The beignet is the king of decadent French pastry cuisine, and you deserve every bit! We added CMC to keep everything golden and beautiful, and to repel any excess oil that would otherwise creep in. Fried to perfection and dusted with powered sugar, every bite of these little powered sugar pillows will leave you asking why you never made them before!
Ingredients
- 550g (4 ½ cups plus 1 tbsp) Bread Flour
- 150g (½ cup plus 3 tbsp) Milk, Room Temperature
- 14g (1 Tbsp) Instaferm Gold
- 12.5g (2 ½ tsp) Salt
- 150g (3 each) Large Eggs
- 113g (1 stick) Butter, Room Temperature
- 113g (4 oz) Cream Cheese, Room Temperature
- 80g (¼ cup plus 1 tbsp + 1 tsp) Sugar
- 18g (2 tbsp) Diastatic Malt Powder
- 3g (1 ¼ tsp) Carboxy Methylcellulose (CMC)
- 10g (2 tsp) Vital Wheat Gluten
- 4000g (1 gallon) Neutral Flavored Oil for Frying
- Confectioners Sugar for Garnish
Equipment
- Mixer with Dough Hook Attachment
- Heavy Bottom Stock Pot (2 gallon minimum)
- Candy Thermometer
Timing
Active Time: 1 Hour 20 Minutes
Total Time: 20 Hours
Yield
24 Beignets
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Begin Mixing Ingredients
In the bowl of the stand mixer add the milk, eggs.
In a separate bowl dry mix together the bread flour, salt, sugar, diastatic malt powder, CMC, and vital wheat gluten.
Begin mixing the milk, eggs, and instaferm on low and add ½ of the flour mixture. Mix for 1 minute before adding the remaining flour mixture. Continue to mix until a rough dough is formed, about 2 minutes.
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Add Butter and Cream Cheese
Begin adding the butter and cream cheese in 1 tbsp increments. This should take about 5 minutes. It is fine if the butter or cream cheese is not fully mixed by this point.
Place the mixer on the lowest possible setting and mix for 20-25 minutes.
The dough should have cleaned the sides of the bowl during the mixing. It should also be smooth to the touch, not sticky.
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Proof and Flour-Dust Dough
Remove the dough from the mixing bowl and place it in a covered container and proof for 18 hours at room temperature (65°F)
Once proofed, Pre-heat a heavy bottom stock pot filled with oil to 350°F.
Gently dust a table with flour and remove the dough from the container. Do not punch the dough down at this point.
Dust the top of the dough with flour and as gently as possible roll the dough until it is about 1 ½ inches thick. Do not deflate the dough completely.
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Cut, Rest, and Fry Dough
Cut the dough into squares and dust off and excess flour.
Cover them with plastic and rest for 30 minutes before frying. Fry the beignets for about 2 minutes per side.
Cool the donuts on a wire rack until they are room temperature. Do not skip this step, attempting to dust the beignets while they are hot will only end in sadness.
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Garnish and Serve
Dust the beignets with confectioners sugar once cooled.
Serve or eat them the day of frying.
Summary
Recipe Name
Big and Beautiful Beignets
Author Name
Modernist Pantry
Published On
Preparation Time
Total Time
1 comment
January 12, 2022 9:18 am
love to bake!