Time To Make The Doughnuts: Crullers with Rum Glaze (Spritzkrapfen)
February 10, 2008 at 2:53 pm | Posted in breakfast things, events, other sweet, sweet things | 37 Comments
What time is it? It’s time to put on my disposable paper cap and make like Fred! Two of my favorite food bloggers, Peabody and Tartelette, have teamed up to host Time To Make The Doughnuts, and I couldn’t not participate. I must say, I love doughnuts but I rarely allow myself to have them because I can quickly spiral out of control. This is embarrassing, but if you have a box of Entenmann’s chocolate glazed things in the fridge (those MUST be eaten cold!) and invite me over, do not turn your back on me because I will sense their presence and they will magically disappear! And back when Krispy Kreme was just a southern thang, it was so fun to go to the big shop near Grandma W’s and watch as they plopped off the line and into the vat of fat! Oh, and have you ever had one from the Doughnut Plant? They are the schiznit!
I definitely go for cake-style doughnuts over yeast-raised; usually cinnamon-sprinkled or chocolate-frosted. But there is another type of doughnut that really makes my heart race (yes, this is probably actually because of sugar content)…glazed crullers. I love them, but I had never made them myself and had no idea how they were made either. So I decided to find out, and fry them up for Peabody and Helene.
Turns out they are just pâte à choux, the same dough you’d use for eclairs or creampuffs, fried and glazed. I found a recipe in the book Kaffeehaus by Rick Rodgers. They are a Viennese treat, properly called spritzkrapfen. As an aside, I drool over everything in this book. I went to Vienna, Budapest and Prague as part of a backpacking trip in college. It’s too bad that I didn’t know anything about anything back then, because I would have loved to experience the kaffeehaus atmposphere (and pastries!). I will have to go back sometime and do it right.
Back to the doughnuts…My crullers came out very homemade-looking (if not for the label, would you have mistaken them for onion rings in the photo??), but they were totally melt-in-your-mouth, and the rum glaze was sensational. They were easily the best crullers I’ve had…probably because they were so fresh, and of course dripping with rum. My brother had two suggestions for improvement–make them bigger (I couldn’t agree more) and make more of them (I only made three so as not to be piggy)!
Be sure to visit Peabody and Tartelette on February 15 to see a great round-up of fried and baked doughnut delights!
Crullers with Rum Glaze (Spritzkrapfen)– makes 14
adapted from Kaffeehaus by Rick Rodgers
Crullers
1 cup water
8 T (4 oz) unsalted butter, cubed
1 t sugar
pinch of salt
1 cup unbleached flour
4 large eggs (3 whole and 1 beaten), room temperature
Vegetable oil, for fryingRum Glaze
2 cups powdered sugar
2 T golden rum
1 T water, approximately
For the crullers:Combine the water, butter, sugar, and salt in a large saucepan and bring to a full boil over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally so the butter melts. Remove from the heat, add all the flour at once, and stir hard with a wooden spoon until all the flour is incorporated and it forms a ball. Return the pan medium-low heat and cook. Stir continuously to evaporate some of the moisture, until the dough films the bottom of the pan, about 90 seconds.
Scrape the mixture into a medium bowl. Using a handheld electric mixer (you could do this by hand or in a stand mixer), beat in the three whole eggs one at a time, making sure they are completely incorporated and stopping after each addition to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add as much of the fourth beaten egg as needed so the dough is thick and hold its shape, but falls slowly and steadily from the beaters when you lift it out of the bowl. It should be smooth and shiny.
Cut out fourteen 4-inch parchment squares and place a wire rack over a sheet pan for draining. Using a pastry bag fitted with an open star tip (Rodgers recommends a 9/16-inch-wide tip, like Ateco #825, but I’d go even a bit wider), pipe the dough into 3-inch circles onto the parchment squares.
Pour the vegetable oil into a large pot or Dutch oven to a depth of 3 inches and heat to 360°F. Working in batches, without crowding, place the dough circles (still on their papers) upside-down in the oil. After about 15 seconds, use tongs to pull off and discard the papers. Fry, turning once, until golden on both sides. Using a skimmer, transfer the cooked crullers to the rack to drain, and repeat for the next batch. Try to keep the oil at 360°F throughout.
For the rum glaze: Sift the powdered sugar into a medium bowl. Whisk in the rum and enough water to make a glaze the consistency of heavy cream. Dip each cruller upside-down in the glaze and place right side up on the rack to cool and set.
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Those just look amazing. If you have glazed doughnut holes anywhere in your house, don’t turn your back on me!
Comment by peabody— February 10, 2008 #
Okay can you tell I’m totally loving your blog?? These look amazing! I prefer the cakey doughnuts too and omg these crullers look so good. Now I want to make doughnuts too! And no when I saw the photo I didn’t think onion ring – mostly I was just drooling over the doughnut.
Comment by Ashley— February 10, 2008 #
Yum, they look great! They remind me of the doughnuts from Krispy creme – I’ll definitely have to make these!
Comment by Katie— February 10, 2008 #
Great minds think alike! I made crullers too! Yours look so good and I love the rum glaze!
Comment by Ivonne— February 11, 2008 #
Those look to die for. Love the rum glaze! Never realized a cruller was basic pate choux.
Comment by Courtney— February 11, 2008 #
Those look amazing. I love crullers but it never would have occurred to me to make them at home. I think I need to make these soon!
Comment by Karina— February 11, 2008 #
That glaze sounds and looks so good. 🙂 I have never made crullers before, but I see them in my near future!
Comment by Gigi— February 11, 2008 #
Thank you for leaving such a nice comment on my blog. This looks pretty amazing to me too! I like seeing that you took part in “Time to Make the Doughnuts”. I did too. I will be reading your blog from now on!
Comment by Aran— February 11, 2008 #
Oooohhhh, Arrrrgh . . .
Must. Have. Doughnut. NOW.
These look fantastic! Please give me a call next time you make some and I’ll come right over and share. Your brother and I might have to have a fight over the last one. : )
Love your blog. I’ll be visiting often.
Comment by Angie— February 11, 2008 #
You’re crullers look perfectly mouthwatering!
Comment by Chris— February 11, 2008 #
I’ve never made doughnuts – so I admire anyone who does! These look terrific!
Comment by aforkfulofspaghetti— February 11, 2008 #
They look fantastic. I’m sure they are delicious. It’s a pity I’m always too lazy to do them on my own. Great job.
Greeting from Poland
Comment by Joanna in the kitchen— February 11, 2008 #
Aah, I wish I was brave enough to try making doughnuts! These crullers look gorgeous (and no, not at all like onion rings!) ^__^
Comment by Indigo— February 12, 2008 #
These look great!! I would love a good homemade cruller right now!
Comment by Deborah— February 12, 2008 #
ONION RINGS?!? They look like the most beautiful crullers I’ve ever seen! Great job!
Comment by Irene— February 12, 2008 #
they look very very good 🙂
Comment by nysa— February 12, 2008 #
those look so good i can hardly stand it.
Comment by kate— February 12, 2008 #
Thanks for all the comments! They certainly were tasty, although I didn’t think they were so photogenic. In fact, yesterday I pulled down a second photo I had up that I just couldn’t stand to see!!
Comment by steph— February 12, 2008 #
Hi, I’m over here from Cream Puff’s blog…a fantastic home version that I’m about to try!
Comment by Peter— February 12, 2008 #
These look fantastic! It hadn’t occurred to me to make crullers, and now I wish that I had!
Comment by Madam Chow— February 13, 2008 #
Hi, this is my first time visiting your blog- it’s wondeful!
The donuts look amazing, I am definetely going to give these a go.
Comment by Katia— February 13, 2008 #
These are beautiful. I wouldn’t have thought of crullers for this event but they’re such a perfect addition — nicely done. 🙂
Comment by Laura Rebecca— February 13, 2008 #
I have never considered myself a donut person, but after reading about your crullers, I have clearly been missing out. These look nothing short of divine and I will be trying them soon!
Comment by T— February 14, 2008 #
I think they look delicious!
Comment by Kristen— February 14, 2008 #
I so loved glazed cruellers. These do not look like onion rings at all, they are fantastic.
Comment by Cheryl— February 16, 2008 #
These look incredibly tasty!!
Comment by Gretchen Noelle— February 17, 2008 #
those are my favorite doughnuts! 😀
Comment by howtoeatacupcake— February 17, 2008 #
These look lovely. Never knew doughnuts came like these. And onion rings, absolutely not!
Comment by Aparna— February 19, 2008 #
That looks sooooooooooooo GOOD!
Comment by Pixie— February 23, 2008 #
Inspired by your recipe, my husband just made some cruller wannabes. 😀
Your crullers look really good, almost like the ones we used to get from Tim Hortons.
Thank you for the recipe!
Comment by TBC— June 20, 2008 #
The glaze sounds fantastic. My plan for it won’t be for doughnuts though (although they look most deeelish). I make a simple chocolate fudge cake using 1/2 the water required, the other half using dark rum. Your rum glaze is what I’m going to try it on!
Thanks!
John
Comment by John Mohoff— July 27, 2009 #
I was just introduced to french crullers and am now a convert. How did you cut down the recipe to make three? Would love to know if it was a straightforward division or if you saved the dough for later. If I make 14 doughnuts my roommate might kill me.
Comment by Aria— July 11, 2011 #
I just scaled back the recipe. We all agreed I should have made 6 though!
Comment by steph (whisk/spoon)— July 12, 2011 #
Thanks for your reply! I have one more question. You recommended a wider pastry tip than the 9/16-inch Ateco #827. Would you say the 5/8-inch Ateco #828 is enough or should I consider the 11/16-inch Ateco #829?
Comment by Aria— July 12, 2011 #
Either one should work fine, I think.
Comment by steph (whisk/spoon)— July 12, 2011 #
I would love to add these to my ‘platter of good cheer’, which is an assortment of cookies, candy, nuts, etc…that I give as Christmas gifts. (Always a hit!)
But three of my platters will have to be shipped to the West Coast. (Yes, I’m on the East Coast)
Do you think these would hold up for the week they’ll be in transit? I was thinking of even putting them in a plastic candy type bag with a twist tie…
Thanks for your advice~
Comment by Angela— December 11, 2011 #
hi angela. since these are fried doughnuts, i don’t think they’d be good a week later (in fact, i think they’re really best within a few hours of making them). sorry about that.
Comment by steph (whisk/spoon)— December 12, 2011 #