Salted Caramel Buttermilk Doughnut Holes on a Fork

These were a huge hit at the baby shower last weekend. Seriously. What's not to love about salted caramel on anything. Even liver would taste good with salted caramel.  These homemade buttermilk doughnut holes are a far cry from the liver. They're fluffy cake bites with a hint of spice that you roll in powder and then drizzle with salted caramel just before serving. I roll them in powdered sugar, wait a few minutes, and roll them in sugar again. This gives them a nice thick coating.  Don't add the salted caramel more than an hour before serving or it will melt into the doughnuts. I served them in mini souffle cups that you can purchase at most grocery stores in the cake and party favor section.

Salted Caramel Buttermilk Doughnut Holes

Doughnut Batter:

2 cups Unbleached All-Purpose Flour

¼ tsp. Chef Tess Wise Woman of the East Blend, or nutmeg; optional, for flavor

¼ cup coconut sugar

1 Tbsp. plus 1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 large egg

1 cup buttermilk

¼ cup coconut oil, melted

Frying Oil:  about 5 cups

Powdered Sugar, about 3 cups

Salted Caramel Sauce, prepared, about 2 cups

Instructions:

      Pour the oil 1" deep into a 10" skillet that's about 2 1/2" deep or use an electric frying pan. You want the oil to be about 1" deep. Start to heat the oil to 350°F while you're preparing the doughnut batter.
Whisk together the dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, whisk together the buttermilk and egg.
Pour the milk/egg into the bowl with the dry ingredients, stirring briefly; then add the oil, stirring to make a thick batter/soft dough.
When the oil has come up to temperature, use a cookie scoop (or a spoon) to drop balls of batter into the hot oil. This recipe will make 2" doughnut holes using a tablespoon cookie scoop, and drop in balls of dough about as big as an undersized ping pong ball; or 1 1/2" holes, using a teaspoon cookie scoop, and dropping in balls of dough about as big as a chestnut.
Fry the doughnut holes for 2 minutes on the first side, or until they're a deep brown. Some of them may turn themselves over; that's OK, just use a pair of tongs to turn them back. After 2 minutes, turn the holes over, and fry for an additional 2 minutes (for the larger doughnut holes), or 1 1/2 minutes (for the smaller ones).
Transfer the doughnut holes to a baking sheet lined with paper towels to drain and cool.

Decorate:

·       Serve warm or at room temperature, roll in powdered sugar and place in mini souffle cups.Drizzle each doughnut hole with 1 Tbsp. salted caramel sauce and pierce with a mini serving fork. 

Citrus Lavender Infused Soft Sugar Cookies with Orange Buttercream

These were one of the cookies at my latest catering event and I had to share the recipe with all of you gorgeous people on the blog.  For one thing, you can never have too many cookie recipes during the holidays. For another thing, do we need another reason to have sugar cookies?! Really?!  I just thought that these little guys just added a lot of character to the dessert table and they were so simple to make!


Citrus and Lavender is probably one of my all-time favorites when it comes to flavor profiles in baking, as long as the lavender isn't so strong that it takes over the finished pastry.  The secret to these cookies is using just one drop of essential oil in the baked cookies and then adding citrus notes. If you use more than a drop, the lavender is too powerful and it takes over the cookies. When I made these for my BFF Gena's Baby Shower, she tasted them and said, "OH these are fabulous! There's just a little something that makes them soooo good but I can't place the flavor. What is it?!" ...and that is how it should be with lavender. Subtle. Sophisticated. Sexy. Are you ready for the secret recipe?

Chef Tess' Citrus Lavender Sugar Cookies

1 ½ cup butter, softened

 ¾ cup granulated sugar

1 ¼ cup brown sugar

3 large eggs

½ cup milk

1 1/2 tsp almond emulsion

1 Tbsp. lemon zest, micro grated

1 drop culinary grade lavender essential oil

4 1/2 cups Organic Grains All-Purpose Flour

½ tsp. salt

2 tsp. baking powder

Directions: Preheat oven to 375° F.  Wash and sanitize all work surfaces, utensils, and hands before handling raw flour and dough. In a mixer with a paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time.  Add emulsion, lemon, lavender, and milk. Stir well. Combine the flour mixture with the creamed butter mixture, just until combined. Scoop by rounded Tablespoon onto ungreased cookie sheet or sheet lined with parchment paper. Wash and sanitize all work surfaces, utensils and hands after handling raw flour and dough.  Bake until lightly golden, about 10-13 minutes. Allow cooling on the baking sheet about 10 minutes before transferring to another location. Store in an airtight container. Yield approx. 5 dozen cookies.  

Orange Buttercream Frosting

3 cups powdered sugar

½ cup butter, softened
1 tsp. almond extract
1 tsp. orange emulsion or 5 drops culinary grade orange essential oil
3-4 Tbsp. hot water

Directions: In a large bowl, beat remaining Frosting ingredients with electric mixer on low speed until creamy. Pipe frosting onto cookies. Top with a sprinkle of a few edible gold pearls on each cookie. 

 After they were finished decorating, I added a little flourish of edible gold spray. 

There you go! Make some amazing sugar cookies!

Always My Very Best,
Your Friend Chef Tess

Soft Sugar Cookies with Amaretto Buttercream and Apricots

This is post number 3 from the catering that I did for my sweet best friend Gena's baby shower. Gena loves soft sugar cookies with real buttercream and I had to bring these little guys along. The frosting was topped with freeze-dried chunks of apricot and then I sprinkle a few edible gold pearls on each one along with a few sliced almonds. The freeze-dried apricots gave them a fabulous tart-sweet contrast. After they were finished decorating, I added a little flourish of edible gold spray. They turned out stunning and delicious! These would be perfect for a wedding, bridal shower, or any holiday catering event this winter. 

Chef Tess'Almond Soft Sugar Cookies

1 ½ cup butter, softened

 ¾ cup granulated sugar

1 ¼ cup brown sugar

3 large eggs

½ cup milk

1 1/2 tsp almond emulsion

4 1/2 cup Organic All-Purpose Flour

½ tsp. salt

2 tsp. baking powder

Directions: Preheat oven to 375° F.  Wash and sanitize all work surfaces, utensils, and hands before handling raw flour and dough. In a mixer with a paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time.  Add vanilla and milk. Stir well. Combine the flour mixture with the creamed butter mixture, just until combined. Scoop by rounded Tablespoon onto ungreased cookie sheet or sheet lined with parchment paper. Wash and sanitize all work surfaces, utensils and hands after handling raw flour and dough.  Bake until lightly golden, about 10-13 minutes. Allow cooling on the baking sheet about 10 minutes before transferring to another location. Store in an airtight container. Yield approx. 5 dozen cookies.  

Amaretto Buttercream Frosting

3 cups powdered sugar
½ cup butter, softened
1 tsp. almond extract
3-4 Tbsp. hot water

Directions: In a large bowl, beat remaining Frosting ingredients with electric mixer on low speed until creamy. Pipe frosting onto cookies. Top with freeze-dried chunks of apricot and then I sprinkle a few edible gold pearls on each one along with a few sliced almonds. After they were finished decorating, I added a little flourish of edible gold spray. 

There you go!

Always My Very Best,

Your Friend Chef Tess