I know the count down to T-day has started but I want to take a bit of a breather from recipe reading to tell you about our donut party. We went big and then we went home...as in our first and last donut party! 350 donuts. 1 giant vat of glaze. 2 gallons of oil. Our first Halloween donut party was a great success and a lot of fun AND the donuts were Ahhhhhhmazing. Really, they were THE best donuts I've ever tasted, and I'm not over them in my dreams! A donut party is not a one-gal-operation...nope, it requires a team!! And luckily I know donut people and they came and made it all look so easy! So humor me while I show you a few pictures from our big donut event!
A donut party also requires a really great donut recipe...which you will find below...and as many trays as you can find! And a big table to let them await their demise upon...and a garage, and 4 tents...if your garage is big enough and clean enough you can skip the tents but since ours was neither, we covered our driveway with them. You might be wondering why we did this outside or even did it at all (I'm now wondering that!) For years and years Tami Bean and her family hosted donut parties in their garage on Halloween night and it was a highlight for our community! Hundreds of people would go; they feasted on her delicious donuts and left with happy faces smeared with glaze and the hopes of donuts again the next year. Tami and her family moved away over the summer and I just felt like her donut tradition must continue!!! Something so great as donut night just could not die! So I tried to make Tami proud, I sent out Evites, put up decorations and I channeled her and used her recipe and she helped me by texting me tips and encouragement and while I might not have achieved Donut Master status, I do think our little party turned out okay, mainly because her donuts are just dang good. 5 dangs good!! Thank you Tami!!
Extra treats are certainly not necessary at a donut party...but I suffer from FOROOF, fear of running out of food, so I made a few things just in case...chocolate dipped pretzel rods, Rice-Krispies treat eyeballs, spider chocolate chip cookies, severed fingers, frosted sugar cookies, bowls of candy corn and gallons of apple cider to wash it all down. More is more!
Also not necessary are scary Halloween decorations but the boy insisted...so I insisted that he pose for a picture with me...I barely recognize him as he doesn't have black hair or a mustache...he was supposed to be Gomez Addams...close but no cigar!
Megan and Deb, two of the best donut makers this side of the Mississippi, were primed with Diet Coke and ready to work. I think they might have had more fun IN the kitchen than outside! Both of them are in costume...yes, they really are, can you guess who they are supposed to be??!
Joni and Deb kept watch over the vat of donut glaze...butter, vanilla, butter, powdered sugar, butter, cream, butter...that's why it was SO dang good! I didn't think Joni came in costume, but she was wearing flip-flops on a rainy cold night, so maybe she was partially costumed??
The fry-master, otherwise known as Mr. T or Allan. He brought his camp stove and Dutch ovens and fried all 350 donuts to perfection...I don't think there was a burnt one in the batch! Behind Deb and Megan is Patty, who worked a miracle in my kitchen with her non-stop dish-washing! It took a village people! And on top of the village donut people, we had Trick or Treaters who stopped by and several of their parents jumped in to help!
This is the only shot of the reason for the season...hot, glazed donuts. Oh my gosh, so dang good. I think I had 5 of them!!! FIVE!!! I wish I'd been better about taking pictures - before, during and after - but I kept getting side-tracked (that's what it's called when I'm busy stuffing my face with donuts and licking my fingers.)
Best Homemade Donut Recipe - Adapted Slightly From Tami Bean, the Donut Master
1 1/2 cups milk
1/3 cup vegetable shortening
2 packages instant yeast (Note!!! Only use instant/quick rise yest if you plan to make the donuts within an hour or so...otherwise use regular yeast. You can make the dough 8 to 10 hours ahead if you use regular yeast and let it rise slowly in the refrigerator. Let it rest and come to room temperature before rolling out, about 30 minutes.)
1/3 cup warm water (95 to 105 degrees F)
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
pinch of cinnamon
3 to 4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting surface
peanut or vegetable oil for frying (I used vegetable oil)
Place the milk in a medium saucepan and heat over medium heat just until warm enough to melt shortening. Place the shortening in a bowl and pour warmed milk over. Set aside.
In a small bowl sprinkle the yeast over the warm water and let dissolve for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes pour the yeast mixture into the large bowl of a stand mixer and add the milk and shortening mixture, first making sure the milk and shortening mixture has cooled to lukewarm. Add the eggs, sugar, salt, nutmeg, cinnamon, and half of the flour. Using the paddle attachment, combine the ingredients on low speed until flour is incorporated and then turn the speed up to medium and beat until well combined. Add the remaining flour, combining on low speed at first, then increase the speed to medium and beat well. Change to the dough hook and beat on medium speed until the dough pulls away from the bowl and becomes smooth, approximately 3 to 4 minutes. If the dough doesn't pull away from the bowl, add flour, a little at a time until it does. Transfer to a well-oiled bowl, and if you plan to use the dough soon, cover and let rise for 1 hour or until doubled in size.
(Alternatively, you can refrigerate the dough overnight so that it’s ready to make in the morning -- reread note above - do not use quick rise yeast if you don't plan to use the dough soon. After mixing the dough, transfer to a well-oiled bowl, and cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight. Punch down the down as needed during this time - but you really shouldn't need to. When ready to use, remove from the refrigerator and let come to room temperature, about 30 minutes, before rolling.)
On a well-floured surface, roll out dough to 3/8-inch thick. Cut out dough using a 2 1/2-inch donut cutter. Set on floured baking sheet, cover lightly with a tea towel, and let rise for 30 minutes.
Preheat the oil in a deep fryer to 365 degrees F. Gently place the donuts into the oil, 3 to 4 at a time. Cook for 1 minute per side. Transfer to a cooling rack placed over a baking sheet. Cool slightly, drop donuts one at a time into a bowl of glaze, turn over then remove and set out onto another rack with a baking sheet underneath to catch the glaze drips. Makes approximately 40 donuts.
Creamy Glaze
1/3 cup butter
2 cups powdered sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
4 to 6 tablespoons milk
Heat butter until melted, remove from heat. Stir in powdered sugar and vanilla until smooth. Stir in milk 1 tablespoon at a time until desired consistency is reached.
Thank you Tami for being my Donut Guru!! We miss you! C'mon on back now!
