Features

Kneading a different dessert

HANNAH JENKINS For The Times Leader

Mardi Gras doesn’t come just once a year for pastry chef Jen Yemola.

click image to enlarge

click image to enlarge

Courageous home bakers can give Jen Yemola’s recipe for orange and almond beignets a whirl in time for Fat Tuesday, often known as a day for doughnuts.

FRED ADAMS/FOR THE TIMES LEADER

Related headlines

• The cookies crumble

Select images available for purchase in the
Times Leader Photo Store

“I’m constantly tasting and trying my recipes, so Fat Tuesday is every day for me, and why not?”

The full-throttle Hazleton-based baker, well-known for finishing in third place on season three of Gordon Ramsay’s “Hell’s Kitchen,” is busy all year round. She owns her own business, Jentastic Sweets, teaches at Luzerne County Community College and hosts a cooking show on WYLN 35.

She also knows her way around a doughnut, designer or otherwise, and in honor of Fat Tuesday (Feb. 16) she offers Times Leader readers an exclusive recipe for an old Mardi Gras favorite -- the beignet – with a modern, personal twist.

Yemola and a sprinkling of other local, independent bakers have started to push the plate, and our palates, by offering a more diversified selection of doughnuts. From exotic fruit and cream fillings to supersize indulgences – try a 7-inch “megadonut” – new creations are increasingly sharing rack space with our old favorites.

Yemola’s crispy orange-almond beignets are just right for Fat Tuesday, especially considering the doughnut is mainly associated with New Orleans and Mardi Gras.

“Many people like to keep beignets plain or just dip them in something, but my version is wonderful, tasty and a little different from the norm,” Yemola said. “I’m constantly researching and am fascinated by the textures of different ingredients. I like to combine them, so it’s not something that just tastes good in your mouth; it has to be a festival in your mouth.”

For all Luzerne County bakers, Fat Tuesday is one of the busiest days of the year.

“We get about one hundred times the normal orders,” George Blom, co-owner of Bakery Delite in Plains Township, said. “We make special fasnachts, paczkis, king cakes and beignets for our customers for one day only and use any type of filling you could think of.”

Bakery Delite prides itself on making its jelly in-house and is thinking toward the future and the designer-doughnut trend sweeping the bigger cities.

“We’ll probably be getting into some more exotic-type fillings, a mango-peach or perhaps a blueberry-pomegranate. Or perhaps cereals and different flavored crunchies as toppings,” Blom said.

Still, he doubts any new gourmet-style doughnuts will replace the traditional cream-filled and glazed favorites in the area.

“Out in California and New York they’re charging six dollars a piece for a doughnut,” he said. “It would be hard for our area to get that kind of price even though they are coming up with all these fancy, exotic flavors.”

At Daily Donut on Carey Avenue in Wilkes-Barre, Julianne Alansky also does some experimenting.

As one of the only remaining independent doughnut shops in Luzerne County, Daily Donut keeps up with the competition by offering a selection of 34 different doughnuts racked and stacked against the wall every morning. The classic feel, vintage decor and fresh-coffee smell make the sit-down shop a rare treat for the area.

Customers aren’t necessarily clamoring for crazy doughnuts, but they do seem to like slightly different ones.

“The only thing people always ask for is the lemon doughnut, and I think that’s the weirdest ever,” Alansky says.

Meanwhile, from the other end of the counter, her young co-worker overhears and interjects:

“Eww, I think the toasted coconut is even weirder.”

JEN YEMOLA’S ORANGE AND ALMOND BEIGNETS

1/2 cake fresh yeast

1 teaspoon sugar

1/4 cup lukewarm water

Dissolve yeast and sugar in warm water and place in a large mixing bowl. Set in a warm place for 15 minutes.

1 cup scalded milk, cooled to room temperature

2 eggs, beaten

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup shortening

2 teaspoons salt

2 teaspoons almond extract

After yeast mixture has set for 15 minutes, combine the milk, sugar, shortening, salt, extract and then add the eggs. Use the hook attachment on a power mixer to combine. Mixture will be lumpy.

4 1/2 cups bread flour

1 cup almonds, finely chopped

Add the flour and almonds. Mix until dough slaps the side of the bowl, approximately 8 to 10 minutes. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place for two hours until double in size. When dough has risen, turn out onto a lightly floured surface and roll about 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. Cut into diamond shapes and place on a tray and let rise for 30-45 minutes. Heat oil to 380-385 degrees. Fry to a golden brown, turning for even cooking. Drain on paper towels. Dust with powdered sugar.

Orange dipping sauce

1 1/2 cups orange juice

1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar

2 tablespoons cornstarch

2 tablespoons cold water

Heat the orange juice and the sugar until boiling. Mix the cornstarch and the water in a small bowl, and when the juice has boiled, add the cornstarch slurry. Bring back to a boil and remove from the heat. Serve warm.

Were you interviewed for this story? If so, please fill out our accuracy form

Send Question/Comment to the Publisher