Top Pot Hand-Forged Doughnuts - Mark Klebeck [9]
The riskiest part of frying doughnuts is actually frying the holes, whose round shapes cause the oil to squirt up right at eye level. For safety, place the holes on a metal slotted spoon or mesh strainer, and gently lower them into the oil. If you must use your hands, deposit them into the oil thin side first, like putting a coin into a machine, because they’ll splash less that way.
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Disposing of Oil
When used doughnut-frying oil is cool, strain it, pour it into a sealable container, and then take it to a nearby restaurant that accepts used oil, or call your local waste management company for tips. (We send our oil to a company that recycles it into biofuel.) You can also save cooled, strained oil in the refrigerator for reuse for up to two weeks.
ICING AND GLAZING TIPS
An icing is a thick, almost spreadable doughnut topper that sits on top of the doughnut. It is always applied after doughnuts have cooled.
A glaze is a thin coating, applied when the doughnut is hot, that completely covers all of a doughnut’s cracks and crevices.
Here are some tips for working with these two sweet coatings. In addition to the icings and glazes provided with the doughnut recipes, a separate chapter at the end of the book gives recipes, as well as topping ideas, that you can use to create your own doughnut combinations.
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The Golden Rule of Icing and Glazing
For glazing, work while the doughnuts are hot and the glaze is warm; for icing, the doughnuts should be completely cool but the icing still warm. Note that small batches of our icings and glazes will cover a dozen doughnuts only if used at the appropriate temperature.
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Using Agar
At Top Pot, all our icings and glazes use powdered agar, a stabilizer derived from seaweed that makes the icing firm up so that the doughnuts are much less fragile. It also prevents the weeping that can occur when the moisture of the doughnut seeps into the icing. (You can find online sources for agar in the RESOURCES chapter. For our own icing, we make a syrup using the agar, which melts into water to form a clear, slightly viscous mixture. But because the agar sets up almost immediately when it cools, we have to keep the icing warm while we use it. We use giant steam tables for this; at home, you can rewarm your icing before using it by setting it over a pan filled with 1 in/2.5 cm of barely simmering water, stirring frequently until the icing can be stirred easily.
If you’re a science type, it might be useful to know that agar firms up at approximately 88°F/35°C, but once it has set, it does not melt below 136°F/85°C—so you’ll have to get it good and hot to melt it once it’s firm.
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Making Icings and Glazes Ahead of Time
If you’re making a simple icing or glaze (one without agar) ahead of time, cover the surface directly with plastic wrap/cling film until ready to use, and stir vigorously before using. You can make them while you make the doughnut dough, but it’s best to use them the same day they’re made. Reheating them, per the instructions above, always makes application easier.
Do not make icings or glazes with agar ahead of time.
Coloring
Icings and glazes can be tinted any color; simply add a drop or two of food coloring while mixing. Remember, you can always add more color, but it’s hard to take it out.
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Dipping
Top Pot’s bakers apply glazes and icings by dropping a doughnut into the bowl of glaze or icing from about 6 in/15 cm above the surface—this coats just the right portion of the doughnut—then removing it with their hands, allowing a bit of the excess to drip back into the bowl. They then transfer the doughnut immediately to a cooling rack, and allow the glaze or icing to run down the sides of the doughnut naturally.
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Flavoring
Icings and glazes are an excellent outlet for kitchen creativity. They can be flavored with virtually any extract, but start sparingly—some flavors go a long way. Be careful when adding more than a few drops of any liquid, because the mixture of liquid and confectioners’/icing sugar is a delicate