And I think I hit pay dirt!  This the book and it’s cover:  crumb:  A Baking Book by Ruby Tandoh… It just so happens the cover featured donuts or doughnuts…and today is National Doughnut Day!!!  Make some! Eat some!

Those doughnuts…I simply had to make them.  We were at the shore this past weekend: the Jersey Shore.  We go to a little town called  Ocean Grove and have been going there for many years, we love the town’s quirks its Methodistic quaintness mixed with seediness from a slightly bygone era…. 

Even naked they look pretty good…I mean they are fried bits of brioche…what’s to not to like?

Our neighbors are our friends and there is a real community:  because we rented our house out for the winter we had a bit of a reunion weekend… Well, Sunday night we had a dinner…a giant salade Nicoise with baguette and french butter followed but custard filled doughnuts…(it’s a british book, I’m sticking with their spelling…)

What better excuse to have a crazy desert than the summer kick off…These are fun to make…I will admit right up front that me wielding a pastry bag is not a pretty sight…custard and jam were everywhere… i must practice!  Plus my custard was perhaps a bit runny…tasty but runny..regardless…they were a huge hit….

The dough is basically a rich brioche type of dough…it is lovely to the touch…silken almost.  I deviated from the book by using my mixer with the dough hook rather than kneading by hand…at the end I finished for a few minutes of hand kneading but honestly…it’s so much easier with the mixer….and if it’s easier and the results as good if not better then …go for it!  

Make these!  I’m going to make them again and again…

I don’t have a link to this exact recipe but I found this recipe from Ruby in the Guardian newspaper…it’s pretty close.  I also filled them with strawberry jam…this weekend i will try again and keep you updated.

Today I'm grateful for:

1. my kitten's safe return home. She went outside this morning when I opened the garage to go to work and didn't return home for almost 12 hours. There were several stressful, fearful, long hours of waiting but she came home on her own.

2. cozy pj's, even if they are old and a bit ratty.

3. all the people who turned out to learn about foster care.

4. cream filled donuts. I only ate half but it was really good.

5. friends who let me cry on their shoulder.

6. neighbors who stop to talk.