If You Give a Boy a Beignet

If you give a boy a beignet, he will want to lick the powdered sugar first.

Licking the powdered sugar will make him think of Ruidoso snow, so he will pour powdered sugar all over the floor and will want to make a snow angel.

Making a snow angel will remind him of Christmas Carols, so he will run in his room, trail of powdered sugar following, and put on his Christmas music.

Music will make him want to dance and he will.

The dancing will cause his father to come into the kitchen and join the party.

Father and son will dance on a powdered sugar floor.

Seeing the powdered sugar on his socks and hair, and hands, will remind the boy of the beignets and he will want another one, as will his father.



Jack asked me to make beignets after watching The Princess and the Frog. And this mommy could not say no. :)




Beignets

Recipe found here . I added vanilla and lemon essence to the dough to give it more flavor, but otherwise, I followed the original recipe.

Ingredients:

1 envelope active dry yeast
1 1/2 cups warm water
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup evaporated milk
2 teaspoon vanilla essence
1 teaspoon lemon essence
7 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup shortening, softened

Canola oil for deep frying
An ample amount of powdered sugar for dusting

Preparation:

In large bowl, sprinkle yeast over the warm water; stir to dissolve and let stand for 5 minutes.

Add sugar, salt, beaten eggs, evaporated milk, vanilla and lemon essence. Whisk to blend thoroughly.

Add 4 cups of the flour; beat until smooth. Add shortening and mix. Gradually blend in remaining flour.

You will get a very sticky dough. Leave it in the mixing bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and chill at least 4 hours or overnight.

When the dough has rested the required amount, flour a clean surface, roll dough out on floured board to 1/8-inch thickness.

Heat oil in a medium saucepan; initially you will want to heat it on high heat, and as you start frying the beignets, you may have to turn the heat down a bit.

Cut rolled out dough into 2 1/2 to 3-inch squares. Deep fry at 360° for 2 to 3 minutes until lightly browned on both sides; make sure you don’t overcrowd the saucepan. The beignets fry pretty quickly.

Drain on paper towels and sprinkle generously with powdered sugar.

Dough can cut and frozen, separated in container with waxed paper. I froze mine and I have yet to see how the dough holds up after freezing. I will post the results in this post when I try.

This recipe yields a large amount of beignets, so either cut the recipe in half, or freeze half of the dough after cutting it.

Bon appétit!
E.