Name: Beignets - Extravagance House
Prep time: 25 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 165 min
Ingredients: 180 ml water; 7 g dried yeast (25 fresh yeast); 1/2 tsp soda bicarbonate; 30 g butter; 60 ml milk or buttermilk; 50 g sugar; 1 egg; 480 g self-rising flour (or 380 g self-rising flour, 100 g rye flour); 1 tbsp vanilla essence (optional); 1 l frying oil; 300 g powdered sugar; 50 g cornstarch

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Beignets - Extravagance House

Originally from France, these square donuts are a tradition in New Orleans, a tradition kept by Café du Monde.

Predominantly, for Louisiana are the cajun (urban) and creole (rural) food, a surprising mix of cultures.

They are amazing while hot served with coffee or chickory coffee.

Course Tags Breakfast, Desert, Snack

Cuisine Tags American, Cajun and Creole Food

Prep Time 25 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Total Time 2 hours 45 minutes

Servings 4

Extravagance House

Ingredients

For the beignets

180 ml water
7 g dried yeast (25 fresh yeast)
1/2 tsp soda bicarbonate
30 g butter
60 ml milk or buttermilk
50 g sugar
1 egg
480 g self-rising flour (or 380 g self-rising flour, 100 g rye flour)
1 tbsp vanilla essence optional
1 l frying oil

For serving

300 g powdered sugar
50 g cornstarch

Instructions

Measure the ingredients. Heat some water.
Sift the flour and mix with the salt and soda bicarbonate.
Mix the yeast with half of the sugar and add the warm water (test on the inside of your arm to make sure that you are not going to inactivate the yeast). Mix until yeast is dissolved.
Beat the butter with the rest of the sugar. Add the water and vanilla over the water and yeast mixture, and pour in the middle f the flour (make a whole in the flour first). Mix with a bit of flour.
Add the beaten egg and mix some more.
Add the butter and continue to mix, then knead for 5-10 minutes or until you obtain an elastic dough, a bit sticky.
Grease the bowl and the dough with some oil. Cover and let rise for 2 hours, in a warm place, or overnight at room temperature.
Heat the oil.
The dough is going to double in volume. Knead the dough again before rolling on a surface dusted with flour.
Roll out the dough to obtain a 0.5 cm thick sheet and cut in squares.
Fry in hot oil until golden brown.
Remove in a bowl and cover to keep them hot.
Mix the sugar and cornstarch, place into a casserole, add few beignets, put the lid on, and shake.
Serve in portions of 3, on a sugar bed, with café au lait (chicory coffee with milk) or your favorite coffee.

Enjoy!

Notes

In the morning, in the French Quarter, at Café du Monde, in New Orleans, on Decatur Street (the first coffee shop) is a queue that makes you think, especially during weekends.

If you want to wait, you will wait about 20 minutes. The queue above is to eat on the terrace.

If you want to order takeaway, they have o register behind the terrace, or you can go to Café du Monde at Riverwalk on Canal Street corner with Convention Center. The view is not the same, but from the terrace here, you can see The Mississippi River and The Crescent Bridge and you can take a sneak peek to see how beignets are made.

I tried beignets at Café du Monde and Café Beignet (just because you get to enter through The Musical Legends Park). The ones from Café du Monde were the best.