Chocolate Filled Bomboloni (Doughnuts)

Dear Fans of Hounds Who Cook,

We have tried something new and something fried with big success. It's Italian yet we've Belized it to be tropical and even Fabio - who keeps saying he's not much for sweets - loves it. Bomboloni. A doughnut filled with luscious cream (or jam).

We started with a recipe for the French Beignet which we could neither spell nor say so immediately developed it into Bomboloni - which is fun to say and has now become a household word. (Elias himself has begun reminding us of a little bomboloni due to his roundness of shape). We also made Frittelli out of the dough (adding rum and raisins and frying in little haphazard balls (fritters) and raining upon them with superfine sugar.) Both were highly successful among our small group of biased testers.

However, none really compared to "Bomboloni, Batch Two" which was the plain bomboloni made perfect with a chocolate cream filling. We all ate three or four. (Whereas a usual serving would be One.)

Here is our tropical version of Beignet-turned-Bomboloni with Chocolate filling. The signature mark of the Bomboloni (compared, say, to a Wisconsin bismark) is that the filling is inserted into the Top of the doughnut and overflows by one small dollop onto the outer top in a manner so as to entice eating.

Chocolate Filled Bomboloni

3/4 cup warm water
1/8 oz active dry yeast (1/2 pkg in the US; 1/3 pkg in Belize)
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1.75 oz coconut milk powder
1/2 cup water
1 egg
2 Tb. coconut oil
3-1/2 - 4 cups flour
Coconut Oil for deep frying
Sugar or powdered sugar for dusting OR
Chocolate Bomboloni Filling (below)

Stir yeast into 3/4 cup warm water with a teaspoon of the sugar and let stand til foamy - 5-10 min.

Combine sugar, salt, coconut milk powder, 1/2 cup water, egg and oil in mixer bowl.  Stir in yeast mixture and gradually add flour. It will be very sticky dough. Cover and refrigerate overnight. (Make chocolate filling recipe below and also chill overnight.)

Next day: Pour 3 inches of oil into a pot or fryer. Heat til just barely smoking and reduce heat slightly to keep at that point. Prepare two racks with a cookie sheet and/or paper towel beneath.

Remove dough from fridge and place on floured surface. Roll to 1/4 inch. Cut into 3-inch squares or into rounds. Drop three doughnuts into oil at a time. Turn after about 15 seconds for even raising. Then turn several more times while they fry until they are golden brown. Transfer from oil onto a cooking rack.

Either take superfine sugar and rain it down over the doughnuts on the rack or inject filling into the doughnuts while still warm (not hot). Insert filling into the side or - for the authentic Italian look, right into the top, leaving a dollop of filling top and center on the outside too.

Set filled doughnuts on second cooling rack.

Serve with espresso or cappuccino.


Chocolate Filling for Bomboloni
1/2 cup sugar
1 Tb. cornstarch
1/8 tsp salt
1 cup coconut milk (or 1.75 oz coconut milk powder + 1 cup water)
3 Tb. cocoa
1 Tb. coconut oil
1 egg yolk
1 tsp butter
1/2 tsp vanilla

Mix 1/2 cup sugar with 1 tablespoon cornstarch and 1/8 tsp salt in sauce pan. Mix in coconut milk, cocoa and oil with a whisk. Boil 1 minute.

Place egg yolk in small heat-proof bowl. While whisking the egg yolk, drizzle some of the pudding mixture from the sauce pan onto the yolk to blend - about 1/2 cup. Whisk yolk mixture back into the saucepan and boil 1 minute.

Remove from heat and whisk in butter and vanilla. Let cool. Then chill filling overnight. Inject cool filling into warm doughnuts.

Notes from Elias: While Guthrie does most of the culinary experimentation, I Elias am the foremost taste-tester. And while Guthrie has a finer and more discerning palate, I Elias am able to find good and appreciate something in nearly any food opportunity. Tonight our girl is Experimenting with a rum-and-raisin filling. Not what the American palate waters for, but in Belize rum-and-raisin is the  favorite flavor of ice cream. We think for Christmas Belizeans will love to have a rum-and-raisin filled Bomboloni. Wait and see.

Notes from Guthrie: The coconut oil in this recipe makes all the difference. Crispness, aroma, and even a day-after lusciousness that seem to come only with oil from the mighty coconut.

Notes from Guthre - the Day After: We thought we would try a rum-and-raisin filling but are here to testify that it was global disaster. The texture was of cornstarch, it was too thick in the end and overall a heavy experience. But, never-we-mind. We have excessive bananas to use up and are headed toward a Cranberry-Banana Bread on this Thanksgiving Day, 2013. 

~ Munavalgekook

Dear Fans of Hounds Who Cook,

We have been remiss in keeping you up-to-date on our culinary exploits. We are dogs of leisure in the jungle of Belize and find being on the computer distracts us from our rest and relaxation. However, Our Fabio went to Italy and left approximately 30 egg whites in the fridge for us to do with as we willed. (The egg whites are leftover from his gelato making.)

We did not make meringues and we did not make macaroons, we did not make egg white omelets and we did not make pancakes. No. This time we made Munavalgekook. We know! You've never heard of it, have you? It's from Estonia and it translates Egg White Cake and we think our girl's mother might call it Sponge Cake. It's delicious, keeps fresh for days, and stands alone without accoutrements. (Don't even think of frosting it, but a nice side of berries would be very pleasant.)

 Eli's Best Cake
(a.k.a. Munavalgekook)
6 oz. of egg white (5 or 6 eggs)
1 tsp vanilla (or we used vanilla bean scrapings)
250 grams white sugar
160 grams white flour
1-1/2 Tablespoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon baking powder
100 grams coconut oil

Beat the egg whites and vanilla with 2 Tablespoons of the sugar to stiff peaks. While the mixer is mixing (we don't imagine you are doing this freestyle with a whisk), in a separate bowl stir together the rest of the sugar, the flour, the cornstarch, and baking powder.

Sift the dry ingredients over the stiff whites and Carefully fold in with a long flat spoon. Add the oil and gently but completely fold in. Pour into a well-greased bundt pan (or a cast iron pan with a metal cup in the center like we used - we had to improvise!)

Bake at 180C or 350F for 30-40 minutes. Cake will be lightly browned and a toothpick should come out clean when inserted in the middle. Cool slightly before turning out of the pan. When cool, sift a few teaspoons of powdered sugar over the top for show, if desired.

Tip: Check your baking powder before you bake. It only lasts about 6 months - especially in the tropics - as it is so sensitive to humidity. Put 1/4 tsp. baking powder in a cup. Pour in a bit of boiling water. The powder should bubble up like crazy right away if it's good. If it's bad, like ours was, it will do nothing at all. That's the test. We went and bought fresh.

Notes from Guthrie: We experimented with adding 3/4 cup of pureed ripe banana into the recipe of two of the five cakes we made on Saturday. We thought this was an unmitigated disaster as they were our first cakes (after Friday's test cake) and we found out (the hard way) that the baking powder had expired in its can. It still had time on the label, but it was not puffing anything up anymore. (Then we learned about the test mentioned in the Tip above.) HOWEVER, we could not discard two whole cakes and took them to Fellowship Snack at church (as back up for the other Good Cakes) and they were eaten up and received possibly more compliments than Eli's Best Cake. They were very tasty but quite dense. We were informed that Belizeans like a very dense cake. We believe this means ours is an indestructible recipe. But we voted on what to call it and Eli's Best Cake overruled "Indestructible Cake." Enjoy!