Small Thanksgiving: Sweet Potato Donuts with Toasted Vanilla Marshmallow Topping

Where do you fall on the sweet/savory sweet potato divide? You know, do you get excited for the candied yams and sweet potato casserole, or are you angry that someone put dessert on the table before it was time for pie?

You’ll find me happily straddling that divide, because I appreciate that a sweet potato can go either savory or sweet, and I’m happy to embrace this, shall we say, talent, of the otherwise humble tuber. However, I do get a little annoyed when too many marshmallows pop up on something called a casserole, so in my ideal Thanksgiving, any sweet potatoes during the main meal will be savory, and anything with marshmallows will land on the dessert table. Or, in this case, maybe even the breakfast table?

Because, in deciding to take sweet potatoes firmly into dessert territory, I’ve almost overshot and taken them into Black Friday pastry land as well. I’m not mad about it. Once again I turned to Bravetart herself, and made the sweet potato variation of her yeast-raised potato donuts.

I think you should do this too.

These are fantastic! Easy, rustic, pretty much no-fuss for something you are deep frying. Then, if you want to take it to the truly decadent level, a meringue topping gets you there, bruleed of course! It’s sweet potato casserole but portable, easy to eat with one hand. It is not, however, easy to eat just one of these, so plan accordingly. My recipe below will make about 6 of these for your small crowd, but you may want to scale up as needed!

---

Sweet Potato Donuts with Toasted Marshmallow Frosting

Makes 6 donuts

For the Donuts (adapted from Stella Parks)

• 1/4 cup milk (whole milk, 2/%, whatever you have)

• 3/4 tsp active dry yeast

• 1 1/4 cup flour (plus more if needed)

• 2 tbs sugar

• 3/4 tsp kosher salt

• 1/4 tsp fresh grated nutmeg

• 1/8 tsp baking soda

• 3/8 cup cooked sweet potato, mashed and room temperature

• 2 tbs butter, melted

• oil, for frying (canola, or whatever you like for frying)

For the meringue:

• 2 egg whites

• 3 oz sugar

• pinch kosher salt

• pinch cream of tartar

• seeds of 1/2 vanilla bean

1. Make the dough: Warm the milk (but not hot!) and add the yeast. Let it sit for 5 minutes, until foamy. In the bowl of a food processor, pulse the flour, sugar, salt, nutmeg, and baking soda until combined. Then add the milk and yeast mixture, the sweet potato, and the butter, and pulse until a smooth dough forms, about 1 minute. If it seems too wet and sticky, add up to another 2 tbs flour.

2. Transfer the dough to an oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise for 75 minutes, or until the dough has puffed a little (it won’t look completely risen at this point) and it doesn’t spring back if you poke it. If poking the dough doesn’t leave a permanent mark, let rise another 15 minutes.

3. Turn the dough out on a floured surface and divide into 6 or 8 equal pieces, depending on how big or small you want these to be. Roll each piece into a ball, then poke a finger in the center of each piece and form into rings, like, well, donuts. They don’t have to look perfect, remember they will be topped with meringue. Place the donuts on a parchment lined baking sheet and cover with plastic, then let rise another 75 minutes, until puffy and light, and about doubled in size.

4. About 10-15 minutes to the end of the rise time, start heating 2 inches of the oil in a large pot. Fry the donuts at 350 degrees, in batches as needed, for about 90 seconds to 2 minutes, turning frequently to get them evenly colored. Because of the sweet potato, these will brown pretty quickly, but just keep the oil at temperature and you shouldn’t burn them.

5. Transfer fried donuts to a paper towel lined baking sheet to drain, then to a wire rack to cool completely.

6. While donuts are cooling, make the meringue: Add all ingredients to the bowl of a stand mixer over simmering water. Whisking constantly, heat the mixture until it reaches 165 degrees (you can use a thermometer, or at minimum, check the temperature with a finger. When it feels too hot to touch, you are done). Transfer the bowl to the mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, then beat on high until glossy and completely cool, about 5 minutes. You can use immediately if your donuts are completely cooled. Otherwise, set aside until ready to use.

7. To “frost” the donuts, pipe or spoon the meringue onto the donuts, as neatly or as messily as you like. To toast the topping, you can use a small butane torch (or a big one if you’ve got it!) to brown the meringue. But for that real, true toasted marshmallow flavor, I like to toast it in the oven. Set the oven to 375, and bake the frosted donuts until the meringue puffs and turns toasty brown on top. This has the bonus effect of warming the donuts too! Enjoy warm or room temperature.

Olive Oil Fried Donuts with Preserved Lemon Cream

Sometimes I think of foods to make and whip them up immediately, and sometimes I sit on an idea for years. These donuts fall into the latter category. I’ve been wanting to try frying donuts in olive oil since I learned you can fry things in olive oil, and I’ve been obsessed with adding preserved lemon to desserts for a while now. But the last time I tried to make filled donuts it did not go well. I ended up with greasy, flat and heavy things leaking apple butter. I was somewhat scarred from that experience.

Time is good for forgetting kitchen disasters, so I was finally ready to try again this year. I remembered this genius recipe too for making a small amount of donuts, and so I knew I could make a manageable amount, not enough to stock a whole store. I will happily eat four donuts, but 16 is too much even for me, and it’s not as easy to give away food these days. And then, when my roommate brought home the most beautiful, sunshine-yellow Meyer lemons from her parents’ house, I knew it was time to make a new batch of preserved lemons. Which meant that six weeks later it was time to make donuts!

Happily, my donuts this time around came out perfectly. Really, just exactly the plush texture I love in a yeasted donut, and the filling was just the right kind of salty sweet I was hoping for. I’m the only one who can vouch for these, since all four were gone in a matter of days, before I could share. I can’t say I’m sorry about that, but it does mean you’ll just have to take my word for it and try these out.

---

Preserved Lemon Cream-Filled Donuts

Makes 8 donuts

This recipe has some steps, but you can make the pastry cream a day or so in advance and keep chilled until needed. These donuts are best eaten fresh, the day they are made. If you don’t plan to eat them right away, I would wait to fill them. Once they are filled, they need to be refrigerated, and the fridge will not do anything good for the texture.

For the Preserved Lemon Pastry Cream:

• 1 quarter to 1 half of a preserved lemon

• 1 tbs preserved lemon juice (liquid from the jar)

• 1 cup whole milk

• 1/4 cup sugar

• zest of 1/2 Meyer lemon (organic and unsprayed if possible)

• 1 inch peel of lemon (from the same lemon as the zest)

• 2 egg yolks

• 2 tbs corn starch

• 1 tbs unsalted butter, cut into pieces

• 1/2 cup heavy cream

For the donuts (adapted from Joy the Baker)

• 2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast

• 3 tbs warm water

• 3 cups all purpose flour

• 3/4 cup whole milk, warmed to just above room temp

• 3 tbs unsalted butter, room temp

• 3 egg yolks

• 2 tbs sugar

• 1 1/2 tsp salt

• 2 1/4 cup granulated sugar, for rolling

• a few fresh thyme sprigs

• zest of 1/2 Meyer lemon (organic and unsprayed if possible)

• olive oil, for frying

1. Make the pastry cream: Blend the preserved lemon and the juice until smooth, and set aside. Rub the lemon zest into the sugar, and then warm the milk with 1/2 of the sugar and the peel, until simmering. Set aside to steep for 15 minutes.

2. Bring the milk mixture back to a simmer over medium heat. In a heat-proof bowl, whisk the egg with the corn starch and remaining sugar, then whisk while slowly adding the milk, a bit at a time, until incorporated. Pour the mixture back into the pot over medium high heat, and cook, whisking constantly, until the mixture thickens and begins to bubble. After you see the first bubble, continue whisking for 90 seconds, then remove from heat and pour the mixture through a fine mesh strainer into a bowl. Whisk in the butter and then the lemon puree. Cover with plastic wrap pressed against the surface of the pastry cream, then chill at least 2 hours. Stir vigorously before using.

3. While pastry cream is chilling, make the donuts: Stir together the yeast and the warm water until the yeast is dissolved, and let sit 5 minutes, until foamy. Add the yeast mixture to the bowl of a stand mixer with the flour, milk, butter, egg yolks, sugar and salt, and mix on low speed with the dough hook until everything combines, then increase the speed to medium high and beat for 3 minutes more.

4. Scrape down the sides of the the bowl, then sprinkle the dough with a bit of flour, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise for one hour, until doubled.

5. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface, and roll out to a 1/2 inch thick round. Cut into rounds with a 2 1/2-3 inch cutter. Place rounds on parchment lined baking sheet and let rise, covered, for another 30 minutes. Let the scraps rise too, they will be excellent testers for frying (and snacking).

6. In a bowl, rub together the thyme, lemon zest, and sugar and mix with a pinch of salt. Set aside.

7. Heat enough olive oil in a sturdy pot to reach 3 inches up the sides, to 350 degrees. You can get away with a smaller pot and thus less oil, but make sure the sides are high enough you won’t be in danger of oil bubbling over, and only fry enough donuts at a time so you don’t crowd the pan. I fried these one at a time, and since they only take a few minutes each, that’s not a ton of frying time, and easier to manage the sugar dusting.

8. When your oil has reached temperature, get your assembly line ready. Pour the thyme lemon sugar onto a rimmed baking sheet, or a cake pan, or any vessel that will work for tossing a hot donut in. Use some of the dough scraps to test out your oil. Fry each round for about 1 minute per side, then remove and immediately transfer to the sugar mixture. Toss to coat on all sides, then set on a wire rack to cool completely.

9. Once you have fried and cooled all the donuts, whip the heavy cream to soft peaks and fold in the pastry cream. Fill a piping bag (or zip top bag with the corner snipped off) with the filling mixture. Using kitchen scissors, snip a hold in the side of each donut round, and use the handle of a teaspoon to widen the hole enough to fill. Insert the tip of the pastry bag in the hole and fill with desired amount of filling. The donut should feel heavier once filled. Repeat with remaining donuts and enjoy ASAP!

Grandma's Chocolate Pound Cake

I’ve been angry a lot this year, but I think I was angriest this week, when I watched the President tell America to just ignore the danger of Covid, and suggest that if only you have the will to fight it, you will be fine. Too bad the 200,000 Americans who already died didn’t have someone to tell them to just be strong, I guess? It’s infuriating, and not surprising, of course, to hear such nonsense, but it was also incredibly insulting to those of us who are trying our best to live our lives as safely as possible. And the price of that safety, for many of us, is that when we will see our family again is an unknown.

I live in California, and most of the rest of my family lives across the country, or even across the world in one case. This makes it difficult in the best of circumstances to see each other more than a few times a year, and in the case of my Grandparents, I rarely see them more than once a year, because they don’t fly and they live in a place that is difficult to travel to in less than a day. So, of course I have been missing them, but I’ve also been terribly worried about them, because those of us who believe in science know the risk of Covid increases the older you are.

But, I’m here, in California, powerless to do anything, and cut off from family except for Zoom and FaceTime. So what to do? As I’ve done most of this year, I baked my feelings. I pulled out my new bundt pan and made the chocolate cake my Grandma always makes for us when we visit.

It’s a simple pound cake that uses a very not trendy 46% cacao chocolate, and it bakes up into the most wonderful, delicately chocolate-flavored thing. She usually makes it in a tube pan, which makes a giant cake, but I, mindful of who was (not) around to help eat this, made a half recipe in a 6 cup bundt pan. And then, because I had to highlight the perfect swirls, I iced it, which is probably not what Betty Myers would do but it was certainly pretty.

This cake didn’t magically transport me to Virginia, but it did make me feel just a little bit better, so I don’t think this will be the last time I make it during this Pandemic.

---

Chocolate Pound Cake

Makes one, 8-inch bundt cake or one, 9x5 inch loaf cake.

For the cake:

• 1 bar sweet baking chocolate (see note)

• 1 1/4 cup flour

• 3/4 tsp baking powder

• 1/4 tsp kosher salt

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened

• 3/4 cup + 1 tbs sugar

• 2 eggs

• 1/2 tsp vanilla

• 1/2 cup + 1 tbs milk

For the vanilla glaze (optional):

• 1 cup powdered sugar

• 1 1/2 tbs milk

• 1 tsp vanilla

1. Heat oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour a 6 cup bundt pan or a 9x5 inch loaf pan. Heat chocolate in a heat-proof bowl set over a pot of boiling water about 1 inch deep. Let the chocolate sit until partially melted, then remove from the heat and stir until completely melted. Set aside to cool.

2. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt, set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the butter and beat until fluffy, then gradually add sugar and beat until very light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.

3. Add the eggs one at a time, thoroughly mixing in each one. Stir in the cooled chocolate and vanilla and beat well to combine, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed. Add the flour and the milk in alternate batches, beating well after each.

4. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 30-35 minutes, until a toothpick or a knife inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then remove from the pan and cool completely.

5. If you are glazing your cake, combine the glaze ingredients in a small bowl, and pour over the top of the cooled cake or drizzle as desired.

Notes:

• This recipe is best made with sweet baking chocolate, which is not the same as semi-sweet or bittersweet. It has a lower cacao content, which gives the cake it’s subtly sweet chocolate flavor. My grandmother’s preferred brand of chocolate for this is Baker’s German’s sweet chocolate. If you can’t find this, semi-sweet chocolate is probably the best replacement, though I haven’t tried it.

• The ingredient amounts for the glaze above make enough to generously coat the cake in vanilla glaze, though I use a little less and just drizzle over the top for a sweet, vanilla accent. I also glaze right on the serving plate, the better to scoop up little puddles of glaze along which each slice.