Cooking with Gas | Maple Bourbon Donuts

Part II of Cooking with Gas, a series on recipes featuring hard liquor.

If there's half a cup of water to replace 2 eggs, and the recipe is supposed to have alcohol, then that half cup of water is going to be alcohol. 'Nuff said. Had I been pulled over while driving to an appointment with The Local Massage Therapist in Arlington, I probably would've registered above acceptable blood alcohol content after having a maple bourbon donut this morning. Not that I was driving recklessly--these donuts are just particularly alcoholic. The glaze contains a teaspoon of whiskey and the donuts taste like alcohol, most definitely. They're good that way. The people who know these things keep telling me the GF alcohol I find is milder than the conventional types. I guess that's good for me since extremes (salt, sweet, etc.) do a number on me. It was too late last night to figure out an alternate glaze that didn't involve sugar, but I have ideas and 2/3 of a bottle of Queen Jennie sorghum whiskey with which to experiment. Queen Jennie is named after a bootlegger, and a distillery called Old Sugar makes it in Wisconsin. I had to special order it, after visitng and calling several liquor stores in the DMV region, and a bottle ran me $50. The list of distributors on the Old Sugar website is not accurate.

Maple Bourbon Doughnuts

Modified from King Arthur Flour

1/2 cup GF whiskey

2 tablespoons ground flaxseed

1 cup King Arthur Flour Ancient Grains GF flour blend

1 cup sorghum flour

1/3 cup arrowroot

1 teaspoon xanthan gum

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon sea salt

1/4 cup vegan margarine, softened (I used Earth Balance)

1/2 cup coconut sugar

1/2 cup maple syrup (Grade B preferred)

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease a mini-donut pan and another muffin tin (I used 4 wells of a "Twinkie" or cream canoe pan).

In a small measuring cup, mix the whiskey and flax and set aside.

In a large bowl, sift then whisk together the flours, xanthan gum, leavening, and salt.

In another large, high-sided, bowl, beat the margarine and sugar until fluffy.  Beat in the maple syrup and vanilla. As always, beat the shit out of it.  Beat in the flax and whiskey. Stir in the dry ingredients in three additions. Transfer to the pans (fill wells 3/4 full if you don't want Cthulhu donuts). Bake for 15 minutes (mini donuts) to 17 minutes (cream canoes) or until they pass the toothpick test, have browned a little, and spring back to the touch. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes before removing to a rack to cool.

Glaze

1 cup confectioners' sugar

1/3 cup maple syrup

1 teaspoon bourbon whiskey

Combine all glaze ingredients in a wide, shallow bowl.  Dredge warm donuts in glaze and set on a rack to dry.  Store in the 'fridge or the cold trunk of your vehicle.

Parting Shots

Maryland is #2. Fucking A.

http://www.philly.com/philly/living/20131204_Parade_Which_U_S__State_Swears_the_Most___The_Answer_Surprised_Us__.html

http://instagram.com/p/hiyEjmox_m/
Sums up my year.

http://supervegan.com/blog/wowing-my-doc-with-my-vegan-awesomeness/
Yes, becoming vegan is the only reason my total cholesterol dropped from 193 (age 19) to 169 (age 21) in two years. Lower cholesterol is another reason veganism OR A MORE PLANT-BASED DIET rocks. There is no need to go "whole hog" if your body just doesn't function well without animal products. Just don't be an ass about your stats.

Green smoothies are where it's at: pear, kale, ginger.

Fogged up the window while working out.

Crazy post-workout wrap: brown rice tortilla, red cabbage, coconut yoghurt, coconut peanut butter, beet-kraut slaw, and I think that's it. Very tasty with ginger tea.

Some ass-kicking vegan cheezecake. First time I've made berry cheezecake: raspberry swirled with blueberry. The crust is graham crackers and almonds. Recipe will be on the blog next week.