Who Does Not Love Bacon?

Ok, if you are vegetarian, this isn’t gonna fly, but for the rest of us, the combination of smokey, salty bacon and sweet maple syrup is great cause for celebration. The recipe we are about to present is from an article in Zoomers Magazine.  Caplansky’s Deli in Toronto is where we first tasted the Maple Beef-Bacon Donut. There were tears of joy and silence at the table. Caplansky’s also has a food truck in the city now, so if making them yourself is not something you’d attempt, just go down to College St and indulge the need.

Harry has become quite the baker in the past year and when he said he was going to make these glorious little tributes to pig and tree I was in. First, let me say that pork is my favorite meat of all.  So to combine it with dessert is sheer genius in my books.

You might think that a deep fried ball of dough loaded with bacon would be a heavy object, but please allow me to say these are very light in texture and flavor. They are also very simple to make. The thing that we don’t like is the smell of the deep fryer, so we decided to make them Al Fresco.   I covered the patio table with newspaper and we fried outside. Clean up took less than 30 seconds, almost the time it took to eat three donuts!!!

The Recipe is as follows:

Thank-you to Caplansky’s Deli for generously posting their signature dessert for all to enjoy.

• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1/4 cup melted butter
• 2 large eggs
• 1 egg yolk
• 2 1/4 cups flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 Tbsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp grated nutmeg
• 1 cup buttermilk (see Cook’s tip below)
• 3/4 cup Bacon of your choice. Minced and lightly fried. Drain on paper towel.
• Icing sugar to sprinkle on top
• Real Maple syrup to pour over
• Canola or peanut oil for frying.

Beat sugar and melted butter in a mixing bowl until fluffy. Add eggs and beat to incorporate.

In a large bowl, measure the dry ingredients, then add in the sugar, butter and egg mixture. Pour in the buttermilk and add the bacon crumble. Mix well and refrigerate for at least one hour.

Heat oil to 350 degrees in a deep fryer or a deep saucepan. Using a medium ice-cream scoop or two tablespoons, drop the batter into the hot oil and cook until they are a rich golden brown. Turn them in the oil as needed to brown both sides. They only take a few minutes. Cook only 6 donuts at a time to help keep the oil hot throughout the frying.

Makes about 30-40 donuts.

Cooks Tip:

To make Buttermilk, add 2 tsp. of lemon juice or white vinegar to milk and allow to thicken for 5 minutes. The addition of the acidic milk helps make the batter lighter.

Caution:

You can fry in as little as 3 inches of oil if you use a very deep pot. Never leave hot oil unattended. Set pan aside to cool completely before returning the oil back to the bottle.

The batter took about 15 minutes to make. The frying takes just 3-4 minutes per batch. The pleasure lasts forever!

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