Beignets - a study in procrastination

   

Beignets, pronounced BEN-YAYS, are little French doughnuts or fritters made from choux pastry that are deep-fried and come with a variety of sweet or savoury fillings.

I tend to try to stay away from deep-fried foods for a number of reasons however these little nuggets are worth being a little naughty for once in a while.

So it was, on a rainy Sunday afternoon, I was faced with a choice: study or make beignets. Being the dedicate student I am, it wasn't a hard decision. I studied... for a whole 15 minutes until I had worked up such an appetite that the only responsible thing to do was make beignets.

   

Sugar & Cinnamon Beignets with Chocolate Sauce

Choux Pastry

3/4 cup of sifted unbleached flour
1/3 cup unsalted butter
225 ml of warm water
3 large eggs, beaten
4 cups of sunflower oil (excellent when frying at high temperatures)
1 tsp of ground cinnamon for coating
1 cup of fine sugar for coating

Chocolate Sauce

1/2 cup of good quality semi-sweet chocolate chips
200 ml of whipping cream

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 100 degrees.
2. Add the chocolate chips and cream to a small pot and sit over a low heat until the chocolate melts. Keep stirring until the sauce is smooth.
3. Keep the sauce covered and warm on a very low heat while preparing the beignets.
4. In a large pot, melt the butter on a low heat and add the warm water. Stir well
5. Next, mix in the flour and beat vigorously.
6. Beat until the pastry leaves the sides of the pan. Remove the pan from the heat and let the pastry cool slightly for a couple of minutes.
7. Add the eggs slowly to the pastry and keep beating on a medium speed until smooth. The pastry mixture will end up looking like liquidy scrambled eggs, well mine did anyway and this was as smooth as I could get it.
8. Next, heat the oil on a high heat in a large heavy-based pot. Test it with a small piece of bread to ensure the oil is ready. The bread will turn a golden colour.
9. Once the oil is hot enough, gently add 4-5 heaped teaspoons of the choux batter into the oil. Make sure the balls don't stick together when fying.
10. Fry the batter balls for about 4-5 minutes to ensure that they are cooked throughout. Lower the heat if it looks like the oil is getting too hot.
11. Once the beignets are ready, remove them from the oil using a slotted spoon, drain them on paper towels for about 20 seconds, then place them on a lined baking tray in the oven until you have finished frying the rest of the batter.
12. Once this process is done, mix together the sugar and cinnamon in a shallow dish and gently coat the beignets in batches.
13. You are almost done...arrange the coated beignets on a plate and drizzle with the warm chocolate sauce.

C'est delicieux! These measurements would have served 4 people but between the two of us, we managed to eat every last morsel.   

Comments

[Patricia Scarpin]

We have a sort of beignets here in Brazil, we call them "sonhos" (which means "dreams"). But they don't come drizzled with this sinful chocolate sauce, I want some now! :)

[Bri]

Yum! Those sound divine! I've always wanted to try beignets. Yours look especially good with cinnamon and drizzled chocolate.

[brilynn]

I've been wanting to make these for a long time, but the deep frying always scares me off...

[Jessica]

Hi...found this post on Tastespotting. I've always wanted to try making beignets (I've never eaten one--isn't that sad?). Thanks for the yummy recipe!

[Tartelette]

Deep fried choux pastry...oh man! Heaven!!! Beautiful pics!