Hello, World, and happy National Doughnut Day!
Indeed, I didn’t know about such a glorious day, but I was lucky to have some unpublished pictures. I haven’t made any donuts for 67 days and a couple of hours. Just saying :) I’m not going to be talking about these donuts any long because it’s the time for some new revelations.
It’s always interesting to me how people start cooking. In my case, everything seems to have started all of a sudden. At least I don’t remember any attempts to cook before that significant day.
It was the end of the 1890 1980th. My mom had her leg being seriously fractured, and even though she was already at home on the way to recovery, she was still seriously limited in her movement. My father, having been a captain and being in the seas up to 8 months every year, wasn’t at home those days.
I wasn’t required to make any food. It might not have been anticipated at all – I was still quite a small boy. I guess it just meant to happen. So, one day I made either pancakes or crepes – I don’t remember what was it exactly. They might have been something in between, though. Let’s say I cooked some batter on the skillet. Also, I made some very complicated soup. It was called “Chicken and Rice Soup”. And it was the instant one, from a package. It still required reading the instructions, measuring the water, and cooking it for a while. That was definitely the moment to be proud of.
I cannot say for the next 10 years or so I had been passionate about cooking. I just loved it and enjoyed cooking once in a while. Basically, I was interested in baking cookies, and usually they were savory, cheesy or something like that. Perhaps, the most sophisticated goods I made once were the eclairs, and surprisingly they turned great. Unfortunately, they got in the trash later because my father got angry with me (with almost no reason), grabbed the plate and throw it on the floor. Well, I don’t have a lot the memories of those years, but I do remember that story. To say I was frustrated – to say nothing. Perhaps it was so because I made them especially for the mom who had been in the business trip for 3 weeks and would come back the next day.
What I remember as well that we didn’t have a lot of cookbooks. Just a few. One of them was about fancy french desserts, with the beautiful pictures and the sophisticated names. The another one, published in the USSR, in the mid of the XX century, was quite an impressive size and in bad conditions. It was rather the encyclopedia, with the historical facts, nutrition info, and pictures of food factories. My favorite recipe from that book was…green peas sautéed in butter. I wasn’t the guy with a developed palate yet. Happy years:)
Indeed, I didn’t need to think about cooking to have food – I just loved to do that. My mom used to cook scrumptious meals. Since my family had the various ethnic roots, our meals were the quintessence of Russian, Ukrainian, Poland, Georgian, Jewish, and few more cuisines.
Many years later, when I was a student and then started to live separately, I needed to cook, but during those years I kinda lost my love for cooking. It turned to be the necessity.
However, everything changed in 2005 when I met one good guy who would later become my soul mate. It’s been said the way to man’s heart is through his stomach. Honestly, I have never believed in this statement – it sounds like too simple way. But I might or might not have tried this one. There are no specific biographical facts to prove that:) Let’s say I just wanted to pamper him…okay and perhaps impressed just a bit. Who wouldn’t?!:) Anyways, I was so proud to have been indulging him with my awesome meals until that embarrassing moment I realized I had been making a few dishes over and over. That was the time for a great change…
Stay tuned – that’s going to be another chapter.
What about you, folks? How did you start cooking?
Afterwards. To be honest, it’s difficult to connect this part of revelations to this particular recipe. I think that’s not the most important part of this post though. Or let’s say these donuts are something I wouldn’t have made being a boy. Enough.
Chocolate lavender Cake Donuts. Revelations, part 2
Ingredients
- Batter:
- 2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- pinch of salt
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 butter, melted
- 1 cup milk, 1-2% fat
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- soften butter or cooking spray, for tins
- Glaze:
- 1 cup (200 gr) chopped dark chocolate or chocolate chips
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 teaspoon or to taste lavender extract
- dry lavender, optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 420 degrees F (215 degrees C). Butter holes of donut tins and set aside (you will need one form for about 12 tins or two forms for 6 tins).
- In a large bowl, mix together first four ingredients.
- In a separate bowl, using a mixer or just a whisk, blend together the melted butter, sugar, oil, vanilla extract, for one minute. Add the milk.
- Stir the wet mixture in the dry ingredients and mix just to combine (don't overmix!).
- Spoon batter into the donut wells, filling them about 1/4 inch from the rim.
- Bake in the preheated oven 7-9 minutes. Let the donuts cool in the tin for a couple of minutes then transfer them to a wire rack and completely cool.
- To make the glaze, place the chocolate and butter in a small bowl and microwave, in 15-20-second intervals, stirring after each time, until melted. Stir in the lavender extract.
- Cover the donuts with the dip and sprinkle, if desired, with some lavender
Hi – I’m Ben, a blogger, recipe developer, and food photographer. I’m glad you’re here! I hope you will enjoy hundreds of delicious recipes and a pinch of havoc in the kitchen.
As usual, I am late to the doughnut party – but, nursing an addiction for chocolate, makes me wanna lick the screen – these look fabulous! And from one addict to another – Ben – after reading “I haven’t made any donuts for 67 days and a couple of hours” I think you need to come to chocoholics/doughnutoholics anon with me! Oh snap – we are in different States – well, just, send me these – stat!
I really liked reading about how you started cooking, but I was sad to read about the eclairs … that would have broken my heart. I was around 111/12 when I first made my family a spaghetti dinner, my dad took a first bite and I thought I saw him wince for a second, but he said instead that it was wonderful! Then I took a bite and almost spat it out – that stuff was so nasty! We ended up ordering pizza that day!
shashi at runninsrilankan recently posted…Bacon And Egg Potato Skins
Thanks Shashi! Sent! Your dad did everything right – as parents are supposed to do!
Ben Maclain|Havocinthekitchen recently posted…Mango, Papaya and Avocado Salad. Revelations, part 3.
I don’t even eat or like chocolate but I want like 5 of those sooooooo badly!
GiGi Eats recently posted…You Won’t Be Waffling Over This!
Oh, that sounds as a solid compliment! Thanks a lot!
Love how you paired lavender with chocolate! Genius (and sophisticated -lol)! I’m impressed with how long you have gone without making donuts, but national donut day thanks you for dusting off these photos and posting them! Still loving your revelation series! I got seriously into cooking in college (the first one), when I worked as a server at a high end restaurant to pay the bills. Thanks for the delicious donuts, Ben! Cheers!!
Cheyanne @ No Spoon Necessary recently posted…Thai Ginger Steak Noodle Salad
Yup, may favorite word – sophisticated! Should I use it more often?:) Thanks for sharing your story too!
My heart ached a little for the boy who made eclairs for his mom that ended up in the trash. These donuts look fantastic, and I love the lavender twist.
Thanks a lot, Thao!
This looks absolutely amazing!!! Lavender and chocolate go really well together!
Anne recently posted…The Best Blueberry Muffins
You’re so right – lavender and chocolate are the good friends! Thanks, Anne, for stopping by!
I think I have always wanted to cook, I liked watching my mother cooking and cooking and cooking again. The only thing I would like about Sunday school was that I knew that once that was finished a sumptuous lunch was waiting for me at home, and she never let me down on that.
If on the one hand I wanted to cook, on the other I practiced very little, my mum was so good that she would do everything, however she would always ask me to hang around to talk and to be the assistant chef. I was the king of Peeler, that was my real expertise.
The whole thing changed when at 18 yo I left my family to conquer the world!
My untie on the same day I left had given me a recipe book, worried that I would starve. I was kind of excited to have a recipe book. I was later disappointed when i realised this 300 pages brick had no pictures, not a single one! How could a student my age figure out how a dish would look like, without mamma around??…Well, this was the beginning. I wanted give that book some life !
Oh, thanks Emanuele for sharing these lovely stories! An illustrated book is just the crucial thing – how could any other book inspire anyone, right?!
These donuts are beautiful and I love your story. It’s funny, I grew up surrounded by Italian cooks but never really cooked seriously until I married. And when I made my first pot of sauce for hubby, I was hooked. I’ve taken classes and collected more cookbooks than almost anyone I know. I love it all! Thanks for sharing, Ben!
Oh, thanks very much for all your words and stopping by, Annie! I guess a lot of people start cooking when they met the right person.
Happy belated Donut Day Ben. I’m not huge on donuts but I’d gladly make an exception for these bad boys!
Mike@TheIronYou recently posted…Blueberry Avocado and Spinach Power Smoothie
Oh thanks, Mike. I’ve got your hint and send a few of these bad boys:)
Love these doughnuts, Ben! They look amazing! Also, I think I was just destined to be a food blogger. I didn’t know it at the time, though. My Mom was always baking up some sort of delicious cake or dessert, and so when I graduated college, I wanted to start making her recipes for myself. One thing led to another and here we are! Now I want to go start making this doughnut recipe for myself. Be back soon…with a doughnut! :-)
Sure, make some blackberry/lavender donuts…haha sorry for that:) Thanks for stopping by, David!
Happy belated National Doughnut Day! I wish I had one, two, oh heck a dozen of these beauties to celebrate with! That glaze is absolute perfection!
Sonali- The Foodie Physician recently posted…Cooking with Sienna: Strawberry Apple Compote
Thanks, Sonali! I’ll send you a few next National Doughnut Day!:)
Holy donut day, these chocolate beauties are calling my name!
Haha, thanks, Kevin – they appreciate these words!
Love this!I began cooking around 8 or 9 don’t remember, my sister and me used to do some cleaning every Saturday morning, my mother said that was the only way or raising real women. And the that Saturday I guess we were big enough to cook. So the first thing I did was a dessert call “amor con celos” “Love with jealousy” (that I hated) but my father loved, it was a sort of scramble eggs in sugar syrup. almost a flan but not quite. after that I have never stop loving to cook and being somehow related to food. I remember years after that pampering my friends with brownies and coconut flan. This year I will be 43 and I am still very much in love with cooking and food.
petitgourmetsd recently posted…Couscous Royale #weekdaySupper
Thanks, Gaila! Thank you for sharing your story – that’s really interesting!