I would like to thank Louisiana and Kentucky for the French donut and the distinctly American spirit, respectively. Without you, this dish of pillowy fried squares of sweet sorcery would have never been possible.
Beignets: You can make them from scratch, but Cafe Du Monde conveniently produces a boxed mix. I got to visit the original Café Du Monde location in New Orleans this past summer. Though it was the afternoon and felt like 100-degrees outside, I still thoroughly enjoyed a plate of fresh french donuts and a Café Au Lait and chickory under the giant porch fans. The ground at the outdoor café was practically covered in white powdered sugar, just like the donuts! This weekend our ground was covered in white, powdery snow – the perfect time to whip up some piping hot beignets.
I did a little more than beignets by deconstructing a dessert that I read online from Annisa Restaurant called Pecan and Salted Butterscotch Beignets with Bourbon Milk Ice (be still, my heart). I looked up Chef Anita Lo’s new cookbook, Cooking Without Borders, and sure enough, the recipe was detailed inside! I found out that she mixes pecans in the dough and then fills the fried donuts with butterscotch. Homemade bourbon milk ice is served alongside the dish.
First, I made the bourboned butterscotch sauce so it could cool and thicken. Then, I made the plain ol’ beignets and sprinkled them with powdered sugar. I stacked them up, drizzled them with sauce and topped them off with whipped cream and pecans. It was a butter pecan donut sundae cup!
My Bourboned Butterscotch Sauce Adapted from Anita Lo
1 C light brown sugar
3 T butter
1/2 T salt
1/2 C light corn syrup
2 T bourbon
1/3 C heavy cream
Plop together brown sugar, butter, salt, corn syrup and bourbon in a sauce pan and bring to a boil. Once boiling, mix ingredients together and lower the heat to med-high. W/o stirring, let cook. Once sauce is syrupy, remove from the heat and stir in cream until consistent. Let cool. Put some in a squeeze bottle for topping, and/or put in a small cup for dipping!
cozywalls 
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