Ma Niche : French Crullers with Blackberry Glaze # GYCO Blackberry Challenge

17.7.13

French Crullers with Blackberry Glaze # GYCO Blackberry Challenge

Well it is that time of the year when fruits are available in abundance and you feel like trying out all the recipes that you've pinned over the year. so here is another fruity dessert that i whipped up today for the

GYCO Blackberry Challenge organized by

Julie of White Lights on Wednesday and Jen of Four Mars..One Venus.....

French Crullers with Blackberry Glaze...

and i am pretty happy with the way it turned out...

The thing is, every once in a while we enjoy snacking on a doughnut or two. but then making a big batch or even frying donuts isn't my thing. i prefer baking. and it so happened that the other day a spotted a recipe for baked Crullers in use real butter. i wanted to try it sooner but then all the challenges came in the way and it wasn't until today that i finally baked my first batch.

As opposed to the popular doughnuts, crullers aren't yeasted. one shapes them out of Pâte à choux, a light pastry dough very similar to the dough for gougères and eclairs, then bakes or fries them and glazes them as i have done.

the idea of using blackberry glaze was from The Café Sucré Farine. I thought her doughnuts looked rad in purple. but since my concoction was slightly different, i ended up with a reddish tinge. not that i mind it... but purple would have been pretty too..

now the recipe....

French Crullers with Blackberry Glaze Adapted from use real butter
ingredients for the cruller dough 1 cup water 6 tbsps butter, cut into pieces 1/4 tsp salt 2 tsps superfine sugar (i used ground sugar) 1 cup all purpose flour 3 large eggs 1 egg white 1 tsp lemon zest for the blackberry glaze (enough to glaze crullers with 2 1/2 inch diameter) a handful of black berries 1/4 cup confectioner's sugar 1/2 tsp lemon juice 1/2 tbsp honey pinch of salt pinch of ginger powder - what i did to begin with, i added the water, butter, sugar and salt to a heavy bottomed saucepan and holding over medium-high heat brought the ingredients to a brisk boil. i then added the flour to the boiling solution and still holding the saucepan over medium heat, stirred the ingredients in the pan constantly till a thin film of the dough began to coat the bottom of the saucepan. switching off the heat i then transferred the readied dough into the bowl on the standing mixer and using the paddle attachment stirred the dough for a minute or so in order to cool it down. still stirring with the mixer attachment, i then added the 3 eggs and the egg white to the dough, one at a time, taking care so that each addition is completely incorporated into the dough before the next one is added. after all the eggs and egg whites had been added to the dough, i beat it at medium-high speed for a couple of minutes, to make sure that the eggs were well incorporated. i then preheated the oven to 450 degrees F, lined two baking sheets with parchment paper and using a piping bag fitted with a star-shaped nozzle, piped out circles of the prepared dough into the prepared baking tray. since my piping skills aren't excellent, i ended up piping 25 mini crullers. while i refrigerated most of the piped dough for later, i transferred a tray of 6 crullers to the preheated oven. 5 minutes down the line, i reduced the oven temperature to 350 degrees F and baked for another 15 minutes. at the end of 15 minutes, when the timer beeped, i switched off the heat, opened the oven door a little and let the crullers stay in the oven for another 5 minutes. after that i removed the crullers from the oven and set them aside for a while till they cooled down. in the meantime i prepared the blackberry glaze by mixing all the ingredients in a saucepan and holing it over medium-low heat for a minute or so until the glaze changed color and somewhat thickened. i then dipped the crullers into the prepared glaze, waited for 5 minutes and then dipped them again just to make sure that each cruller is generously coated with the glaze.

French Crullers with Blackberry Glaze
Adapted from use real butter

ingredients

for the cruller dough

1 cup water
6 tbsps butter, cut into pieces
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsps superfine sugar (i used ground sugar)
1 cup all purpose flour
3 large eggs
1 egg white
1 tsp lemon zest

for the blackberry glaze (enough to glaze crullers with 2 1/2 inch diameter)

a handful of black berries
1/4 cup confectioner's sugar
1/2 tsp lemon juice
1/2 tbsp honey
pinch of salt
pinch of ginger powder

what i did

to begin with, i added the water, butter, sugar and salt to a heavy bottomed saucepan and holding over medium-high heat brought the ingredients to a brisk boil.
i then added the flour to the boiling solution and still holding the saucepan over medium heat, stirred the ingredients in the pan constantly till a thin film of the dough began to coat the bottom of the saucepan.
switching off the heat i then transferred the readied dough into the bowl on the standing mixer and using the paddle attachment stirred the dough for a minute or so in order to cool it down.
still stirring with the mixer attachment, i then added the 3 eggs and the egg white to the dough, one at a time, taking care so that each addition is completely incorporated into the dough before the next one is added.
after all the eggs and egg whites had been added to the dough, i beat it at medium-high speed for a couple of minutes, to make sure that the eggs were well incorporated.
i then preheated the oven to 450 degrees F, lined two baking sheets with parchment paper and using a piping bag fitted with a star-shaped nozzle, piped out circles of the prepared dough into the prepared baking tray. since my piping skills aren't excellent, i ended up piping 25 mini crullers.
while i refrigerated most of the piped dough for later, i transferred a tray of 6 crullers to the preheated oven. 5 minutes down the line, i reduced the oven temperature to 350 degrees F and baked for another 15 minutes. at the end of 15 minutes, when the timer beeped, i switched off the heat, opened the oven door a little and let the crullers stay in the oven for another 5 minutes.
after that i removed the crullers from the oven and set them aside for a while till they cooled down.
in the meantime i prepared the blackberry glaze by mixing all the ingredients in a saucepan and holing it over medium-low heat for a minute or so until the glaze changed color and somewhat thickened.
i then dipped the crullers into the prepared glaze, waited for 5 minutes and then dipped them again just to make sure that each cruller is generously coated with the glaze.

and thats it... the crullers were ready to be served ! husband liked them and so did baby boy. but he wasn't overly excited about them. he had one and then wanted just the berries dipped in the glaze...