Daring Bakers: Let’s go nuts for Donuts!

Can you believe that I have never deep fried anything? Deep-frying, along with lighting the gas grill, seemed like dangerous cooking feats. Why would I want to heat up a gallon of oil to 365 °F? That seems like a bad idea for home cook, right? There is just one problem, I love fried food! Give me a pile of chicken wings, some French fries and fry me up a Snickers bar and I’m a happy camper. Although on the other hand, it might be good that I don’t fry at home, I’d be 400 lbs…

Luckily I joined the Daring Bakers. My first challenge was more of an aesthetic challenge than a baking one. Decorating sugar cookies was super fun and now I’m ready for the holidays! This month’s challenge is what I have been hoping for, something to really push my boundaries, test my baking skills and make me a little uncomfortable. This month we would be making donuts (doughnuts?)

I love donuts, so this Daring Bakers challenge is a win-win. I get to play with hot oil and I get to eat lots of donuts! NOM! Neither of these things is an unusual happening. I use hot oil on an almost daily basis in the lab. I’m also lucky enough to walk by not one, but three Dunkin’ Donuts on my way to work. Making my own donuts would save me so much money! But don’t worry, I didn’t fry them in silicon oil, that would be disgusting.

Pumpkin Cookies

Halloween is definitely one of my favorite holidays. I loved to carve pumpkins, decorate the house and throw Halloween parties. I went trick-or-treating until I was a freshman in high school. I love the haunted houses, spooky corn mazes and Halloween hay rides. But most of all, I love those tiny candies. I suppose that these days I love the day after Halloween.

This is the day when all the ‘fun size’ candies go on sale! I head to the super market and stock up. It will be several months before ‘fun-size’ chocolate bars are available again (I can’t wait until Easter for more!). Bags and bags of candy will make their way to my freezer, where I will enjoy them for months to come.

Now, those of you in the know are probably asking “Well, did you riot in the Madison State Street Halloween party?” The answer is no. In my five years in Madison, I never actually went to Freakfest. This might mean that I’ve grown boring over the years. I like to think that it means that I’ve gotten smarter. I decided that I would be better off at my house, than avoiding the riots and teargas that always accompanied Freakfest.

I realize that over the past few years the Madison police department has taken control of the festivities, but when I was in grad school, Freakfest meant riots. I’m talking window-smashing, alcohol-fueled, tear-gas dispersed, riots. Not my cup of tea. What I like to do these days is stay home, and make some tasty treats, while grazing on my miniature chocolate bars. Boring? Maybe. Delicious? Definitely.

Acorn Squash Ravioli with Cranberry Walnut Sauce

We all have those mountains in life that seem too high, too challenging of a climb. You think to yourself “Look at that mountain! Who would be crazy enough to climb that? Why bother when I have this delicious sandwich right here? I think I’ll just sit here and eat my delicious sandwich. I’ll bet that there aren’t delicious sandwiches on top of that mountain!” Hmm, I seem to have hit a tangent. Let’s get back on track…

Culinary mountains. Those food items that seem just too overwhelming to take on. And usually we have good reason not to attempt these culinary mountains. Why make your own puff pastry when you can buy it in the freezer section? Why make your own donuts when you live across the street from Dunkin’ Donuts? (Or maybe I’m just lucky enough to live in the center of a triangle of D. Do’s) And finally, why bother to mix, roll out and cut up your own pasta? Especially when pasta is seriously, a dollar. Really, sometimes it’s on sale two for a dollar.

We make pasta because we want to fill it with deliciousness. In my attempt to embrace fall, I took on the mountain of making homemade ravioli. And let me say, it was much easier than I thought it would be. The only change I would make, is to buy and use a pasta maker. Pasta dough is a tough item to roll out. It wants to spring back on you, shrinking back into a smaller shape. Work those muscles people, and you will be rewarded with one tasty dinner.

The flavor of the acorn squash is perfectly offset with the spices in the filling. The browned butter plays so well with the sweet cranberries and nutty walnuts. This dish packs major flavor. Set aside several hours to prepare the pasta. You can make them in the morning and cook them later in the night. Just be sure to let the ravioli dry at room temperature, then cover them and put them in the fridge until you are ready to eat. Don’t let the pasta mountain defeat you, you can do this. There might not be tasty sandwiches at the top of this mountain, but there is this…