Oye Cookie!: Valentine Donuts. Yeah you heard me.

There's a place in Berkeley called Dream Fluff Donuts and though I've never been there, I've heard many an amazing comment about their donuts. I looked around for a website, but couldn't find one to link to. It's not surprising though seeing as it's a tiny mom and pop shop. However in looking around I found this one comment:

"When my body finally gives out I would like to be laid to rest in a Dream Fluff brand coffin."

I think that sums up not just Dream Fluff, but the way a lot of people feel about donuts. I remember as a kid my grandfather used to love to wake up in the middle of the night to have a midnight snack. One of his favorites was a donut and a glass of milk. Not the healthiest habit in the world, but I clearly remember his favorite: Chocolate glazed risen donut. Not the cake-y kind, the fluffy kind. And only from Mr. Donut on 87th Avenue. He didn't swing with Krispy Kreme or Dunkin' Donuts. It was Mr. Donut or nothing. Mr. Donut by the way had a great logo of a face with a top hat and a monocle. Only the classiest donuts deserve a monocle!

I was really excited to see Tartellete and Peabody's donut challenge. I kicked around a few ideas on what to make. Really the possibilities are endless. I thought about bear claws, old fashioned chocolate iced, jelly filled, custard filled and then this morning I was given a beautiful gift. As we lay in bed talking about donuts I said to Ken, "I was thinking I could get some orange blossom water and put a little in the donut batter and then glaze them with an orange blossom glaze." Yeah I thought it was a good idea. That was until Ken gave me a jewel of an idea with, "How about rose water? Why not a rose water donut with pink icing for Valentines Day? Or better yet make a heart shaped donut."

I swear the man's a genius.

So this afternoon I went to it. After heading over to Sur La Table for a mini heart-shaped cookie cutter (I only had a large one for big cookies), I ran home and cut me out some heart-shaped donuts.

The dough came together really well and it was super easy to make too. To find the recipe I basically did a search online for "cake donut recipe" and found one that seemed easy and quick. I knew that I didn't want to fuss with yeast, although yeast-risen donuts are my favorite.

The only thing I changed in the recipe was that I added the rose water to the batter. Instead of 1 teaspoon of vanilla, I added a half a teaspoon of vanilla and a tablespoon of rose water.

Cake Donuts

4 cups flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
3/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla

1: In a medium mixing bowl, sift flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. 2: In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter. Add sugar and beat well. Add eggs and beat well. 3: Add milk and vanilla and stir until combined. 4: Slowly add flour mixture and mix until dough holds together. Roll into a ball. 5: Cover and chill 2 hours. 6: On a floured board, roll out doughnut dough to 1/3" thick and cut with a doughnut hole cutter. 7: Heat vegetable oil in pan or deep fryer to 365 degrees and fry until lightly golden brown. 8: Drain on a plate lined with paper towel briefly and then dip into the bowl of glaze.

In addition to the rose water in the batter, I also decided to add a little rose water to the glaze. Instead of dipping them though as suggested in the recipe, I drizzled the glaze instead.

Glaze

3 cups confectioners sugar (powdered sugar)
1/3 to 1/2 cup milk
11/2 teaspoon rose water

Stir together all ingredients until there are no lumps and glaze donuts.

After I glazed them though I decided to totally guild the lily. I had some bright pink finishing sugar laying around and I decided that seeing as pink was fitting to the holiday and the flavoring, these delicious rose flavored delights would certainly be happy with a little sugar topping! I couldn't resist!

I also made some that weren't heart-shaped using a crinkle cut donut cutter. I covered some with cinnamon sugar and others with just powdered sugar. I have to say though that the heart-shaped ones were definitely the most delicious. They had a beautiful subtle and delicate rose flavor. The texture was complex with the silky glaze contrasting nicely with the crunch of the sugary topping.

Thanks to the brilliant ladies who came up with this great challenge and many thanks to my handsome and genius boyfriend for the great idea!