bourbon + walnut

A few years back, my grandparents took my brother and I on a day trip to Lynchburg, Tennessee. Lynchburg is the home of the Jack Daniels Distillery. This is where they manufacture Jack Daniels whiskey. It's a long, tedious, detailed process. You can take a tour of the distillery and experience every step of making the whiskey with explanations of each method. The tour was extremely educational, interesting and filled with all sorts of... aromas (if you've been on this tour, you know I'm talking about the sour mash). Fun fact: Lynchburg is a dry county, which means they don't sell alcohol within city limits. After we left, my grandma wanted to stop by somewhere and pick up the honey whiskey that was limited edition at the time of the tour. Since Lynchburg is a dry county, we drove out of our way to get a bottle of it and took it back home to Alabama.

Fast forward to this past summer. My grandparents are not drinkers. In fact, my grandma only bought the whiskey to be able to cook with it. When my brother and I visited last summer, the whiskey bought a few years before had barely been touched. I'm not even sure it was opened. My brother, being the budding chef he is, saw it and asked if he could use it in a bourbon pecan pie that he'd been itching to make.

He got in the kitchen and whipped up the pie. The house smelled heavenly. After it was done and cooled down a bit, he cut a big slab of the pie for himself and a small piece for my grandma. She took a bite and cringed slightly at the overwhelming taste of alcohol in the pie. My brother admitted that he may have accidentally added more whiskey than the recipe had called for. It was still delicious if not a bit more alcoholic than intended.

The next morning over breakfast, my grandma swore that her piece of pie sent her straight to sleep. She also admitted that she was worried that my brother may have eaten too much pie and she almost checked on him to see if he was still breathing overnight. She was a bit exaggerated in her concerns and we still tease her about it to this day.

I feel like the topic of alcohol comes up a lot in my blogs, but it's such a useful ingredient that contributes so many types of flavors, depending on the liquor used, when added to recipes. I came up with this recipe after I stopped into the Spice and Tea Exchange in downtown Greenville. They had an entire portion of the wall dedicated to flavored sugars. None of them spoke to me (and my nose) quite like the bourbon walnut turbinado sugar. I picked up the pack and the gears started turning in my head, and this is the recipe that came out of it. Enjoy!

This doughnut uses the brioche doughnut base recipe.

for the glaze:
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
2 tbsp milk
2 tbsp bourbon*

Mix all of the ingredients together until smooth.

*reduce to cook off the alcohol

for the topping:
1/2 cup turbinado sugar
1 cup crushed or halved walnuts

Top the freshly dipped doughnuts with the sugar and walnuts, garnish as little or as much as you want, it's up to you! Be careful not to let your glaze harden before you add the toppings or else they will not stick.

Here's a printable version of this recipe!

There you have it! 'Til next time,

chopped nuts + dried fruits

The Lady Baltimore cake is a southern specialty dessert. It is a popular wedding cake flavor due to its unique components and thick, luscious, fluffy frosting. This cake's history dates back to 1906. Nobody can really agree on who was the first to make this cake. Some believe it to be named after Charleston novelist Owen Wister's character, Lady Baltimore, who was modeled after Alicia Rhett Mayberry, a former belle of Charleston, South Carolina. Wister wrote about his character baking the cake in his book. The actual recipe appeared in a 1906 newspaper, the Daily Gazette and Bulletin located in Pennsylvania. The frosting is a meringue recipe and the cake is filled with dried fruits and crunchy nuts. Some versions of the recipe include rosewater and I was excited to use a new ingredient, so I included rosewater in this doughnut. I ventured to make this southern classic into a delicious, heaping doughnut. Here's the recipe!

This doughnut uses the brioche doughnut dough.

for the glaze:
1 cup rosewater (either buy the rosewater, a middle eastern ingredient, from a specialty store or make your own like I did)
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Mix the rosewater and powdered sugar until smooth.

how to make the rosewater:

Take 4 roses and strip the petals. Wash them gently and place into a pot filled with 3 cups of water. Boil until the rose petals lose their color. Let it cool and place it into a container. Place container into a refrigerator and use within a week.

for the meringue frosting:

2/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar, divided

1/4 cup water

Dash of salt

1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

3 large egg whites

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Combine 2/3 cup sugar, 1/4 cup water, and dash of salt in a small saucepan over medium-high heat; bring to a boil, stirring just until sugar dissolves. Cook, without stirring, until a candy thermometer registers 240° (about 4 minutes). Combine cream of tartar and 3 egg whites in large bowl; beat with a mixer at high speed until foamy. Gradually add the remaining 2 tablespoons sugar, beating at high speed until medium peaks form. Gradually pour the hot sugar syrup into the egg white mixture, beating first at medium speed and then at high speed until stiff peaks form. Beat in 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract.

for the toppings:
1 cup dried figs, cut into small pieces
1 1/2 cup chopped pecans
1 1/2 cup raisins
1 orange for zesting

Top each doughnut with fig pieces, pecans, raisins and orange zest.


Here's a printable version of this recipe!


There you have it! 'Til next time,

watermelon + pistachio

Watermelons always bring back memories of sitting poolside in our "swimmy suits" as we used to call them, munching on fresh watermelon from the local farmers market. The sticky red juices always dripped everywhere. On our arms, legs, hands and the pool deck. No worries about it though, we could simply jump into the pool and clean off while cooling off. These were the summers of my childhood.

As I look ahead to my last couple months of high school, I long for those watermelon filled, sticky, hot, tiring but relaxing summer breaks of my youth. All I want is more time. On one hand, I'm beyond excited to attend pastry school. I'll be a part of classes completely dedicated to a subject I'm passionate about. On the other hand, I'm going to miss my best friend, my family, my familiar room, my comfortable hometown and maybe most of all, my furry kitty baby that has been with me through it all, Annabelle. I'm going to be moving to a big city, leaving my best friend, becoming more independent of my family and kissing my cat a temporary goodbye.

I'm growing up and I'm ready, but I'm also definitely not ready. None of this has anything to do with watermelons, pistachios or doughnuts, but my future is becoming a reality... FAST. I want the watermelon summers back, where the only fear was eventually going back to school. The only trouble was figuring out what to do that day. No jobs to worry about, no student loans to figure out, no coordinating with future roommates on who's bringing the television set. Anyways, now that I've poured my heart out, here's my recipe for watermelon pistachio doughnuts, it's super simple!



This recipe uses the brioche doughnut dough found here.

for the glaze:
1 1/2 cups watermelon juice (about a quarter of a full sized watermelon)
3 cups powdered sugar

Take a few large chunks of watermelon and strain them until you have enough juice. Mix the powdered sugar with the watermelon juice. Dip the doughnuts in the glaze.

for the topping:
1/2 cup crushed pistachios

Top the freshly dipped doughnuts with crushed pistachio bits.

Here's a printable version of this recipe!

There you have it! 'Til next time,

peaches + sparkling apple cider

Every time my family visits the Olive Garden, my dad orders one of their specialty teas. In fact, this is the only reason I've ever heard of a peach bellini. He loves the peach bellini iced tea, which is comprised of unsweetened tea, peach syrup and fresh cut peaches floating throughout. It always looks scrumptious, but I've never been a fan of tea. I'm more of a coffee drinker myself.

I remembered this experience and his love for peach bellinis, so I did a bit of research to find out more about the concoction. Turns out it's made with prosecco, which wasn't available for use due to obvious age restrictions. After a bit of digging using the key words "non-alcoholic" and "virgin peach bellini", I found an alternative. Sparkling apple cider! So, this doughnut is a play on the popular peach bellini cocktail, featuring sparkly sprinkles (to remind you of the sparkling bubbles in prosecco) and fresh peach cubes to mimic the slices of peach floating in peach bellinis. It's deliciously refreshing and fruity! On to the recipe...

This doughnut uses the brioche dough recipe as the doughnut base.

for the glaze:
1/2 cup sparkling apple cider
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp lemon juice
2 tsp peach extract or peach juice**

Mix all ingredients together until smooth. Dip cooled fried doughnuts into the glaze and let it harden slightly on a cooling rack with a paper towel or plate to catch glaze drips. Double dip if desired. Place toppings on the doughnut before fully hardened so the toppings will stick.

* You can blend peeled peaches with sparkling apple cider and strain to make the peach juice.

for the topping:
2 peeled peaches, chopped into small cubes (optional)
desired sprinkles (optional)

Top the doughnut with as many or as little toppings as you'd like. It's all up to you!

You can find a printable version of this recipe here.

There you have it! 'Til next time,

apricot + basil

Basil is most commonly used fresh in recipes. It is generally added at the last minute due to the fact that cooking basil diminishes the flavor of the herb. If basil is dried it also loses the potency of its flavor as well.

As I was combing through the grocery store searching for my ingredients, I was super disappointed when not just one but both of the fresh herbs I needed were sold out. At first I was considering driving across town to another grocery store, but then something caught my eye. Freeze dried herbs. I almost didn't give it any consideration because I assumed they were just regular dried herbs in the produce section, but I picked up the bottle and looked at the claim. They could be re-hydrated and taste as fresh as ever. It was something new and interesting, so I figured I would try it. Of course, if you have fresh basil, that's what I would recommend instead. However, Lighthouse freeze dried basil worked like a charm as well.

This doughnut recipe uses the brioche doughnut base, found here.

for the glaze:
1/2 cup apricot preserves
2 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup milk

Mix all ingredients together until smooth. Dip cooled doughnut tops into the glaze. Double dip if necessary.

for the topping:
fresh basil leaves, cleaned and chopped (alternatively you could use dried basil leaves)

Sprinkle the basil on top of the dipped doughnut.

Here's a printable version of this recipe!

There you have it! 'Til next time.

coconut avocado cream + berries: doughnut sandwich edition

"Creme de Abacate", or avocado cream is a dessert like side dish which is unique and very popular to Brazilian cuisine. It is used widely as the basis of many desserts and dishes in Brazilian cuisine like tarts, cakes, and smoothies. There are a few variations of avocado cream, some are made with sweetened condensed milk and others are made with sugar and lime juice. 

Coconut Milk!

We've all seen the doughnut burgers. Doughnuts serve as the buns and hamburger patties are stuffed in between, topped with tomatoes, lettuce, cheese and all of the other normal burger toppings. It's strange, but it served as my inspiration for this creation.

Avocado cream is generally topped with berries, nuts or coconut. I decided to go with raspberries, blueberries and sweetened coconut shreds to add to the texture and flavor of my doughnut dessert sandwich. I added flavor to the glaze with lime juice and coconut milk. The flavor profile of this doughnut is all over the place, but it turned out to be delicious!

This doughnut uses the brioche doughnut recipe.


for the glaze:

1/2 cup coconut milk

2 cups powdered sugar
2 tsp lime juice
1 tsp coconut flavoring
zest of one lime


Whisk all of the ingredients together until smooth. Dip your fried doughnuts into the glaze and let them crust over before using.

for the filling:
One avocado (ripe and soft)
2 tablespoons sugar
3 tsp coconut milk
2 tsp lime juice

Combine all ingredients into a blender or food processor and blend until the consistency is smooth. 

for the assembly:
1 1/2 cups blueberries
1 1/2 cups raspberries
1 1/2 cups coconut

Fill the hole of your doughnut with a raspberry to prevent the cream from falling through. Top with a layer of cream, then blueberries, then coconut, a few raspberries and repeat. Fill as much or as high as you'd like, but I'd recommend two tablespoons of filling per layer. Once finished with the filling, top it with another glazed doughnut. Fill the hole with another raspberry and sprinkle the top with coconut and blueberries. You can sprinkle a bit of lime zest on top if you'd prefer a bit more citrus flavor. This will yield 6 doughnut sandwiches due to the fact that you use two doughnuts per sandwich.

Here's a printable version of this recipe!

There you have it! 'Til next time,

peppermint + mocha

I'm kicking myself mentally because I didn't post this during the holiday season! It would have been more relevant and most likely more popular if I had. I mean, you can purchase a peppermint mocha from Starbucks any time of year, but I personally relate this heavenly drink to the cold, holiday months so I absolutely can't drink it any other time of year unless I'm desperate. However... I'm not sticking to the same criteria for doughnuts. It's a totally separate thing.

This recipe is thanks to another World Market grocery trip where I found these chocolate covered espresso beans and I immediately thought of the peppermint mocha. I had peppermint chunks at home and the mocha could be covered by dark chocolate. This sounded like a perfect combination.

I couldn't forget the fresh whipped cream and the cute little chocolate chips that adorn the top of your freshly made mocha. I made a peppermint whipped cream and topped it with mini chocolate chips. Sigh. I'm craving one right now, but it's way too warm outside for that. I'm in shorts talking about my favorite Christmas indulgence!

This doughnut recipe uses the brioche dough, found here.

for the glaze:
1 1/2 cups dark chocolate chips
3 tbsp heavy cream

Microwave the chocolate and cream in a bowl in 30 second increments, stirring in between. Continue heating and mixing until smooth and creamy.

for the whipped cream:
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 tsp peppermint extract

Place the sugar into a mixing bowl and add the cream. Whip on medium-high until stiff peaks form. Add the peppermint extract and mix a bit more until fully incorporated. Set in the fridge until ready to use.


for the toppings:
peppermint chunks (I used Andes Peppermint Baking Chips)
chocolate covered espresso beans, crushed or chopped in a food processor
mini chocolate chips

for the assembly:

Dip the tops of the cooked doughnuts in the dark chocolate ganache.  Then, dip the tops into the crushed espresso beans. Sprinkle the peppermint chunks on top of that. Fill a pastry bag with the end cut off with the peppermint whipped cream, or use a spoon to place a dollop of whipped cream on top. Sprinkle the cream with miniature chocolate chips.



Here's a printable version of this recipe!

There you have it! 'Til next time,