New Orleans Beignets

Instructions

1. 1

   Wake up the yeast

   Stir the warm water, yeast, and a tablespoon of the granulated sugar together in a large bowl. Let it sit for 5 to 10 minutes, until the surface turns foamy and smells like bread. If nothing happens, your yeast is dead or your water was too hot — start over, because the whole recipe hinges on this.

2. 2

   Build the wet base

   Whisk the remaining granulated sugar, evaporated milk, egg, melted butter, and vanilla into the yeast mixture until smooth. Make sure the milk and egg are at room temperature; cold liquid will sluggish the rise and firm the butter back into flecks.

3. 3

   Mix the dough

   Add 4 cups of the flour and all the salt. Mix with a dough hook on low speed, or a sturdy wooden spoon, until no dry streaks remain. Knead for 4 to 5 minutes, adding the last 1/4 cup of flour only if the dough is so wet it won't gather around the hook. You want a soft, slightly tacky dough that pulls away from the bowl but still sticks a little to your fingertip — a stiff, dry dough fries up dense instead of hollow.

4. 4

   Let it rise

   Scrape the dough into a lightly oiled bowl, turn it once to coat, and cover. Let it rise somewhere warm for 1 to 2 hours, until doubled. Don't push it much past the doubling point — overproofed beignet dough loses its spring and fries flat. For the best flavor and the easiest rolling, chill the covered dough overnight instead, then let it sit at room temperature for 30 minutes before you roll.

5. 5

   Roll and cut

   Turn the dough onto a well-floured counter and press the air out gently. Roll it into a rough 12 by 16 inch rectangle about 1/4 inch thick — thinner than you think is right, since they balloon dramatically in the oil. Trim the edges square and cut into roughly 3-inch squares with a pizza wheel or bench scraper. Lay them on a floured sheet pan and let them rest, uncovered, for 20 minutes while the oil heats.

6. 6

   Heat the oil

   Pour the oil into a heavy Dutch oven to a depth of about 3 inches and heat to 360°F on a clip-on thermometer. Temperature is the whole ballgame here: below 350°F the dough drinks oil and turns greasy, above 375°F the outside browns before the inside puffs. Set a wire rack over a sheet pan nearby.

7. 7

   Fry in small batches

   Slide 3 or 4 squares into the oil, easing them in away from you. They'll sink, then float and balloon within seconds. Fry for about 1 minute, until the underside is deep gold, then flip with a spider or slotted spoon and give the second side another minute. Spoon a little hot oil over any stubborn pale spots. Resist adding more than a few at a time — a crowded pot drops the oil temperature and you'll get pale, flat, oily beignets.

8. 8

   Drain, sugar, devour

   Lift the beignets to the wire rack and let them drain for about a minute, then bring the oil back to 360°F before the next batch. Pile the warm beignets on a plate and sift powdered sugar over them with an absurdly heavy hand — more than feels reasonable. Eat them immediately; they are at their peak within ten minutes of leaving the oil.

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Baker's Tips

• 1.

  An overnight rest in the fridge is the single biggest upgrade you can make. The cold dough rolls out cleanly without springing back and the long ferment adds real depth of flavor.

• 2.

  Evaporated milk is doing specific work here — its concentrated milk sugars give beignets their signature tender crumb and fast browning. Whole milk works in a pinch but the result is noticeably plainer.

• 3.

  If your beignets puff on one side only, the dough was rolled unevenly. Roll from the center outward, rotating the dough a quarter turn between passes.

• 4.

  Dust the squares with as little flour as you can get away with. Excess raw flour sloughs off into the oil and burns, which darkens the oil and flavors every batch after it.

• 5.

  Keep the fried beignets in a single layer, never stacked. Trapped steam softens that delicate shattery crust in under a minute.

• 6.

  Save the trimmed dough scraps, press them together gently, and fry them as cook's treats — rerolled dough never puffs as well, so don't bother re-rolling for the real batch.

Equipment

• Stand mixer with dough hook (or a large bowl and wooden spoon)
• Heavy Dutch oven or deep, heavy-bottomed pot
• Clip-on deep-fry or candy thermometer
• Rolling pin
• Pizza wheel or bench scraper
• Spider skimmer or slotted spoon
• Wire cooling rack set over a sheet pan
• Fine-mesh sieve or sugar shaker

Storage