Ricotta-Almond Doughnuts with Caramel Dipping Sauce

I’ve always had a warm place in my heart for donuts (or is it spelled ‘doughnuts’? – more on that later). And I especially love Krispy Kreme donuts. As a kid running errands with my mother, there would be the occasional Krispy Kreme store sighting. If we were lucky, we’d come across one that was just finishing a fresh batch. The warm scent of the bread would wind its way from the store, through the air, across the street and into our car. Often, we would make a B-line for the store – the errand would have to wait.

Sometimes we get to the donuts while they were still a bit warm and the glaze would stick to your fingers like glue. As a child, I would look with pity on the adults rushing to the bathroom to wash their hands when they were done – they were missing half the fun. The whole point of holding warm, sticky glazed donuts is that you get to lick the glaze off of your fingers when you are done…one finger at a time. Adults. Ugh. What were they thinking?

So, with doughnuts having such a special place in my heart, it’s no wonder that I have never tried to make them at home. Why ruin a good thing? I’ve tasted too many dense homemade ‘donuts’ with a texture that resembled a round pound cake with a hole punched in the middle to risk soiling something that I held in such high regard.

But something happened this weekend. When I came across a doughnut recipe in the new Williams-Sonoma cookbook, Cooking for Friends, I was intrigued – a doughnut with ricotta cheese! I realized that by design, these doughnuts would be a little more dense than the donuts that I grew up with but I was feeling adventurous and decided, “What the hell. Give it a try.”

In the cookbook, the doughnuts were paired with three dipping sauces: caramel, dark and white chocolate sauces. The caramel sauce was calling my name.

Now, I just had to put a little Ceramic Canvas addition on it and we were in business. I wanted to add a nutty flavor (to round out the caramel sauce), so I incorporated grounded almonds. Then I got to cooking.

The verdict? Two thumbs up! The doughnuts are not the same as the Krispy Kreme of my childhood but they are still oh so delicious. And the almonds offer a nice nutty flavor that works well with the caramel sauce.

Oh yeah, donut versus doughnut. My understanding is that ‘donut’ is an American spelling referring to the yeasty, ring-shaped variety, and ‘doughnut’ is a European/Australian spelling more often referring to the balls (or as we say in the States, ‘donut holes’) – like the ones in this recipe. If there are any donuts/doughnuts historians out there, please feel free to expand and/or correct me in the comment section.

Enjoy.

RICOTTA-ALMOND DOUGHNUTS WITH CARMEL DIPPING SAUCE

Adapted from Cooking for Friends (by Alison Attenborough, Jamie Kimm)

Canola Oil for deep-frying
¾ cup all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp grated lemon zest
3 tsp grounded almonds
1 cup whole-milk ricotta cheese
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 tbl granulated sugar
1 ½ tsp pure vanilla extract
Powdered sugar for dusting

In a large, heavy saucepan, pour oil to a depth of 1 ½ inches and heat to 370˚ on a deep frying thermometer.

Meanwhile, in a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, lemon zest, salt and grounded almonds. In a large bowl, whisk together ricotta, eggs, granulated sugar and vanilla. Add flour mixture to ricotta mixture and whisk until well blended.

Working in batches, gently drop level tablespoonfuls of batter into the hot oil and fry, turning occasionally, until golden, about 3 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer to paper towels to drain.

Dust with powered sugar and serve with dipping sauce.

Makes about 20 doughnuts

CARAMEL SAUCE

½ cup granulated sugar
1 tbl of butter, diced
¼ cup heavy cream

Put sugar in a small heavy saucepan and add enough water just to cover sugar (it will resemble wet sand). Place over medium-high heat and cook, without stirring, but occasionally swirling the pan to ensure even cooking, until mixture starts to bubble and edges begin to turn amber, about 7-10 minutes. Watching carefully to prevent overcooking, continue cooking until mixture turns a deep amber, 3-5 minutes more. Remove from heat and very carefully add butter (it may spatter). Carefully add cream and swirl pan until evenly mixed.

Use at once, or cover and refrigerate until ready to use. Warm gently on the stove top if reheating is needed.

Makes about ¾ cup

Tagged as: Caramel, Dessert, Donuts, Doughnuts