The American addiction to doughnuts is longstanding and deep-rooted. First there were the lightly sweetened fried doughs of immigrants and pioneers. In the twentieth century, there were waves of doughnut-chain outlets, from Dunkin’ Donuts to Krispy Kreme, that made “coffee and a doughnut” practically a prerequisite for making it through a day at work. In recent years, hip, upscale doughnut boutiques have sprung up from Portland and Seattle to Austin and Brooklyn. Just when you think the doughnut habit might be broken, under the influence of this or that anti-carb or anti-sugar diet, it rises up instead and spreads deeper and wider. Alongside cake pops and cupcakes, doughnuts are here with a vengeance, at once retro and cutting-edge, comforting and new. Doughnuts have the reputation of being hard to make by hand in a home kitchen. To be sure, they can be tricky. But with guidance from an expert baker and a gifted teacher, they can be surprisingly simple and straightforward. Dede Wilson is just that kind of reliable and gentle guide. A contributing editor atBon Appetitand the author of two celebrated books that are the bibles for make-it-yourself wedding cakes (talk about tricky!), the forthcomingCake Balls,and four previous books in this best-selling Baker’s Field Guide series, Wilson here demystifies the doughnut-making process, breaking it down into simple, easy-to-follow steps. Along the way she serves up perfectly tested recipes for traditional doughnut favorites and imaginative new creations. A BAKER'S FIELD GUIDE TO DOUGHNUTS includes 22 building-block-style “Master Recipes”; 2 are for baked doughnuts, 8 are for fried doughnuts, and the remainder are for glazes and other toppings. For people with different taste and texture preferences, there are both yeast-risen and cake-style doughs. The Master Recipes get put to splendid use in the “Field Guide” section that follows, 69 recipes for all manner of doughnuts—filled and unfilled, frosted and unfrosted—as well as some doughnut cousins, such as fritters, crullers, churros, and beignets. As with other titles in the series, each recipe in the Field Guide has a Description, a Lifespan note (how to store the doughnut, and for how long), a Field Note (extra tidbits about the doughnut’s history and ingredients), and other information presented in a visually engaging field-guide format. The Field Guide recipes range from classics like Cinnamon-Sugar Doughnuts, Cider Doughnuts, Chocolate-Sour Cream Doughnuts, and Apple Fritters to surprising and delectable ideas like Cappuccino Doughnuts with Espresso Cream Filling and Apricot-Cardamom Doughnuts. Wilson provides lots of ideas for ways readers can mix and match the master recipes to create their own signature doughnuts beyond the ones in the book, and she dishes out easy-to-follow advice on techniques and equipment (you do not need a deep-fryer, for example, to make doughnuts). Altogether it’s an expert treatment of an on-trend culinary subject, full of promises for the very best fresh and warm home-cooked doughnuts.
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