• 1 teaspoon
• 1 small bowl (optional)

Ingredients:

• 18-20 oz. of any cake mix you like
• 20 oz. of unsweetened crushed pineapple
• 3 oz. of coconut flakes
• 3 large egg white
• 1/3 cup of water
• 1/2 cup of vegetable oil
• 12 oz. of mini semi sweet or bitter chocolate chips
• 1/2 teaspoon of green food coloring (optional)
• 16 oz. of whipped cream (optional)
• 3 oz. of coconut flakes (optional)

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Place your coconut flakes in a non stick pan and lightly toast them for about five minutes. Put the toasted coconut aside as they will be used to garnish the top of the cake later. Drain the juice from the crushed pineapple in a colander and taste the juice to see if it’s too tart for you so that you can choose a proper topping later.

Take your cake mix, pour it into the mixing bowl and add the egg whites, drained pineapples, water, vegetable oil and chocolate chips and mix it all together. If you’re wondering why this recipe calls for unsweetened pineapples and semi sweet or bitter chocolate chips, it’s because the coconut flakes and whipped cream should make the cake sweet enough.

Once the ingredients are all incorporated, grease your square pan with some butter and pour the mixture into the center of the pan. Place the whole thing into the oven and bake for about 30 to 35 minutes until it turns a golden brown. If you’re not sure if the cake is ready, insert a tooth pick into the center of the cake and pull it out. If it comes out clean the cake has fully cooked. If not, leave it in the oven for another 15 minutes and try the toothpick test once more.

* * *Topping your pineapple cake * * *

With this recipe I usually use either whipped cream or pineapple syrup. This is why I advised tasting the pineapple juice to see just how tart or mild it is. If the juice is a bit too tart for your personal taste, then the whipped cream is probably the best option for you as a topping, as its sugary base will counter against the tartness. But if you decide to use the juice as a topping, simply pour it into a saucepan and let it simmer over a medium flame until the water evaporates, leaving a thick syrup. Wait for the syrup to cool a bit before carefully pouring it onto the baked pineapple cake. This is what I meant by using the pineapple throughout as opposed to just on the bottom.

I like using coconut flakes for this recipe because like pineapples, they are also a tropical fruit. It’s necessary to use a glaze on the cake (either the whipped cream or the syrup) so the flakes can more easily stick to the cake. By now your toasted coconut flakes should have cooled down. Using your fingers, evenly sprinkle the flakes onto the cake’s surface.

I also like to mix the toasted coconut flakes with green coconut flakes to keep up the whole tropical theme. It’s a little extra work but it sure does make the cake even prettier. Place about 3 ounces of coconut flakes into a small bowl and douse it with about a half teaspoon of green food coloring. Mix everything with the teaspoon until the white flakes are completely green and use your fingers to sprinkle the green flakes onto the cake.

P.S. If you’d like to sample my pineapple inside-out spot cake in cupcake format and meet me, you can do both this Sunday, April 27 from 7 to 10pm at Arlene’s Grocery, 95 Stanton Street (between Orchard & Ludlow) in the Lower East Side, near the 2nd Ave. station on the F line.

cake, chocolate, fruit

yields 25-30 besos

Here’s a sweet Valentine’s Day treat that that will make your buck stretch and make your sweet heart keep coming back for more. I named these cookies besos (it means “kisses” in Spanish) because whenever I make them I think of my one true love D. All I can think about is his eyes lighting up whenever I walk in the room, especially if I’m cooking! It’s like meeting him for the first time all over again. And these cookies will make your special someone react the same way. Besos are also great to give away as presents for Valentine’s Day.

You will need:

• 1 cookie sheet
• A rolling pin
• Any romantically-shaped cookie cutter
• Wax paper

Ingredients:

• 1 20 oz. bag of Hershey milk chocolate kisses
• 1 32 oz. tube of pre-made chocolate chip cookie dough
• Any size bag of romantically-themed cookie decorations
• Cooking oil, preferably in a spray can

A note on cookie cutters and decorations: These days, there are a variety of romantically-shaped cookie cutters that are obviously most appropriate for Valentine’s Day. For example, there are some cutters in the shape of a heart with an arrow through it, cupid, a pair of lips, Xs and Os, etc. It’s also a good idea to be cutters in different sizes. I highly recommend Country Kitchen Sweet Art, where cookie cutters are as cheap as $1.25. They also sell some very nice edible decorations; I bought their mini hearts edible confetti and their red lips confetti sprinkles.

I actually forgot my cookie cutters when I made the batch in the photos. The next batch of besos will look much better when shaped and decorated for Disco Crisco Twister in two weeks.

Preparation:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
Because you’re going to shape the dough and not just slice little discs of dough from the tube, it’s best to simply cut open the tube, lay out the dough on a large piece of wax paper and cover it with another piece of wax paper so the dough won’t stick to the rolling pin when you flatten it. Once flattened, peel the top layer of wax paper off and push the cutter down into the dough. Spray the cookie sheet with cooking oil and place the shaped cookies on it. When you run out of available space on the dough for your cutters, simply join together all the excess dough, cover it with second wax paper and flatten it again with the rolling pin. Keep this up until you have run out of unshaped cookie dough.

In the event that you end up with a piece of dough that is not big enough for the cookie cutter, simply roll it up in to a ball and slap it on the sheet with the rest of the cookies. After the cookies are baked, gobble up that little cookie ball so no one else will ever know of its existence. Unwrap your Hershey’s kisses and place one in the center of each cookie. If you are using sprinkles or some other sugary decoration place them on the cookie before baking them.

For chewy cookies leave the cookies in the oven for about 8 to 10 minutes. But if you like your cookies with a crunch then leave it in for about 10 to 12 minutes. Let the cookies cool on the sheet or on a plate before storing them away or the cookies will stick together. I usually store my cookies in a tin with wax paper between them. The cookies should hold up for about two weeks or so.

Everyone loves my besos, even furry blue monsters!

chocolate, cookies