Perhaps it is the shape of the doughnut, that pleasing circular form, that begs for constant thought. It is the ideal form– symmetrical from all angles, but also a continuous surface. You can start at one point on the doughnut, travel a circuitous path, and end up right back where you started. That is if you did not munch your way through this path. And with the hole, the doughnut is a circle, wrapped within a circle. What could be better than that?

When one starts to contemplate various types of doughnuts, and various types of glazes, toppings, and fillings, the possibilities grow exponentially, making the mind reel. I will be waiting in an endless line at the post office, the type of line that seems to just exist, adding more and more patrons to the end while never really eliminating any patrons from the beginning. It is the sort of line that makes me want to shoot myself in the foot. My mind wanders to doughnuts as of late, and I begin to list the permutations. There are raised, and cake, those filled with creme and those filled with jelly, chocolate glazed, iced and sprinkled. I have never, in all of my doughnut eating years, run into a chocolate raised doughnut. Not a plain raised with chocolate glaze, but a chocolate raised doughnut. Why is that? And then the line that I am waiting in actually begins to move, and I am in a better mood because of my doughnut reverie.

But when it comes down to it, the simple, homemade raised doughnut comes closest to my ideal, and apparently to others too. I made a batch of these doughnuts and brought them with me to drinks with friends. And, I couldn’t have been more popular. Yes, a dirty martini and a glazed doughnut, I am told is the perfect combination. The doughnuts were delicious, light and yeasty, just barely glistening with oil. The glazes were simple yet flavorful, just hardening slightly to obtain that sugary shell.

As I watched my friends so pleased to have a taste a true Americana, I knew that I had made the perfect treat. I might have been the only one in that crowd of people that thinks about fried dough incessantly, but I was not alone in my love for a little bit of sugar and grease.

Glazed Doughnut

Recipe found here. This recipe makes a lot of doughnuts, so share them with friends, and you too will be very popular.

I used the listed recipe for vanilla glaze, but substituted vanilla paste, with real vanilla bean seeds for the vanilla extract. For the chocolate glaze I used this recipe:

Chocolate Glaze

4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups sifted confectioner’s sugar
3 tablespoon water

In a double boiler, melt chocolate and butter until liquid. Slowly add in the sugar, stirring well after each addition. Add the water until desired consistency is reached. Glaze should be smooth and viscous.

Dip plain doughnuts into glaze, then allow to dry slightly on a wire rack before serving.

In the past, dates had been a bit much for me– too sticky, too cloyingly sweet. And that is saying something from a girl who thinks dessert after every meal, including breakfast, is appropriate. But I was desperate, not only for a new task to confront, but also for fruit. Come late October there seems to be a dearth of produce at the markets. We’re just in that intermediary time. So I extracted a stalk of fresh dates from the pile. And yes, they were sticky, but I ignored it for the sake of my stomach.

When I got home I tried just a nibble, and that nibble soon became a bite, and several dates later, I could safely say that I had been cured of the date taboo. Earthy, sweet, and buttery, like toffee, and I loved the caramel color and the delicate nature of dates. But before I could eat all of the dates on their own, I began thinking of ways that I could cook with them. I had heard about sticky toffee pudding, but I wanted something more simple– I wanted gelato.

I found this recipe on the Web, for vanilla gelato, which I followed, yet substituted real vanilla bean seeds for the extract. In the final minutes of freezing in my ice cream maker, I added chopped dates, and shavings from a rich, semi-sweet chocolate bar. It turned out ideal, luscious from the cream, chewy from the dates, and full-bodied from the chocolate. The pairing of the chocolate and the date was sublime, and the fruit remained chewy throughout the freezing process. But really, how bad can anything be when frozen in ice cream.

Pure unadulterated vanilla, a tender, pound cake-like crumb, perfect for dessert, or even with a cup of coffee for breakfast (cake being the breakfast of champions, of course), the cake was simple, but it was also complex. This cake is definitely ingredient-heavy. With 5 eggs, butter counted not by sticks but pound measurements, and flecked with real vanilla bean seeds, this cake was not necessarily simple in its composition, but rather simple in its taste.

So I went to the library again, this time to scour the shelves for a good baking book. And I found one; Lisa Yockelson’s book Baking by Flavor, is a compendium of all things sweet. With chapters divided into flavors like: Buttercrunch, Apricot, Cinnamon, Lemon, and of course Chocolate and Vanilla, this book had me drooling over nearly every page. But sometimes it is the simplest flavors that standout the most, and that was definitely the case with this cake.

Now this is not a cake to just be tossed together; ingredients are carefully measured, sifted, and thoroughly creamed, make a fluffy batter and a dreamy cake. This cake may not look like much, but let me assure you that it is. In fact, my sister loved it so much, that upon tasting it she requested that I make this recipe each week for her to enjoy with a cup of evening tea. We’ll see about that… 

Vanilla Bean Cream Cake
from Baking by Flavor

Vanilla Butter and Cream Cake Batter:

2 1/2 cups unsifted bleached all-purpose flour
1 cup bleached cake flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup shortening
seed scrapings from a plump vanilla bean, reserving the pod for glaze
2 3/4 cups plus 1 tablespoon superfine sugar
2 3/4 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
5 large eggs
1 cup cream

Vanilla-Rum Glaze for Brushing over the Warm Baked Cake:

1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup water
reserved vanilla bean pod, cut into 2 inch lengths
2 teaspoons dark rum
1 1/2 vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon almond extract

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Grease the inside of a plain 10 inch tube pan with shortening. Line the bottom of pan with a circle of parchment paper, cut to fit, and grease the paper. Dust the inside of the pan with flour, and set aside.

Sift the all-purpose flour, cake flour, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg.

Cream the butter and shortening in an electric mixer, on moderate speed, for 4 minutes. Blend in the seed scrapings from the vanilla bean. Add the superfine sugar, in 3 additions, beating for 1 minute after each addition. Blend in the extracts. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, beating for 20 seconds after each egg is added.

On low speed, add the sifted mixture in 3 additions with the cream in 2 additions, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients. Scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl with a rubber spatula to keep the batter even-textured. The batter should be smooth and creamy.

Pour the batter into the prepared tube pan. Gently shake the pan from side to side to even out mixture. Bake the cake for 1 hour 20 minutes to 1 hour 25 minutes or until cake has risen, set, and a wooden toothpick withdraws clean when inserted.

Let the cake stand in the pan on a cooling rack for 5-10 minutes. Invert the cake, remove pan and paper, and place an additional sheet of waxed paper under the rack to catch any drips of glaze.

To make the glaze:

Place the sugar, water, and reserved vanilla bean into a small saucepan. Cover the saucepan and set over low heat. When the sugar has dissolved, raise the heat, bring contents of pan to a boil, reduce the heat so that the mixture simmers actively for 3 to 4 minutes. Add rum and simmer for an additional 30 seconds. Remove the vanilla bean pieces. Stir in the extracts. Pour into a bowl and let stand until you are ready to use.

With a soft pastry brush, paint the glaze over the top and sides of the still-warm cake. Cool the cake completely before cutting into slices and serving.