National Culinary Review

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cross the board, it would be hard to find someone who doesn’t like a freshly cooked fritter, beignet, zeppola or doughnut.

When people crave fried dough, they generally head to a high-volume store, but there are plenty of restaurants out there offering this popular treat.

A

“We don’t want to
build a lot of gluten
structure, but
inherently, bread
flour has gluten,
so that gives the
dough and doughnut
structure,” he explains.
“The potato flour gives
the cooked doughnut a
crunchiness and lightness,
without being dense.” He also
wants richness, achieved by using
egg yolks rather than whole eggs.

“Doughnuts fit into a restaurant’s repertoire well, because restaurants tend to plate their food nicely, elaborately, elegantly and aesthetically,” says Megan Kaminski, executive pastry chef at Kelly Liken in Vail, Colo. “Instead of just serving a plain doughnut, restaurants tend to plate their doughnuts in exciting ways with different accompaniments that complement the doughnut’s flavor and texture.” There’s also a difference in taste when comparing a restaurant’s version of freshly fried dough to that sold at high-volume stores.

Husband’s dough is yeast-based. While it’s common practice to dissolve yeast in warm water and let it stand for 10 minutes until creamy and bubbly, he uses ice water to slow down activation of the yeast and the development of gluten. “I want to keep the temperature of the dough low, with a target of 78°F-80°F,” he says. With warm water, the temperature of the dough would immediately surpass the desired temperature, and the dough would continue to rise during the one-hour rest period.

PHOTO CREDIT: Idaho Potato Commission

“I’m convinced the general public does not know what a fresh doughnut tastes like, unless they’re making them at home, and that’s few and far between,” says Andy Husbands, chef/owner of Tremont 647 and Sister Sorel, Boston. “There’s a big difference between a doughnut that’s sitting on a shelf and one that’s right out of the fryer.”

potato head

Husbands prepares potato doughnuts fritter-style. Fritters, made with corn or crab, for example, tend to be dense. But he’s going for a lighter version, and uses two-thirds bread flour to one-third Idaho potato flour.

A zeppola, or St. Joseph’s Day cake, is a lightweight, deep-fried dough ball rolled in granulated sugar or stuffed with a filling. Zeppole are on the menu at Chicago’s 312 Chicago, where Luca Corazzina is executive chef.

“Fried dough products need to be cooked to order. They should not be made in advance in batches and allowed to sit around,” Corazzina says. “They also need to be stuffed right away and served immediately. This is the only way to taste the consistency and tenderness of the doughnut.”