- [Babish] This episode is sponsored by Google Fi.
Google Fi is a phone plan by Google.
It's easy to set up with at-home activation,
no activation fees, and no contracts that lock you in.
There are three plans to choose from,
so you can pick what works for you and your data usage.
I love the Unlimited Plus plan because it includes
100 gigabytes of cloud storage with Google One.
Learn more today at fi.google.com.
The link is in the video description.
(upbeat theme music)
Oh, cool, you took your sweetheart to the apple orchard,
but now what are you gonna do with all these pesky apples?
Apple pie? Snore.
Applesauce is for babies.
What are you gonna do, eat 'em raw?
What are you, some kinda horse?
No, no, no, you pat your golden retriever twice on the head,
you put on your favorite microfleece,
queue up some Phil Collins,
you make apple cider doughnuts.
I'm not sure what this character is, but he's got a point.
Apple cider doughnuts are a fall-time staple
which not only pair well with apple cider,
they actually contain apple cider,
so that's the first thing we gotta make.
As you can see,
I'm thoroughly pureeing about nine medium apples
in batches in a food processor which, once pureed,
we're gonna strain through a fine mesh sieve
to create what I was surprised to learn is apple cider.
The fresh, unpasteurized stuff
you get in the jugs at the apple farm,
turns out, is little more than just pressed fresh apples.
I'm using a mixture of Gala, Cortland, and Macintosh
for a good balance of tart and sweet.
Once all the solids have been strained out,
you can either just sip on it, because it's delicious,
or, for our apple cider doughnuts,
we need an apple cider concentrate,
which we're going to accomplish by boiling it down.
I've got about 500 milliliters of the stuff
that I'm gonna place in a wide saucepan.
The wider, the better,
because more surface area means more evaporation.
We're simmering this for anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour
until it's reduced to about 1/4 cup.
Allow this to cool completely,
and then we can get down to the dough part of the doughnut.
Into the bowl of a stand mixer
we are depositing 125 grams of granulated sugar,
75 grams of brown sugar, and 75 grams of unsalted butter,
which we are going to cream together
by virtue of the paddle attachment until light and fluffy,
anywhere from five to six minutes on medium-high speed`
depending on the temperature of your butter.
Then, one at a time, we are slowly incorporating
two large, room-temperature eggs,
scraping down the bowl between each addition.
Once you've got that all done,
it's time to start combining our wets
and drys in separate bowls,
since, unlike traditional yeasted doughnuts,
apple cider doughnuts are more like cake batter.
So into one bowl, we're combining
570 grams of all-purpose flour,
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt, 2 teaspoons baking powder,
3/4 teaspoon baking soda, 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon,
and 1/2 teaspoon of ground nutmeg.
Then, in another bowl, we are combining
170 grams of room-temperature buttermilk,
our cooled apple cider concentrate,
and 1 tablespoon of vanilla paste
or 1 1/2 teaspoons of vanilla extract.
Tiny whisk each of these until homogenous,
and then we're adding them to the egg and sugar mixture
in the dry, wet, dry, wet, dry configuration.
That is, we're adding 1/3 of the dry ingredients,
making sure it's completely incorporated
before adding 1/2 of the wet ingredients,
once again mixing until homogenous,
then another 1/3 of the dry, then 1/2 of the wet,
then the last 1/3 of the dry,
scraping down the bowl between each addition.
This should result in an unsettlingly firm cake batter,
which is a good thing, because unlike most cake batters
that we pour into a pan before baking,
we're going to roll these out and cut them.
That is, after covering and fridging for at least an hour
or until firm enough to do so.
We're gonna do this on a very,
very well-floured work surface,
because this is a sticky dough.
Don't let that intimidate you,
and don't be tempted to add more flour to the dough.
That's how you end up with tough, staid little doughnuts.
We're rolling this guy out
to anywhere from 1/2 to 3/4 inch thick
and beginning the undeniably fun process
of cutting them into doughnuts using a pair
of floured and buttered biscuit cutters.
Place the resultant doughnuts
and their accompanying doughnut holes
on a parchment-lined baking sheet
and rinse and repeat with the remainder of the dough.
You can re-roll the scraps to make more doughnuts.
They might be a little bit tougher
from the extra flour being incorporated into the dough,
but they'll still be good.
Go ahead and punch the remainder of your holes if necessary,
and then these guys are headed into the deep fryer,
filled with either vegetable or canola oil,
preheated to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Very carefully drop in your doughnuts, not like I'm doing,
which will initially sink to the bottom,
then float to the top.
And anywhere from two to four minutes
on their first side, they're ready to flip.
Give 'em another two to three minutes on their second side,
and once they're deeply golden brown all over,
go ahead and evacuate them
onto a paper towel-lined baking sheet to drain.
Don't forget to fry up those doughnut holes, too.
They're fun for kids from ages 9 to 99.
Now, almost immediately after frying,
while the doughnuts are still nice and warm
and still have a little bit of oil on their exteriors,
we're gonna wanna give them
a thorough dunking in some cinnamon sugar.
Make sure you do this as soon
as your delicate little fingers can handle the heat.
Otherwise, the cinnamon sugar will not stick.
If you're like me and you let them sit around
a little bit too long, you can cheat
by giving them a quick spritz with nonstick spray.
Consider it a lesson learned and don't let it happen again.
Once you've got all your delicious doughnuts
dipped and dusted, they cannot legally
be served in the state of New York
without a cup of hot spiced apple cider,
which, unlike the sort of apple juice we made earlier,
is more like an apple tea, which means that finally,
you get to say bon apple-tea and mean it.
I got 10 or so apples that I'm chopping into quarters
and placing in a large Dutch oven,
along with an optional sliced orange,
which is obviously gonna bring some nice citrus flavor.
A couple inches of roughly chopped fresh ginger
brings a nice gingery flavor.
A few sticks of fresh cinnamon elicits cinnamon flavor.
A couple allspice berries, a couple cloves,
and maybe one whole nutmeg, uh, nut
complete the crisp fall-time tapestry.
Cover this guy up and bring him to a simmer over high heat.
Once simmering, cover with a lid,
lower the heat to maximum lowness,
and simmer gently for two hours
or until the apples are completely soft.
Then we're gonna uncover
and simmer for about 30 more minutes
to concentrate the flavors.
Then, all there is left to do
is strain it through a fine mesh sieve,
making sure to press on the solids
to extract every last little bit
of delicious liquid, and if you like,
sweeten it to taste with 50 to 100 grams of brown sugar,
keeping the whole affair warm in a covered saucepan
until ready to serve.
Now all we gotta do is ladle some into a mug
or paper cup for apple orchard accuracy,
plate up our doughnuts,
and enjoy them alongside one another.
And if you grew up anywhere near an apple orchard,
this immediately transports you back in time
to crisp fall mornings where your parents forced you
to wake up early and go apple picking.
But now you get to do it in your PJs,
underwear, or my favorite, nothing at all.
Thanks again to Google Fi for sponsoring today's episode.
Fi is a phone plan by Google with three plans:
Flexible, Simply Unlimited, and Unlimited Plus.
I chose Unlimited Plus because in addition
to unlimited data, calls, and texts,
it also includes 100 gigabytes
of cloud storage with Google One.
Fi is great because you can use your own phone
or purchase a new one.
One feature I love is that you can choose to block calls
that are suspected to be spam or robocalls.
With my plan, I also have
unlimited high-speed hotspot tethering
so I can upload videos on the go.
Learn more at fi.google.com.
The link is in the video description.
(mellow jazzy music)