Doughnuts – sprinkled or not – are a common offering at pop-up apartment cafés, which are trending on social media.Julie Van Rosendaal/The Globe and Mail
This year, I’ve been fascinated to watch young people transform their apartments into elaborate cafés as a way to gather with friends on a weekend morning.
It’s a trend that appears to be popping up on social media: The host sometimes chooses a theme, such as summer flowers, puts coffee on, perhaps flavoured with syrups, and everyone brings something home-baked, potluck-style.
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Presentation is key in the transformation of condo to café. Brown butcher paper is often used to feature a hand-written menu on the wall, and rolled out over countertops to create a tempting display, with each item lined up as if it was on offer in a bakery. Some go a step further with printed stickers for to-go coffee cups. No dining table is required – everyone sits where they can find a spot, as they might in a small café – on couches, at kitchen tables, standing on the balcony. It feels like stepping into an episode of Friends.
Takeout boxes take care of the surplus pastries and everyone goes home feeling as if they’ve had the best going-out-for-coffee experience without spending too much. Perhaps best of all, there’s no pressure for the host to cook beyond what they’ve baked beforehand – no co-ordinating dishes and getting them to the table while they’re still warm. A collaborative effort takes the pressure off everyone and makes it more affordable to have people over.
A common offering at pop-up apartment cafés are doughnuts of some kind; sometimes the kind with holes, sometimes filled and often flavoured to fit the theme. A classic pairing with coffee, they’re simple to make in about an inch and a half of oil in a wide, heavy pot, or even a high-sided skillet.
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They can be customized any number of ways including adding finely grated citrus zest, cardamom, Earl Grey tea or elderflower sugar or syrup. You could make filled doughnuts by cutting rounds without a hole, frying as instructed and once cooled, piping them full of jam, cream, custard or anything you like. The dough also makes perfect mini-doughnuts – use a shot glass to cut them, and a chopstick or straw to make the hole, stretching it out a bit with your finger. Toss them in cinnamon sugar when they’re fresh out of the oil, and for an added touch, serve them in small paper bags.
Glazed Doughnuts (with or without sprinkles)
This dough can be made the night before and refrigerated overnight to slow the rise; take it out in the morning to come to room temperature while you put the coffee on. The oil can be used for frying again, or cooled and used in baked goods or for cooking. If you have some left over that you’d like to dispose of, cool it completely and transfer to a compostable bag to put directly in your compost bin.
Doughnuts:
- 1 cup milk (any kind), warmed to just above body temperature
- 2 tsp active dry or instant yeast
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup butter, softened
- 1 large egg
- 3 1/4 to 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp salt
- Canola or other neutral vegetable oil, for frying
Glaze:
- 2 cups icing sugar
- 1/4 cup butter, melted
- 2 to 4 tbsp milk or cream
- 1/4 tsp vanilla, maple or other extract
- Sprinkles (optional)
Put the warm milk in a large bowl and sprinkle in the yeast and a pinch of the sugar. Let the mixture stand for a few minutes, until it gets foamy. Add the rest of the sugar along with the butter, egg, 3 1/4 cups of the flour and salt, and stir until the dough comes together.
Knead by hand or with the dough attachment of your stand mixer until it’s smooth and elastic. The dough should be tacky, but not overly sticky – if it’s too sticky, add about 1/4 cup more flour. Cover the bowl with a tea towel and let rise for an hour, until it doubles in size.
Doughnuts can be customized any number of ways, including by adding citrus zest or cardamom.Julie Van Rosendaal/The Globe and Mail
Take out the dough and roll or pat it out on a lightly floured surface to about 1/2-inch thick. Cut out the doughnuts using a doughnut cutter, ring cutter or the rim of a glass. Then, cut a hole in the middle with a smaller tool such as a clean, empty tomato paste can or a shot glass.
Heat about 1 1/2 inches of oil in a wide, heavy pot set over medium-high heat until hot, but not smoking. A scrap of dough should sizzle when you lower it in and if you have a thermometer, aim for about 375 F. Cook a few doughnuts at a time, gently flipping until deep golden brown on both sides. Using a slotted spoon, transfer to a paper towel-lined plate to cool. Cook the doughnut holes, too, if you like.
Set a wire rack over a baking sheet and place the doughnuts on top. To make the glaze, whisk together the icing sugar, melted butter and enough milk or cream to make a pourable glaze. Stir in the vanilla and dip the tops of the doughnuts into the glaze, or drizzle it over them. Decorate with sprinkles, if you like, before the glaze sets.
Makes about a dozen doughnuts, plus holes and scraps.
