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TRADITIONAL & CONTEMPORARY

DOI MAY DESSERTS

PAULA SH OY ER

Pastry chef Paula Shoyer can help create
a miraculous Chanukah dessert table
for your holiday soiree.

JNS.org

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details

Paula Shoyer, a mother of four and a
former attorney, graduated from the
Ritz Escoffier pastry program in Paris,
and now teaches French and Jewish
baking classes across the country and
around the world. She is the author
of the bestselling The Kosher Baker:

Over 160 Dairy-Free Recipes from
Traditional to Trendy, The Holiday Kosher
Baker and The New Passover Menu.

To learn more about Shoyer and her
ongoing book tour, visit her website at
thekosherbaker.com .

t is a truth universally acknowledged —
we can never get tired of Chanukah latkes
and sufganiyot (the holiday's deep-fried
jelly doughnuts).
But there's no harm in adding some culi-
nary variety to this year's Festival of Lights.
Pastry chef Paula Shoyer offers a doughnut
recipe with a twist plus two alternative reci-
pes that are great for Chanukah parties and
will satisfy any sweet tooth, courtesy of her
book The Holiday Kosher Baker (Sterling
Epicure; 2013).

VANILLA DOUGHNUT HOLES

(ci-inwni ON! OPPOciTr PAC:r

Doughnuts and potato latkes are the most
traditional Chanukah foods. Like latkes,
doughnuts are best eaten the day they are
made, but even on the second day you can
get good results by reheating them. To make
doughnuts look festive, roll them in colored
sugar.
'A ounce (1 envelope) dry yeast
'A cup warm water
'/2 cup plus 1 tsp. sugar, divided
'/2 cup soy milk
2 lbsp. margarine, at room temperature
for at least 15 minutes
1 large egg
2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
% tsp. salt
2'A-21/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus
extra for dusting
V2 cup plain or colored sugar for dusting
doughnuts
Canola oil for frying

In a large bowl, place the yeast, warm
water and one tsp. of the sugar and stir. Let
the mixture sit for 10 minutes, or until thick
Add the remaining sugar, soy milk, mar-
garine, egg, vanilla, salt and 11/2 cups flour
and mix — either with a wooden spoon or
with a dough hook in a stand mixer — on

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low speed. Add 1/2 cup more flour and mix
in. Add 'A cup flour and mix in. If the dough
remains sticky, add more flour, a tablespoon
at a time, until the dough becomes smooth.
Cover the bowl with a clean dishtowel and
let the dough rise for one hour in a warm
place. If you have a warming drawer (see
note below) set it on a low setting (about
200°F), or you can turn your oven on to its
lowest setting, place the bowl in the oven
then turn off the oven.
After one hour, punch down the dough by
folding it over a few times and reshaping it
into a ball. Re-cover the dough and let it rise
for 10 minutes.
Dust a cookie sheet with flour. Sprinkle
some flour on the counter or on parchment
paper and use a rolling pin to roll the dough
out until it's about 1/2-inch thick Using a
small round cookie cutter about 1 to 11/2
inches in diameter, cut out small circles very
close to each other and place them on the
cookie sheet. Re-roll any scraps. Cover the
doughnuts with the towel. Place the cookie
sheet back in the oven (warm but turned off)
or warming drawer. Let the doughnuts rise
for 30 minutes.
Heat Ph inches of oil in a medium sauce-
pan for a few minutes and use a candy ther-
mometer to see when the oil stays between
365°F and 375°F; adjust the flame to keep the
oil in that temperature range. Cover a cookie
sheet with foil. Place a wire rack on top of the
cookie sheet and set it near the stovetop.
When the oil is ready, add the doughnut
holes to the oil one at a time, top-side down,
putting an edge in first and then sliding in
the rest of the doughnut; if you drop the
doughnuts into the pan an inch or higher
from the oil it can splatter and burn your fin-
gers. You can fry up to eight doughnut holes
at a time. Cook for 45-60 seconds. Use tongs
or chopsticks to turn the doughnut holes
over and cook them another 45-60 seconds,
or until golden. Lift with a slotted spoon and
place on the wire rack to cool. Repeat with

the remaining doughnuts.
Place the sugar in a shallow bowl and roll
the doughnut holes in the sugar to coat. Store
covered at room temperature for up to one
day and reheat to serve.
Note: A warming drawer can be built right
into your kitchen cabinet. It is ideal for keep-
ing cooked food hot, warming plates and
even proofing bread dough.
Makes 50 servings. Nut-free and parve.

DECORATED BROWNIE BITES
If you're looking for something other than
another doughnut or latke variation, these
are great alternative treats that can be deco-
rated with colored sugars, sprinkles, nonpa-
reils, crushed candies or nuts.
10 ounces (280g) bittersweet chocolate
'/2 cup canola oil, plus 2 tsp. for greasing
pan
Ph cups sugar
'/3 cup soy milk
3 large eggs
2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
'/2 tsp. salt
% tsp. baking powder
'/3 cup unsweetened cocoa
1% cups all-purpose flour
At least 3 different colored sugars,
sprinkles, nonpareils, crushed candies or
ground nuts

Preheat oven to 350°E Use 1 tsp. oil to