IDEAS IN FOOD: Curiosity Doughnuts

Curiosity Doughnuts Opening in Tyson's Corner, VA

It's official. Curiosity Doughnuts will be opening in the new food hall in the new Whole Foods Market in Tyson's Corner, VA on October 30, 2019. We're going to start with the doughnuts and, once we've settled in, we'll bring back the famous fried chicken sandwich. It's going to be awesome (and a little bit crazy). So mark your calendars and if you're in the area, come and see us at our first official spin off location.

Years Past

October 2, 2015

October 2, 2012

Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work

Maximum Flavor: Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook

Gluten Free Flour Power: Bringing Your Favorite Foods Back to the Table

Posted on October 02, 2019 at 05:09 PM in At the Table, Bakers Dozen, Balancing Tastes, Curiosity Doughnuts | Permalink | Comments (2)

The Question is the Constant

How do we improve? That is the constant question. We look at the elements of what we do and see how they perform. We adjust and tinker. We don't always know what needs improvement. It takes breaking what works to see opportunities to explore.

Years Past

September 30, 2018

September 30, 2017

September 30, 2016

September 30, 2015

September 30, 2014

September 30, 2013

September 30, 2012

September 30, 2011

September 30, 2010

September 30, 2009

September 30, 2008

September 30, 2007

September 30, 2006

September 30, 2005

Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work

Maximum Flavor: Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook

Gluten Free Flour Power: Bringing Your Favorite Foods Back to the Table

Posted on September 30, 2019 at 04:52 PM in Approach to Cooking, Balancing Tastes, CULINARY EVOLUTIONS, Curiosity Doughnuts, INSPIRATIONS | Permalink | Comments (0)

It Takes Time to Improve

In addition to time, it takes repetition and analysis. We are coming up on our fifth year of Curiosity Doughnuts. It is amazing to look back at where we started. Here are the first and second articles that dove down our rabbit hole. When we opened I believed we were amazing and we had put in the work. Now, if you take a look at our updated website for Curiosity Doughnuts you can see where we are today. What is exciting is that I was not really aware of our growth, development and improvement as it happened. But as I stepped back and looked at what we have created, I am thrilled with both where we started and how things have grown.

Years Past

September 25, 2018

September 25, 2017

September 25, 2016

September 25, 2015

September 25, 2014

September 25, 2013

September 25, 2012

September 25, 2011

September 25, 2010

September 25, 2009

September 25, 2008

September 25, 2007

September 25, 2006

September 25, 2005

Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work

Maximum Flavor: Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook

Gluten Free Flour Power: Bringing Your Favorite Foods Back to the Table

Posted on September 25, 2019 at 04:30 PM in Approach to Cooking, Balancing Tastes, CULINARY EVOLUTIONS, Curiosity Doughnuts, INSPIRATIONS | Permalink | Comments (0)

Flavor Twists

We have blended chocolate and vanilla in our marble doughnuts. We have fused chocolate and vanilla together in our black and white doughnuts. We have even layered chocolate and vanilla for our half and half doughnuts. Chocolate and vanilla are readily available and easy to pair with each other. There visual opposites make striking combinations. Today we began looking at flavor combinations with a twist. We rolled our pumpkin and lemon doughs together and shaped them like our twist doughnuts. The fried finished doughnut does not show the two doughs clearly. When we bite into the doughnut we get the surprise. The lemon and the pumpkin doughs both stand out and up. The lemon compliments the pumpkin adding brightness. The pumpkin adds richness and fullness to the pumpkin. The twist is best when the flavors stand on there own while creating an exceptional experience eaten together.

Years Past

September 20, 2018

September 20, 2017

September 20, 2016

September 20, 2015

September 20, 2014

September 20, 2013

September 20, 2012

September 20, 2011

September 20, 2010

September 20, 2009

September 20, 2008

September 20, 2007

September 20, 2006

September 20, 2005

Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work

Maximum Flavor: Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook

Gluten Free Flour Power: Bringing Your Favorite Foods Back to the Table

Posted on September 20, 2019 at 04:17 PM in Approach to Cooking, Balancing Tastes, CULINARY EVOLUTIONS, Curiosity Doughnuts | Permalink | Comments (0)

Sugared Pumpkin

Our pumpkin doughnut is built on our new fashioned doughnut model. Originally I thought our cinnamon cardamom sugar would be the right coating for this. But the flavor of the doughnut, with its distinct spices, did not need additional aromatics. I landed on simple granulated sugar. The interior pumpkin flavor shines and the sugar adds a delicate sweetness and a crunchy texture. It is not what I planned to do. It is what the doughnut needed.

Years Past

September 15, 2018

September 15, 2017

September 15, 2016

September 15, 2015

September 15, 2014

September 15, 2013

September 15, 2012

September 15, 2011

September 15, 2010

September 15, 2009

September 15, 2008

September 15, 2007

September 15, 2006

September 15, 2005

Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work

Maximum Flavor: Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook

Gluten Free Flour Power: Bringing Your Favorite Foods Back to the Table

Posted on September 15, 2019 at 04:43 PM in Approach to Cooking, Balancing Tastes, CULINARY EVOLUTIONS, Curiosity Doughnuts | Permalink | Comments (0)

Pumpkin (Doughnut) Season

I have pushed back against the idea of pumpkin doughnuts for as long as we have had a doughnut shop. This week I had an epiphany. Suddenly the idea that we shouldn't have a pumpkin doughnut on principle seemed as silly as my refusal to serve lobster when we ran a restaurant in Maine. In both cases I stonewalled the item because "everyone does it." I decided that there was no need for me to do it too. As I eventually learned with the lobster situation, it is not whether or not someone else is doing it that matters. It is whether or not we can do it better. Now we are diving into the pumpkin patch with this perspective to motivate us.

Years Past

September 12, 2018

September 12, 2017

September 12, 2016

September 12, 2015

September 12, 2014

September 12, 2013

September 12, 2012

September 12, 2011

September 12, 2010

September 12, 2009

September 12, 2008

September 12, 2007

September 12, 2006

September 12, 2005

Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work

Maximum Flavor: Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook

Gluten Free Flour Power: Bringing Your Favorite Foods Back to the Table

Posted on September 12, 2019 at 05:51 PM in Approach to Cooking, Balancing Tastes, CULINARY EVOLUTIONS, Curiosity Doughnuts, INSPIRATIONS | Permalink | Comments (1)

A Return to the Roll

We have returned to the roll. We are looking to bring our fried chicken sandwich back from its prolonged vacation. Before it returns we need to go through the elements and make sure they are all crushworthy. My first obstacle is the roll. It is easier and most likely smarter to buy rolls. Thankfully I'm allergic to easy and smart. I started with our own potato roll recipe. Then I dismantled it and started building it back together. The first version was a first draft. It was an idea that needed a lot of work. I made some dramatic changes in hydration that created a gorgeous looking second draft. Looks can be deceiving. I enjoyed the chew the roll had. Everyone else who ate the roll was not into the chew as a feature. Now I need to take these observations into consideration and begin tinkering with a third draft. How long will it take to get the rolls right? Time, tests and tinkering will tell.

Years Past

September 9, 2018

September 9, 2017

September 9, 2016

September 9, 2015

September 9, 2014

September 9, 2013

September 9, 2012

September 9, 2011

September 9, 2010

September 9, 2009

September 9, 2008

September 9, 2007

September 9, 2006

September 9, 2005

Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work

Maximum Flavor: Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook

Gluten Free Flour Power: Bringing Your Favorite Foods Back to the Table

Posted on September 09, 2019 at 06:32 PM in Approach to Cooking, Balancing Tastes, CULINARY EVOLUTIONS, Curiosity Doughnuts, INSPIRATIONS | Permalink | Comments (0)

Also Known As

Doughnut kouign amann. We use the trimmings from our meltaway doughnuts to make these magnificent marvels. The finished doughnut has a crisp crackling exterior. The interior is full of buttery, sweet and decadent layers of dough. We named them AKA's for also known as. It made sense to me.

Years Past

August 23, 2015

August 23, 2012

August 23, 2005

Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work

Maximum Flavor: Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook

Gluten Free Flour Power: Bringing Your Favorite Foods Back to the Table

Posted on August 23, 2019 at 05:06 PM in Approach to Cooking, Balancing Tastes, CULINARY EVOLUTIONS, Curiosity Doughnuts | Permalink | Comments (0)

Ingredient Exchange

I like recipes that allow me to customize the results. We start with a solid foundation. Then we explore the potential of interchangeable parts. Today we changed the sugar in our shortbread from powdered sugar to maple. The maple sugar shortbread is rich and decadent. It has a caramelized undertone and has a luxurious feel. It is a shortbread that makes you pay attention to it. The plan was to make a maple shortbread for maple crumbs for doughnuts. The result has me rethinking the flavor potential of sugar.

Years Past

August 20, 2015

August 20, 2012

Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work

Maximum Flavor: Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook

Gluten Free Flour Power: Bringing Your Favorite Foods Back to the Table

Posted on August 20, 2019 at 06:25 PM in Approach to Cooking, Balancing Tastes, CULINARY EVOLUTIONS, Curiosity Doughnuts | Permalink | Comments (1)

Springers

I have taken the name and adapted it to an idea. The caramel apples were delicious. But they did not allow the doughnuts or the apples to shine to my satisfaction. Today we formed strips of our meltaway dough on skewers and fried them. They have a spring-like appearance. They cook up fantastically crisp with a bit of a chew. They are both fun to eat and deliciously satisfying.

Years Past

August 8, 2015

Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work

Maximum Flavor: Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook

Gluten Free Flour Power: Bringing Your Favorite Foods Back to the Table

Posted on August 08, 2019 at 06:04 PM in Approach to Cooking, Balancing Tastes, CULINARY EVOLUTIONS, Curiosity Doughnuts | Permalink | Comments (1)

Adventures in Doughnutland

We now have 11 base doughs and 10 additional doughnuts created using the trimmings. You never what you'll find when you come to Doughnutland.

Years Past

August 4, 2015

August 4, 2012

Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work

Maximum Flavor: Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook

Gluten Free Flour Power: Bringing Your Favorite Foods Back to the Table

Posted on August 04, 2019 at 05:56 PM in Approach to Cooking, Balancing Tastes, Curiosity Doughnuts, INSPIRATIONS | Permalink | Comments (1)

Pistachio Biscotti

Because when the cookie jar is full ideas can come from everywhere.

Years Past

August 3, 2015

August 3, 2012

Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work

Maximum Flavor: Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook

Gluten Free Flour Power: Bringing Your Favorite Foods Back to the Table

Posted on August 03, 2019 at 04:38 PM in Approach to Cooking, Balancing Tastes, CULINARY EVOLUTIONS, Curiosity Doughnuts | Permalink | Comments (0)

Strawberry Skewers

We are able to make most of our doughnut holes into doughnut clusters. But a few of our doughs resist becoming a cluster. We have stopped making clusters with our not quite vegan dough and instead make additional beignets. I tried making clusters with our meltaway dough but the layers in the dough caused the doughnut clusters to splay apart when we fried them. The doughnut holes were delicious bites. But the clusters were not well formed. As I thought about the holes I wondered if we could skewer them and fry them together as one long doughnut on a stick. Today we put the idea into action. The holes held together beautifully on the skewer and created a doughnut kabob. We coated them with our vanilla-buttermik glaze and dusted them with strawberry crumbs. Eating the doughnut skewer was as much fun as making it.

Years Past

August 2, 2015

August 2, 2012

Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work

Maximum Flavor: Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook

Gluten Free Flour Power: Bringing Your Favorite Foods Back to the Table

Posted on August 02, 2019 at 05:09 PM in Approach to Cooking, Balancing Tastes, CULINARY EVOLUTIONS, Curiosity Doughnuts | Permalink | Comments (0)

Caramel Apples

We take the cuttings from the first roll of our meltaway doughnuts and then we roll them into a new dough. We take that and cut it into into squares, scoring the tops to encourage an opening when they are fried. Once cooked, we tuck dried apples cooked in caramel sauce into the crevices. The result is an apple fritter-esque experience. This new addition to our entourage is called a springer.

Years Past

August 1, 2015

August 1, 2012

August 1, 2009

Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work

Maximum Flavor: Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook

Gluten Free Flour Power: Bringing Your Favorite Foods Back to the Table

Posted on August 01, 2019 at 06:09 PM in Approach to Cooking, Balancing Tastes, CULINARY EVOLUTIONS, Curiosity Doughnuts | Permalink | Comments (1)

Coffee and Tea

We have had coffee and tea glazes in use at the shop for some time. But it has taken until the other day to create coffee and tea crumbs. We combine instant coffee with shortbread and white chocolate for the coffee crumbs. We grind earl grey tea with shortbread and white chocolate for the tea crumbs. These crumbs allow us to add these flavors as accents to our other glazes. The flavor of coffee and tea can compliment instead of take the main focus.

Years Past

July 30, 2015

July 30, 2012

Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work

Maximum Flavor: Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook

Gluten Free Flour Power: Bringing Your Favorite Foods Back to the Table

Posted on July 30, 2019 at 05:09 PM in Approach to Cooking, Balancing Tastes, CULINARY EVOLUTIONS, Curiosity Doughnuts | Permalink | Comments (0)

The New Meltaway

I grew up eating meltaway coffee cakes. The meltaway was the signal that it was a holiday, a special occasion, or (in later years) that my parents were coming to visit. The meltaway was a coffee cake, rich with butter and made, I believe, with a laminated dough. The only major doughnut dough we had not explored in Doughnutland was a laminated dough. I knew deep fried croissants were delicious, after first trying one when Francisco Migoya did it years ago. As a doughnut maker I was definitely not going to make the hybrid doughnut-croissant dough that Dominique Ansel created and made famous with his Cronut. I needed to make something of my own.

It has taken four years of doughnut making to become comfortable enough in my own skin to explore a laminated a.k.a. croissant doughnut. I started with a basic croissant dough and started tinkering. I increased the butter and added sugar and vanilla. The result was a laminated doughnut, rich, decadent buttery and, surprisingly, at first bite it was the spitting image in both flavor and texture of the meltaway. This was an unplanned effect and a very welcome discovery. My first, second and third bites reinforced my confidence in the creation. It looks like a doughnut, it has layers like a Cronut, and it eats like a meltaway. I could not be happier with dough number 11 in the line up at Curiosity Doughnuts.

In the immortal words of Nigel Tufnel from Spinal Tap, "These go to eleven."

Years Past

July 25, 2015

July 25, 2012

Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work

Maximum Flavor: Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook

Gluten Free Flour Power: Bringing Your Favorite Foods Back to the Table

Posted on July 25, 2019 at 05:23 PM in Approach to Cooking, At the Table, Bakers Dozen, Balancing Tastes, Curiosity Doughnuts | Permalink | Comments (2)

Dough-Notebook

Sometimes what you need falls into your shopping cart.

Years Past

July 23, 2015

July 23, 2012

Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work

Maximum Flavor: Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook

Gluten Free Flour Power: Bringing Your Favorite Foods Back to the Table

Posted on July 23, 2019 at 06:14 PM in Approach to Cooking, Balancing Tastes, CULINARY EVOLUTIONS, Curiosity Doughnuts | Permalink | Comments (0)

Marshmallow Madness

I have been working on bringing homemade marshmallows back to the shop. In the past we have used a variety of recipes, most recently cribbing the work of Stella Parks, from her incredible book Brave Tart: Iconic American Desserts. I started there again, but wanted a recipe with fewer ingredients. I did not want to have to buy corn syrup in order to make marshmallows. I draw the line in the sand in many weird places. My first version was a crystallized mess. As was my second, third and fourth versions. Finally I realized I needed a bit of invert sugar, corn syrup, to prevent crystallization. Since I was not planning on using corn syrup I figured I could invert the sugar by adding acid to the sugar syrup. Version 6 was a failure as the excessive amount of acid I added interfered with the gelling of the marshmallow. I made sour marshmallow fluff. (Perhaps an idea for the future.) In version 7 I cut the amount of acid I used, citric, and achieved marvelously light and delicate marshmallows. Tinkering is a process.

Years Past

July 22, 2015

July 22, 2012

Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work

Maximum Flavor: Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook

Gluten Free Flour Power: Bringing Your Favorite Foods Back to the Table

Posted on July 22, 2019 at 06:25 PM in Approach to Cooking, Balancing Tastes, CULINARY EVOLUTIONS, Curiosity Doughnuts | Permalink | Comments (1)

Strawberry Custard

The summer heat has focused our attention on our filled doughnuts. Cynthia mentioned that the Boston Cream was not selling like it used to. She wondered about a fruit flavored custard to take the doughnut in a new direction. Her initial idea was raspberry. Ryan heard strawberry. The result was delicious. We modified our custard recipe. Instead of dairy we used strawberry and passion fruit purees. We kept the rest of the recipe the same. We The lightened the cooled custard with sweetened whipped cream to make an ethereal filling. We topped the doughnuts with our vanilla buttermilk glaze and roasted doughnut crumbs. We topped the strawberry custard with a sprinkle of strawberry crumbs. Summers heat showed us the path to take to beat it.

Years Past

July 21, 2015

July 21, 2012

Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work

Maximum Flavor: Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook

Gluten Free Flour Power: Bringing Your Favorite Foods Back to the Table

Posted on July 21, 2019 at 05:43 PM in Approach to Cooking, Balancing Tastes, CULINARY EVOLUTIONS, Curiosity Doughnuts | Permalink | Comments (0)

Doughnuts Now On Saturdays at Princeton

We are thrilled to announce that beginning this weekend (July 13) we are adding Saturdays to our doughnut pop up schedule in the Whole Foods Market in Princeton, NJ. Doughnuts will be available from 9:15am until we sell out, generally by 1:00pm. Come and get your doughnuts!

Years Past

July 11, 2015

July 11, 2012

Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work

Maximum Flavor: Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook

Gluten Free Flour Power: Bringing Your Favorite Foods Back to the Table

Posted on July 11, 2019 at 04:53 PM in Approach to Cooking, Curiosity Doughnuts | Permalink | Comments (0)

Granola Butter

A jar of granola butter led to unleashing a heck of a lot of ideas on butters from cereal to ice cream cone. These butters are not a long stretch from our cookie magic shell and doughnut magic shell. Sometimes it's all in how you look at ingredients and what you are willing to do with them.

Years Past

July 6, 2012

July 6, 2010

July 6, 2005

Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work

Maximum Flavor: Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook

Gluten Free Flour Power: Bringing Your Favorite Foods Back to the Table

Posted on July 06, 2019 at 04:43 PM in CULINARY EVOLUTIONS, Curiosity Doughnuts, INSPIRATIONS | Permalink | Comments (0)

Doughnut Parts and Pieces

chocolate yeasted, cruller, vanilla yeasted

sourdough, spiral, not quite vegan

new fashioned apple cider, potato, angel

not pictured: supercake

We produce 10 different doughnut doughs daily. Nine are pictured. The cuttings and leftovers allow us to produce nine spare parts doughnuts, eight of them are pictured. The variety allows me to harness my crazy. It allows me, on any given day, to have the doughnut I am in the mood for.

angel pillow, cider stick, potato twist

cluster, thumbprint

doughnut bread pudding, beignets, marble

not pictured: sourdough bar

Years Past

June 28, 2015

June 28, 2012

June 28, 2005

Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work

Maximum Flavor: Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook

Gluten Free Flour Power: Bringing Your Favorite Foods Back to the Table

Posted on June 28, 2019 at 05:39 PM in Approach to Cooking, Balancing Tastes, CULINARY EVOLUTIONS, Curiosity Doughnuts | Permalink | Comments (0)

Strawberry Lemonade Twists

It's officially summer. That means we are busy transforming iconic summer inspirations into doughnuts. This week we coated our potato twists with lemon glaze and strawberry crumbs.

(Potato chips washed down with strawberry lemonade.)

Years Past

June 22, 2015

June 22, 2012

June 22, 2006

June 22, 2005

Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work

Maximum Flavor: Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook

Gluten Free Flour Power: Bringing Your Favorite Foods Back to the Table

Posted on June 22, 2019 at 06:00 PM in Approach to Cooking, Balancing Tastes, CULINARY EVOLUTIONS, Curiosity Doughnuts | Permalink | Comments (0)

Phyllo Crusted Doughnut

I like doughnut fusion. From our initial successes with the marble doughnut and into the doughnut clusters we have seen that doughnuts have the ability to bond together and to other ingredients. Our Tiger Crunch was created because we knew we could stick cornflakes to a doughnut. I have tried sticking other ingredients to the outside of our doughnuts but have not been enamored with any of the results, besides the cornflakes. Today we started to entertain my newest fascination, phyllo crusting. Years ago we crusted artichokes with smoked phyllo dough. In our current playground I started crusting the doughnuts with ribbons of phyllo and topping them with our honeycomb crumbs. The doughnut and its crust will continue to evolve.

Years Pasts

June 21, 2015

June 21, 2012

June 21, 2006

June 21, 2005

Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work

Maximum Flavor: Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook

Gluten Free Flour Power: Bringing Your Favorite Foods Back to the Table

Posted on June 21, 2019 at 05:17 PM in Approach to Cooking, Balancing Tastes, CULINARY EVOLUTIONS, Curiosity Doughnuts, INSPIRATIONS | Permalink | Comments (0)

Preparing the Twist

We roll our potato dough into a rectangle. We cut it into 1 inch wide pieces. We cut each piece 7/8 down the middle. From here we can fold the dough over itself and create the classic twist. This process appears simple. It is. But it took us too long to finally get here. I even went so far as to buy a twist cutter before we got to where we are today.

Years Past

June 15, 2015

June 15, 2012

June 15, 2006

June 15, 2005

Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work

Maximum Flavor: Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook

Gluten Free Flour Power: Bringing Your Favorite Foods Back to the Table

Posted on June 15, 2019 at 05:52 PM in Approach to Cooking, Balancing Tastes, CULINARY EVOLUTIONS, Curiosity Doughnuts | Permalink | Comments (0)

Banana Yuzu Crackling Clusters

Today we put our doughnut poprocks into play. The poprocks have a toasted doughnut flavor, reminiscent of nilla wafers. Cynthia connected the dots and said we should do a banana cream pie style doughnut. We coated our cluster doughnuts with our Banana-Yuzu glaze and sprinkled the doughnut poprocks on top. The doughnut coating adds flavor and protects the candy from crackling until you bite into the doughnut. The doughnut delivers a smile with the first bite and is crushworthy to the last.

Years Past

June 13, 2015

June 13, 2012

June 13, 2008

June 13, 2005

Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work

Maximum Flavor: Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook

Gluten Free Flour Power: Bringing Your Favorite Foods Back to the Table

Posted on June 13, 2019 at 05:09 PM in Approach to Cooking, Balancing Tastes, CULINARY EVOLUTIONS, Curiosity Doughnuts | Permalink | Comments (0)

Doughnut Poprocks

I coated blank poprocks with our doughnut magic shell. The magic shell coats the rocks and keeps moisture at bay. This is both a doughnut and frozen custard topping.

Years Past

Posted on June 11, 2019 at 05:45 PM in Approach to Cooking, Balancing Tastes, CULINARY EVOLUTIONS, Curiosity Doughnuts | Permalink | Comments (0)

Angel Pillows

I have spent a fair amount of time tinkering with the trimmings from our Angel Doughnuts. The babka was delicious but frying it destroyed our oil. We started rolling the trimmings into large squares, then rolling them around cannoli tubes and frying them. They were named "Holey Rollers," thanks to a bit of help on Instagram. The second day we fried them one roller came unwound and fried flat. I glazed it and topped it with crumbs and brought it to Aki. I explained what our process was. She loved the un-roller and asked why we didn't just fry them as squares and be done. I did not have a clever response. The next time we were making the Holey Rollers I decided to try Aki's idea. The Angel dough puffed into giant pillows. We glazed them and topped them with a secondary fruit glaze and doughnut crumbs. The giant angel dough pillows were incredible. They were also insanely delicious. The simplest solution is often the smartest. So holey rollers are on hold and Angel Pillows are in the rotation.

Years Past

June 10, 2015

June 10, 2012

Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work

Maximum Flavor: Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook

Gluten Free Flour Power: Bringing Your Favorite Foods Back to the Table

Posted on June 10, 2019 at 06:24 PM in Approach to Cooking, Balancing Tastes, CULINARY EVOLUTIONS, Curiosity Doughnuts | Permalink | Comments (0)

Sourdough Bars

Today we started serving our sourdough bars. To make them we fold and then roll the trimmings from the sourdough doughnuts into a wide strip. We cut the strip into bars. We are still working on the bar sizing. Today they were small so in doughnutland 2 bars equaled a doughnut. We topped them with maplecomb crumbs and chocolate chip shortbread, allowing guests to mix and match flavors.

Years Past

June 9, 2015

June 9, 2012

June 9, 2005

Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work

Maximum Flavor: Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook

Gluten Free Flour Power: Bringing Your Favorite Foods Back to the Table

Posted on June 09, 2019 at 05:17 PM in Approach to Cooking, Balancing Tastes, CULINARY EVOLUTIONS, Curiosity Doughnuts | Permalink | Comments (0)

Earl Grey with Strawberry Shortbread Crumbs

A year ago we introduced the Earl Grey Glazed Doughnut. When I was tasting the glaze the other day it reminded me of Fruity Pebbles. We recently brought strawberry crumbs back into the rotation. The two pieces clicked. The strawberry would amplify the fruity cereal notes of the Earl Grey. Today we unleashed the not Fruity Pebble doughnut into the world.

Years Past

June 8, 2015

June 8, 2012

June 8, 2006

June 8, 2005

Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work

Maximum Flavor: Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook

Gluten Free Flour Power: Bringing Your Favorite Foods Back to the Table

Posted on June 08, 2019 at 04:52 PM in Approach to Cooking, Balancing Tastes, CULINARY EVOLUTIONS, Curiosity Doughnuts | Permalink | Comments (0)

Chocolate Chip Shortbread

Chocolate chip shortbread took on a life of its own in the digital culinary landscape. I became intrigued by the idea because it became part of the food worlds pop culture. We made our chocolate chip shortbread by combining pulverized masa shortbread with 1/3 the amount of ground dark chocolate. The crumbs have an intense toasty, nutty chocolatey flavor. They are crunchy and decadent. They are destined for doughnuts.

Years Past

June 7, 2015

June 7, 2012

June 7, 2005

Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work

Maximum Flavor: Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook

Gluten Free Flour Power: Bringing Your Favorite Foods Back to the Table

Posted on June 07, 2019 at 03:12 PM in Balancing Tastes, Curiosity Doughnuts, INSPIRATIONS | Permalink | Comments (0)

Masa Shortbread

I have been looking for a corn-centric topping for doughnutland. We have made a popcorn glaze and a corn chip and white chocolate crumble. Both were exciting, delicious and fun in the moment. But they didn't stick. I'm not sure if it was convincing customers that corn belongs on a doughnut or that the actual audience was too small. In reflection I wonder if we could have improved the delivery. Today we adapted Aki's home version to make masa shortbread. The masa is nutty, toasty and corny. As a shortbread it is delicious. At first I thought we should add more masa to the recipe because in doughnutland we make our toppings with a combination of white chocolate and crumbs. But then it occurred to me. We don't have to make every crumb with white chocolate. Pulverized masa shortbread is the simplest answer and most flavor forward. The answer is to eliminate the white chocolate for this topping. The shortbread stands on its own.

Years Past

June 6, 2015

June 6, 2012

June 6, 2008

June 6, 2007

June 6, 2006

June 6, 2005

Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work

Maximum Flavor: Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook

Gluten Free Flour Power: Bringing Your Favorite Foods Back to the Table

Posted on June 06, 2019 at 06:50 PM in Approach to Cooking, Balancing Tastes, CULINARY EVOLUTIONS, Curiosity Doughnuts | Permalink | Comments (0)

Maplecomb

The honeycomb crumbs sparked my need for maplecomb crumbs. We substituted maple syrup for honey in our honeycomb recipe. The candy foamed and aerated. I took the delicate crunchy sweet and pulverized it with white chocolate and vanilla shortbread. The result was a toasty, malty, maple crumb with a hint or caramelized pretzel flavor. Today we used the crumbs on some of our sourdough-nuts. The two played very well together.

Years Past

May 30 2018

May 30, 2017

May 30, 2016

May 30, 2015

May 30, 2014

May 30, 2013

May 30, 2012

May 30, 2005

Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work

Maximum Flavor: Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook

Gluten Free Flour Power: Bringing Your Favorite Foods Back to the Table

Posted on May 30, 2019 at 05:31 PM in Approach to Cooking, Balancing Tastes, CULINARY EVOLUTIONS, Curiosity Doughnuts, INSPIRATIONS | Permalink | Comments (0)

Doughnut Transport

Today I had to get doughnuts from A to B. A courier was required. I imagined a minivan or something gas fueled to transport the 20 plus dozen doughnuts. When a gentleman dressed like a bike courier showed up I visibly stuttered. I asked him if he was ok transporting the doughnuts. He confidently replied, "I do this for a living." Lots of people do lots of things for a living. But his confidence was soothing. I let him do his job as I had done mine in the making of the doughnuts. I met him over at the venue where I was doing our doughnut presentation. He arrived as pictured. The doughnuts traveled well and the pizza boxes certainly provided support a traditional doughnut box would not have.

Years Past

May 22, 2018

May 22, 2017

May 22, 2016

May 22, 2015

May 22, 2012

May 22, 2005

Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work

Maximum Flavor: Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook

Gluten Free Flour Power: Bringing Your Favorite Foods Back to the Table

Posted on May 22, 2019 at 01:27 PM in Curiosity Doughnuts, INSPIRATIONS | Permalink | Comments (0)

Sourdough-Nuts

When we wrote Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work we had no vision of having a doughnut shop. Fast forward 10 years and it seemed only appropriate to revisit the Sourdough Doughnut recipe to integrate into the line up at Curiosity Doughnuts. Like the original recipe, our retooled formulation, relies on a commercial yeast assist to leaven the doughnuts. Hopefully as this new starter gains strength and life we will be able to dial back the additional yeast. For now the doughnut is light with a sourdough chew. It is our most robust doughnut. It will be fun to explore its place among our daily doughs.

Years Past

May 21, 2018

May 21, 2017

May 21, 2016

May 21, 2015

May 21, 2012

May 21, 2005

Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work

Maximum Flavor: Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook

Gluten Free Flour Power: Bringing Your Favorite Foods Back to the Table

Posted on May 21, 2019 at 10:22 PM in Approach to Cooking, Bakers Dozen, CULINARY EVOLUTIONS, Curiosity Doughnuts | Permalink | Comments (0)

Angel Biscuit Babka

We layer the cuttings of our Angel biscuits and roll them into a sheet. We tri-fold the sheet and let the dough rest overnight. We roll the dough into a sheet, cover it with chocolate crumbs and and roll it into a log. We cut the log almost entirely in half and then twist the two pieces together. We roll the dough into a roulade and refrigerate it overnight. We unwrap the dough and slice it into babka biscuits. We let the dough rise at room temperature for 30 minutes and then fry the pieces. The result is the babka biscuit as a doughnut. It is moist, buttery, delicately crispy and piqued with chocolate. The trimmings have never tasted so good.

Years Past

May 16, 2018

May 16, 2017

May 16, 2016

May 16, 2015

May 16, 2012

May 16, 2009

May 16, 2005

Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work

Maximum Flavor: Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook

Gluten Free Flour Power: Bringing Your Favorite Foods Back to the Table

Posted on May 16, 2019 at 03:07 PM in Approach to Cooking, Balancing Tastes, CULINARY EVOLUTIONS, Curiosity Doughnuts | Permalink | Comments (0)

Doughnut Gooey Butter Cake v2

I tinker a lot. Today we put our new flexipans to work, making our newest version of our gooey doughnut butter cake. I pulled out some sugar and added buttermilk in its place. The confection is delicious. And it is sweet. Is a doughnut dessert that screams for a cup of coffee and a lake view. If you don't have a lake view the coffee and the cake will suffice.

Years Past

May 11, 2018

May 11, 2017

May 11, 2016

May 11, 2015

May 11, 2012

May 11, 2005

Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work

Maximum Flavor: Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook

Gluten Free Flour Power: Bringing Your Favorite Foods Back to the Table

Posted on May 11, 2019 at 07:15 PM in Approach to Cooking, Balancing Tastes, CULINARY EVOLUTIONS, Curiosity Doughnuts | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Right Pan for the Job

I have been looking to make our doughnut gooey butter cake in individual forms. I finally found the right flexipan at JB Prince. The mold is a 4 inches in diameter and 3/4 of an inch deep. It looks to be the perfect size for us to produce the decadent confection. Years Past

May 8, 2018

May 8, 2017

May 8, 2016

May 8, 2015

May 8, 2012

May 8, 2007

May 8, 2005

Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work

Maximum Flavor: Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook

Gluten Free Flour Power: Bringing Your Favorite Foods Back to the Table

Posted on May 08, 2019 at 05:30 PM in Approach to Cooking, Balancing Tastes, CULINARY EVOLUTIONS, Curiosity Doughnuts | Permalink | Comments (0)

Doughnut Magic Shell

We started with our cookie magic shell as the model. Instead of cookies I used slow roasted day old doughnuts. The result was, as hoped, an intense fluid doughnut. I dipped a few strawberries in the mixture to see how it coated and set up.

Strawberries coated in doughnuts are delicious. The goal was not to be able to coat strawberries, but the potential is exciting. Doughnut magic shell is destined for the return of our frozen custard. In the short term, to balance my impatience, I have a few other ideas in the works to get it into peoples hands and mouths.

Years Past

May 6, 2018

May 6, 2017

May 6, 2016

May 6, 2015

May 6, 2012

May 6, 2010

May 6, 2005

Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work

Maximum Flavor: Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook

Gluten Free Flour Power: Bringing Your Favorite Foods Back to the Table

Posted on May 06, 2019 at 05:14 PM in Approach to Cooking, Balancing Tastes, CULINARY EVOLUTIONS, Curiosity Doughnuts | Permalink | Comments (0)

Angel Doughnuts and Honeycomb Crumbs

The pieces have come together. It took the iconic combination to allow us to create our own iconic doughnut creation. The Angel Doughnut is caramelized and lightly crisp on the outside. The interior is buttery and fluffy. The crumbs are honey and butter in sprinkle form. I'm sure we will develop a few more combinations with this doughnut base. But for today we are happily indulging in the results of tinkering.

Years Past

May 5, 2016

May 5, 2012

May 5, 2005

Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work

Maximum Flavor: Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook

Gluten Free Flour Power: Bringing Your Favorite Foods Back to the Table

Posted on May 05, 2019 at 06:12 PM in Approach to Cooking, Balancing Tastes, CULINARY EVOLUTIONS, Curiosity Doughnuts | Permalink | Comments (0)

Honeycomb Crumbs

Last year we explored setting honeycomb in white chocolate. The light airy comb was surrounded by white chocolate. It looked like nougat. We ended up chopping the blocks into pieces to sprinkle on doughnuts. The introduction of the Angel Doughnut reawakened my interest in honey as a doughnut topping. We pondered honey glaze and honey butter. It took me longer than I care to say to come back around to honeycomb. In practice the honeycomb-white chocolate was not functional. But if we processed the mixture, or the idea of the mixture, further and included shortbread we might be able to create an intensely flavorful and easily sprinkled crumb.

I combined equal parts honeycomb, white chocolate and shortbread in the food processor. I added 0.3% salt and pulverized the mixture into a fine crumb. The result was better than I hoped for. The honey flavor remained intense and was supported by the white chocolate and shortbread. While the crumb was designed for the Angel Doughnut, I believe it will find many new homes in doughnutland.

Years Past

May 4, 2018

May 4, 2017

May 4, 2016

May 4, 2015

May 4, 2012

May 4, 2005

Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work

Maximum Flavor: Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook

Gluten Free Flour Power: Bringing Your Favorite Foods Back to the Table

Posted on May 04, 2019 at 05:46 PM in Approach to Cooking, Balancing Tastes, CULINARY EVOLUTIONS, Curiosity Doughnuts | Permalink | Comments (0)

Biscuit Beignets

When making doughnuts there are always trimmings. We fold the angel biscuit pieces together to roll and cut them into beignets. Biscuit beignets may be better than our originals. Hopefully we can get them paired with some fried chicken soon.

Years Past

May 2, 2018

May 2, 2017

May 2, 2016

May 2, 2015

May 2, 2014

May 2, 2013

May 2, 2012

May 2, 2005

Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work

Maximum Flavor: Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook

Gluten Free Flour Power: Bringing Your Favorite Foods Back to the Table

Posted on May 02, 2019 at 03:58 PM in Approach to Cooking, Balancing Tastes, CULINARY EVOLUTIONS, Curiosity Doughnuts | Permalink | Comments (0)

Dogma Doughuts

When we began tinkering with angel biscuits for doughnutland I wanted to find a distinct name to differentiate the doughnut. Sure, Angel biscuits is distinctive. But biscuits at a doughnut shop? I was stuck on the angel. Angel quickly led me to pop culture and the Kevin Smith film Dogma. I am always up for an alliteration. I thought who wouldn't become hooked on the name dogma doughnuts. I ran my story by a few colleagues. The quick consensus was who the hell would get my connectivity created concoction. Call them Angel doughnuts and be done. The name dogma doughnuts didn't last long. But the story was well worth the mental meandering.

Years Past

May 1, 2018

May 1, 2017

May 1, 2016

May 1, 2015

May 1, 2012

May 1, 2006

May 1, 2005

Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work

Maximum Flavor: Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook

Gluten Free Flour Power: Bringing Your Favorite Foods Back to the Table

Posted on May 01, 2019 at 03:39 PM in Approach to Cooking, Balancing Tastes, CULINARY EVOLUTIONS, Curiosity Doughnuts | Permalink | Comments (0)

Angel Biscuits

Angel biscuits have been on my to do list for years. I finally made the time to begin tinkering with them. What has interested me is that angel biscuits are leavened with baking powder and soda as well as with yeast. The potential for flavor development in the biscuit excites me. I also like the idea of adding layers to the leavened biscuit. If the tinkering progresses in the direction I am hoping, I look forward to seeing how Angels like being deep fried.

Years Past

April 30, 2012

April 30, 2005

Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work

Maximum Flavor: Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook

Gluten Free Flour Power: Bringing Your Favorite Foods Back to the Table

Posted on April 30, 2019 at 03:39 PM in Approach to Cooking, Balancing Tastes, CULINARY EVOLUTIONS, Curiosity Doughnuts | Permalink | Comments (1)

Boston Cream Returns

It took way longer than I thought. We use our thumbprint style doughnut as the shell. We dress the shell with our vanilla-buttermilk glaze and a coating of chocolate glaze. We sprinkle our white chocolate pretzel crumbs over the top. The filling has evolved. Now we make a rich custard and lighten it with whipped cream. The filling crests the top of the doughnut, revealing a glimpse of the decadent indulgence.

Years Past

April 29, 2018

April 29, 2017

April 29, 2016

April 29, 2015

April 29, 2012

April 29, 2007

April 29, 2005

Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work

Maximum Flavor: Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook

Gluten Free Flour Power: Bringing Your Favorite Foods Back to the Table

Posted on April 29, 2019 at 04:27 PM in Approach to Cooking, Balancing Tastes, CULINARY EVOLUTIONS, Curiosity Doughnuts | Permalink | Comments (0)

Vanilla and Chocolate Shortbread

While we still use roasted doughnuts for there own doughnut crumb, my shortbread fetish has bubbled over into doughnutland. We now use a base vanilla and chocolate shortbread for many of our other crumb toppings for the doughnuts. The shortbread is decadent and crunchy. It is flavorful canvas.

Years Past

April 28, 2018

April 28, 2017

April 28, 2016

April 28, 2015

April 28, 2012

April 28, 2005

Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work

Maximum Flavor: Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook

Gluten Free Flour Power: Bringing Your Favorite Foods Back to the Table

Posted on April 28, 2019 at 04:46 PM in Approach to Cooking, Balancing Tastes, Curiosity Doughnuts | Permalink | Comments (2)

Draft Day Doughnuts 2019

The only way to really celebrate the official beginning of football season is with doughnuts. Draft day doughnuts are our own special holiday.

Years Past

April 25, 2018

April 25, 2017

April 25, 2016

April 25, 2015

April 25, 2014

April 25, 2013

April 25, 2012

April 25, 2011

April 25, 2008

Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work

Maximum Flavor: Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook

Gluten Free Flour Power: Bringing Your Favorite Foods Back to the Table

Posted on April 25, 2019 at 07:21 AM in Approach to Cooking, Balancing Tastes, Curiosity Doughnuts, INSPIRATIONS | Permalink | Comments (0)

Lemon Filled v1

We have occasionally served a filled doughnut. We have always added the filling to the doughnut, like most doughnut shops, after the frying. I am fixated on changing that. I want to fry a filled doughnut. Today we accomplished that. We filled the doughnut with lemon custard and closed it like a calzone or an empanada. We discovered that frying a filled doughnut takes a much longer time to cook the interior dough. The long fry time gives me some hesitation. It adds an element of inefficiency to my already inefficient doughnut chaos. But the result is delicious. We shall continue to tinker with and produce small amounts at the shop. As we practice our process, hopefully we will gain some efficiency.

Years Past

April 4, 2015

April 4 2012

April 4, 2005

Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work

Maximum Flavor: Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook

Gluten Free Flour Power: Bringing Your Favorite Foods Back to the Table

Posted on April 04, 2019 at 06:58 PM in Approach to Cooking, Balancing Tastes, CULINARY EVOLUTIONS, Curiosity Doughnuts | Permalink | Comments (1)

Whole Egg Custard

An egg white is 87% water. That's a lot. So when I see recipes that use only egg yolks and then add additional water or perhaps liquid dairy, I quickly began making rough calculated adjustments. Today we were playing with the lemon custard from our friend Stella's book. She uses yolks and then adds water. I treated whites as pure water and adjusted her recipe to accommodate my changes. The custard cooked up beautifully and no whites were wasted. (In her recipe she uses her whites for the meringue in her lemon meringue pie. I did not need to make meringue. I needed a decadent lemon pie filling.)

Next time you contemplate making a custard try using the whole egg.

Years Past

April 3, 2018

April 3, 2017

April 3, 2016

April 3, 2015

April 3, 2012

April 3, 2005

Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work

Maximum Flavor: Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook

Gluten Free Flour Power: Bringing Your Favorite Foods Back to the Table

Posted on April 03, 2019 at 06:02 PM in Approach to Cooking, Balancing Tastes, CULINARY EVOLUTIONS, Curiosity Doughnuts | Permalink | Comments (0)

Spiralize

The spiral doughnuts have been, like everything we do, a work in progress. The idea for turning our no-knead danish dough into a doughnut was sparked by the Caddy Shack line, "a doughnut without a hole is a danish." They are a result of three important driving forces: inspiration, paying attention to our observations, and doing the work.

Years Past

April 1, 2015

April 1, 2012