Recipe: (Steven Universe Dessert Series, Pt. 3) Amethyst’s Purple Berry Donuts

Amethyst’s desser presents a drastic change in tone from my last Steven Universe dessert. Pearl is elegant, refined, and finds the act of eating repugnant. Amethyst is a spitfire that ADORES eating, despite not having to. I mean, this is the gem that shape-shifted herself a digestive system for fun.

Pearl: Eating food is so disgusting! You chew it into nasty mush, swallow that goop, and it comes out of you? What a completely horrid experience!
Amethyst: Uh, speak for yourself. I love it when mush passes through my body.
Pearl and Amethyst being maybe a little too honest

Through the series she’s seen with popcorn, sandwiches, sweets and… well, garbage. Amethyst is mostly indiscriminate.

¡NOOOOOO, MI TORTA!
Amethyst grieving over a lost sandwich

One food Amethyst is decidedly enthusiastic about is donuts from the local Big Donut. Subsequently, it didn’t take me long to decide Amethyst’s dessert would be a donut. Let’s face it, a super high-class and fancy dessert wouldn’t have suited her anyway. She’s scrappy, whadda you want?

So, why did it take me this long to post her dessert? Well, in addition to just being super busy, I tweaked and tweaked and tweaked this recipe until I never wanted to see a skillet of bubbling oil again as long as I live. Frying donuts at home is a WAY bigger pain than frying them in a restaurant kitchen, and I hadn’t made a ball of fried dough since a few years ago when I worked at a restaurant that had beignets on a brunch buffet. I’m glad I stuck with it, because this recipe is delicious… but I’m serious. No one ask me to make donuts for at least 6 months. I’m on donut vacation.

Amethyst’s Purple Berry Donuts (Blackberry and Creme de Cassis)

Yields: 20 small and sassy donuts, just like Amethyst.

COMPONENTS:
Yeast Donuts, recipe below
Blackberry Creme de Cassis Glaze, recipe below
Edible glitter
Marzipan tinted black, about 50g

EQUIPMENT:
Medium to small star-shaped cookie cutter
Star-shaped punch cutters in 3 sizes
Rolling Pin
Skillet or large pan for frying
Parchment paper

RECIPES

Blackberry Creme de Cassis Glaze
1 cup blackberries, fresh or frozen
2 tbsp creme de cassis
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tiny pinch salt
1-1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
White food coloring (gel, powder or liquid)
Blue food coloring (gel, powder or liquid)

1. In a plastic container with a sealable lid, toss together the berries, creme de cassis, lemon juice, and 1 tsp of the powdered sugar. Allow the berries to rest in this mixture for a couple of hours.
2. In a food processor or with a blender, puree the berries and creme de cassis into a sauce and run them through a sieve. Microwave this mixture for 1 minute to remove some of the water and alcohol. Whisk the remaining powdered sugar and salt into the puree to make the glaze. If the glaze is too runny, feel free to add a bit more. Alternately, if it is too thick you can feel free to add a bit of milk or cream to thin it. Now add the white and blue food colorings, drop by drop, until you achieve a nice blue-ish purple that matches Amethyst’s color. Note that I made the glaze runnier and with some lumpy fruit bits because the flavor was better that way… if you want a less drippy, “picture perfect” glaze you will need to add more powdered sugar.

Yeast Donuts
60ml (1/4 cups) milk
125g (4 oz) sour cream
40g (1 1/2 ounces) butter, melted
1 package quick rise instant yeast
40ml (2 tbsp + 2 tsp) slightly warm water
1 egg, beaten
35g (1.25 oz) sugar
1/2 teaspoons salt
380g (13.5 oz) all purpose flour, plus more for dusting
Vegetable oil for frying

18 parchment paper squares, about 4″x4″

1. Combine the warm water with the yeast and a small pinch of the sugar and allow to sit for five minutes. In the microwave or on the stove, warm the milk until lukewarm. Do not allow it to get truly hot, or else the egg will cook in the next step. Beat in the egg, sour cream and melted butter and set aside.
2. In a mixer fitted with a dough hook, combine the flour, salt, and sugar. Add in the milk mixture and the yeast mixture and mix until the dough begins to pull away from the side of the bowl. Mix for an additional 5 minutes with the dough hook, or knead by hand for 10 minutes. (Since the dough is a little sticky and we want to avoid adding too much flour, the former is preferable.) Once kneaded, return the dough to the mixing bowl and cover it with a damp cloth. Allow dough to rise for one hour or until doubled in size. (Not sure if it’s risen enough? Poke it with your finger. If the hole doesn’t begin to shrink and disappear, it’s done.)

3. Arrange your parchment sheets on a large sheet pan. Punch down the dough and turn it out onto a floured surface. Knead the dough to get large air bubbles out, and then roll the dough to about 1/3″ thickness. Using your star cookie cutter (or two round cookie cutters for the traditional shape), cut out your donuts and place them on the wax paper sheets. Make sure there’s a thin layer of flour on the bottom part of your donuts, so that they’ll slide off easily when frying time rolls around.
4. Place your donuts into a COLD oven. Now take a large cake pan or casserole dish and fill it with boiling water, placing it on the rack below the donuts. The steam will prevent skins from forming on your donuts, and also warm the inside of the oven slightly. Allow the donuts to rise for half an hour.
5. In a large pan or skillet, heat up the oil to 350°F/175°C. If you don’t have a thermometer, test the oil with a dough scrap: if the dough doesn’t immediately begin to bubble and cook, the oil is too cold. If it turns too dark brown after a minute, it’s too hot. You want a minute of cooking time to result in a light golden brown finish.
6. Begin frying. You’ll want to fry your donuts 2 or 3 at a time to prevent crowding. Slide a donut in and allow it to fry for one minute or until lightly golden brown before flipping it and cooking for the same time on the other side. Remove the donut from the oil with a slotted spoon and set it on a plate lined with paper towels to cool. Repeat until all your donuts are done.

DIRECTIONS

1. Roll out your marzipan very thinly, and using your cutters cut 3 stars (1 of each size) for every donut you have. Set aside.
2. Set a cooling rack over a sheet pan to catch dripping glaze. It’s okay to glaze the donuts while they’re a bit warm, but do be sure they aren’t too hot to hold on to. Dip the tops of each donut into your glaze and shake it slightly to let the excess drip off. Place the donut on your cooling rack.

3.Once all your donuts are dipped, begin placing the marzipan stars on top. It’s best to do this while the glaze is fresh so it will be sticky and hold on the marzipan. Once you’re done, lightly dust the donuts with your edible glitter and serve!

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