Beard on Bread (33 page)

Punch down and turn out on a floured board. Roll out half the dough at a time to a thickness of about ½ inch. Cut with a floured doughnut cutter and place on a board or waxed paper-covered cookie sheet to rise until doubled in bulk.

Heat 2 or more inches of lard, shortening, or cooking oil to 370° in a large frying kettle or an electric skillet. Put the doughnuts in, a few at a time, top sides down. Fry until brown on one side, then turn to brown on the other side. When nicely browned, remove from the hot fat and drain on absorbent paper. (Check to maintain the temperature of the fat at 370° for every batch. If too low, the doughnuts will absorb fat and be soggy.) Sprinkle with confectioners’
sugar or granulated sugar, if desired, while still warm. (The easiest way to attain an even sugaring of the doughnuts is to put the sugar in a large plastic or paper bag and gently shake a few at a time in the bag.)

• 
Filled Doughnuts: Filled doughnuts,
jelly doughnuts, or “cannon balls” were long famous throughout Central Europe before they became part of American cookery.

Prepare the basic recipe for raised doughnuts. After the dough has been allowed to rise once, punch it down and roll out on a lightly floured board to a thickness of about ¼ inch. Cut into rounds 3 or 4 inches in diameter—no holes in these—and place ½ teaspoon jam, jelly, or pastry cream on the centers of half of the rounds. Brush the edges with 1 egg lightly beaten with 2 tablespoons water. Place the other half of the rounds over the filled ones and press the edges together gently. Transfer to a board or cookie sheet and allow to rise until almost doubled in bulk. Fry as for the doughnuts in the master recipe, in deep fat heated to 370°.

• For a richer dough use 3 egg yolks instead of the whole egg. A plain white bread dough can also be used.

Maple bars are one of my great weaknesses, and I must confess that even now when I go to a bakery and see those luscious rectangles of fried dough with a maple glaze on them I am tempted to indulge and usually do. They are a delightful American invention.

[About 12 bars]

To prepare, use the recipe for
Raised Doughnuts
. After the dough has risen, punch it down and roll it out in a square or rectangle about ½ inch thick. Cut it in pieces about 2 inches wide and 4 to 5 inches long and set them on a board to rise until amost doubled in bulk. Then drop them, a very few at a time, into deep fat at 370° and let them brown very nicely on both sides. Remove them from the fat and let them drain on absorbent paper. Spread one side with a maple glaze made with ¼ cup of maple syrup mixed with 1 cup confectioners’ sugar; or you can mix 2 or 3 tablespoons hot water with 1 cup sugar and ⅓ teaspoon maple flavoring.

These fried cakes, which originated in New England, have been overwhelmingly popular in the American diet. Those of you who hark back to World War I will remember that the Salvation Army established itself in history with girls who carried doughnuts through to the trenches. People gave money for doughnut machines so they could be turned out by the thousands for the troops. Nowadays cake doughnuts are covered with chocolate and all kinds of icings, which are sometimes revolting. Simply sprinkled with granulated or confectioners’ sugar they can be a toothsome morsel, and the holes are even more so. In fact, fried doughnut holes are one of my favorite dishes. Cake doughnuts are trouble to make because the dough must be kept chilled and one must work with several batches. So they do take a little time—but they are worth it.

[About 18 doughnuts and holes]

Cream the sugar and butter together in a bowl very, very well, and then beat in the eggs, one at a time. (I like to work with my hands on this.) Then combine the dry ingredients and gradually add to the creamed mixture, alternately adding the milk. When the dough has reached a nice consistency, cover the bowl and chill it in the refrigerator for two hours. Remove from the refrigerator and take out one-quarter of the dough.
Start heating the fat to 370°; an electric skillet is very good for frying doughnuts because you can regulate the heat easily. Roll the dough out to a thickness of ¼ inch on a floured board. (If you want thicker doughnuts roll to ½ inch.) Cut with a doughnut cutter, or with a round cutter and a smaller cutter to take out the center. When the fat has reached 370° fry two or three doughnuts at a time, or as many as will fit comfortably into the pan. As soon as one rises to the surface turn it with a wooden spatula or a pair of tongs. When nicely browned on both sides remove from the fat and drain on absorbent paper. Sprinkle with confectioners’ sugar, granulated sugar, or cinnamon sugar. (Then fry the holes. They puff up and are delicious.) Take another quarter of the dough from the refrigerator, and continue until you have used up all the dough; or you can fry only part of the dough, if you like, and refrigerate the remainder to fry at a later time.

Dough gobs are an old American food that dates back to the time when every household produced bread regularly. A housewife put her bread to rise overnight and in the morning took a piece of the risen dough, punched it down, rolled it out, cut it into odd shapes, and dropped the pieces into hot fat to cook until golden brown on all sides. These “gobs” were served with syrup, honey, or preserves and sometimes with bacon and eggs and proved to be a crisp, delicious breakfast dish. On Nantucket there used to be, and may still be for all I know, a summer hotel where on Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays one could go and have dough gobs for breakfast. They were simply marvelous.

To prepare dough gobs use any of the white bread recipes or the
Raised Doughnuts
. Roll out some of the risen dough, cut it into any shapes you want, or just take chunks, pat them down, and drop them into fat heated to 360° to 365°. Cook them until brown and crisp, and serve them with plenty of maple syrup and good bacon or ham.

Similar forms of this deep-fried pastry are found in Europe and in Latin America. In France they are known as
galettes à l’huile
, and in Italy, where they are shaped into bow knots, they are called
farfallette dolci.
Paper-thin and crisp, they are absolutely marvelous when sprinkled well with cinnamon and confectioners’ sugar. Sometimes they are made into a dessert by adding a cream or a syrup to them. This version comes from Mexico.

[About 36 pastries]

Sift all the dry ingredients together. Beat the eggs thoroughly and then beat the milk into the eggs. Gradually combine the egg-milk mixture and the dry ingredients, and finally add the melted butter. Turn out on a floured board and knead until quite smooth and elastic. (I then like to divide the dough into about 36 tiny balls and roll them out individually, but you can roll out the dough and cut it into 4- to 6-inch rounds or squares.) Fry the pieces in deep fat heated to about 370°. When done they will curl somewhat and become golden brown and crispy. Drain well on absorbent paper, and sprinkle with confectioners’ sugar and cinnamon or just with confectioners’ sugar. Serve as a cookie.