As I’ve been developing recipes, I’ve been taking photos (you’ve seen some of those on flickr)… but my draft manuscript was delivered on Sunday and now the photoshoot begins in earnest.

Today, I was shooting possibly one of my favorite recipes (and certainly my husband’s favorite), the cruller. If you find crullers at most doughnut shops in the US, they will probably be somewhat heavy, cake doughnuts that are piped with cool ridges. In Canada, however, a cruller means a French Cruller which has the same ridges, but is made with a cream puff dough (pate e choux). These doughnuts are rich and eggy, but super light at the same time. It took me quite some time to get the recipe just right, but I’m happy to say, I’ve got it down, so today’s photoshoot was a joy. A delicious joy at that!

I thought I’d share a few outtakes to tempt you:

Anyone want to swing by and try a few? Get them while they last!

How I ended up writing a doughnut cookbook is still a bit of a magically happy mishap for me. Late in the fall of 2008, I started thinking about cookbooks that would be fun to photograph. Having already shot two single-subject books… Popcorn and Tacos: Authentic, Festive & Flavorful… I was enjoying the challenge of taking such a narrow subject and seeing how many different ways I could photograph them. My mind turned to doughnuts.

Soon, I started pestering a few of my writerly friends… “Hey, you should write a doughnut cookbook so I can photograph it.” I got no takers. So, when Sasquatch Books asked me if I’d be interested in writing a cookbook of my own, I knew exactly what it would be.

The only problem was that although I’ve certainly eaten my fair share of doughnuts, I’d never actually made them beyond simply cracking open a can of Pillsbury biscuits, cutting out a hole and frying them. Suddenly, here I was with a book deal based on the idea that anyone can make doughnuts at home, and I was a doughnut newbie.

There was nothing to do but get started. In April, I developed my list of rough ideas about what I like in doughnuts and then the research and doughnut making began in earnest. As for research, you’d think that there would be at least a dozen or so doughnut cookbooks available that I could learn from. Surprise! There is really only one true doughnut cookbook that I could find, and it’s a tiny little thing filled with quaint (but good) historical recipes. There are quite a few great books on the business of doughnuts or the history of the doughnut, with a few recipes, again mostly historic, tossed in for good measure. But nothing like what exists around the world of cupcakes. Nothing that pairs great doughnut basics with interesting new flavors. No doughnut book that starts to address the specialized needs of today’s home cooks… things like gluten free, vegan, or baked instead of fried.

After six months and more doughnuts than I care to mention, I’ve ended up with over 70 recipes that I think will tempt and excite. They are as easy as they are delicious, without the need for fancy equipment. There are doughs for those who are gluten free or vegan and those who aren’t fond of deep fried anything. There are doughs for ex-pat Canadians who are hundreds of kilometers away from the nearest Tim Horton’s Honey Crullers. There are doughs that would make a Dunkin’ Donuts or Krispy Kreme lover happy. There are flavors for adults (Margarita, Creme Brullee), those for kids (Candy-stuffed Chocolate Drops). There are traditional doughnuts from outside the US (Malasadas, Picarones, Zeppole). And finally, in the rare case where you find yourself with leftover doughnuts, there are a handful of recipes to breathe new life into them.

All this from someone who six months ago had never cooked a doughnut. So, trust me on this one… if I can do it, you can too.

Now, hopefully you are saying… gimme, gimme, gimme! I’m afraid a little patience is going to be called for. The book is still in the works, and won’t be available until fall of 2010. Right now, I’m just putting the finishing touches on the recipes, and making sure that they all work, flawlessly, when I’m not the one cooking them. For that, I’m looking for recipe testers. Are you interested? Then find out more here.

I’ll be posting doughnut odds and ends here over the next year when the book is released, and then expect to see even more doughnut adventures… recipes that didn’t quite fit into the book, doughnut shops that I love, new and fun doughnut gadgets, doughnut tours and what not. I’d love to hear from you… about your favorite doughnut shops or recipes or stories!

-L
(BTW – If you don’t know who I am, you can find out more about me here.)

Several weeks ago, Annabelle Breakey, one of my favorite photographers, tweeted:

I’m a photographer and the market place is really crazy-
how best to share work and inspire?? go forward? thoughts anyone?

How could I resist? I asked if she’d consider a virtual interview to share here. Wonderfully, she said yes! First, you should pop over and check out her beautiful work… especially how she plays with light. It’s magical. She definitely inspires me!

All the photos below are Annabelle’s (used with permission) Hope you enjoy the interview:

Each morning, I like to start the day with what my friend and I have dubbed a west coast macchiato. It’s really the only espresso drink I know how to make, so if you come over between 9 and noon, and I offer you a coffee, it’s likely what I will hand you a few minutes later.

A west coast macchiato is a tweener drink. A true macchiato is a healthy shot of espresso with just a tiny kiss of steamed milk or foam. It’s a proper, European kiss. Light and respectful. Just a little friendly hello. My kiss is a little more than that. It’s a Haight-Ashbury free love kind of a kiss. It’s not the full on French kiss that you find in a cafe au lait. But it’s loose and friendly and just a bit on the indulgent side. It’s also a bit of a mystery because the steamed milk pour (always tapped flat) fills the cup regardless of the size of the pull… some mornings are more milky than others.

Which all is a long way to introduce you to a Bainbridge Island coffee roasting company called Storyville that I recently discovered. I received an email from Ryan several weeks ago asking me if I’d be interested in trying their beans and if I liked coffee. I giggled to myself a little, and responded that yes, I do indeed like coffee and that usually I even roast my own beans. A few mails went back and forth, and then he asked me if I had a French Press. Oh, I thought, he means coffee as in the drink and not the beans. As in not espresso. Hmm. I’d have to think about that. I have my drink, you see, and I’m quite attached to it.

But then, the next day, an enormous box showed up on my front porch that contained a bit more than the beans I was expecting.

Not only did Ryan send me a lovely bag of their Prologue blend, but he also sent along everything I could need to get started with the whole coffee-the-drink thing. Let me tell you, if you have a friend or colleague that is interested in coffee and you are looking for a gift, this will impress the heck out of them. I immediately grabbed my camera and put the kettle on.

Before I tell you how it tastes, I should tell you a bit about Storyville’s philosophy on roasting coffee. Or, maybe better, just go watch their mockumentary on the subject of “Big Coffee” and burning the beans. Storyville makes just one blend of coffee and you can get it with or without caffeine. And they don’t roast the beans to death. There is a fine line between lovely carmelization and char and a lot of coffee out there crosses that line. When I roast at home, I tend to stay on the light side, so these beans are right up my alley.

But the big thing about Storyville is that they are all about getting you the freshest beans possible, and recommend always brewing the beans between 3 & 12 days of roasting (again one of the reasons I homeroast… I can make very small batches frequently and always be drinking fresh beans. The other reason I home roast is that it makes it easier to get Fairtrade and organic beans). If you don’t have a local roasting company just up the hill from you (and in Seattle, you very well may), and don’t want to bother roasting your own, Storyville makes it pretty compelling to replace the beans you buy on the market shelf that have probably been sitting there a while with regularly delivered fresh beans. You can just sign up, and the beans are roasted to your schedule and shipped to you each week (or two weeks) fresh, right when you need them.

Anyway… how it tastes. If I say it tastes like really good coffee, that doesn’t sound like much does it? But, for me, that actually means a lot. 99% of the coffee-the-drink I try doesn’t, so my “good” bar is ridiculously high (just ask Cam on this one… he’ll confirm). But between the freshness of the beans and using a French Press instead of a coffee maker, this coffee has some legs to it. It has a mouth-feel that was just the right side of smooth and miles away from watery. This is coffee I really enjoyed. It is coffee I’d be happy to serve you if you were to come over between 9 and noon.

But, I’ll also let you in on a little secret… those Prologue beans? They make a heck of a good west coast macchiato too…

If you haven’t seen Paul Lowe’s blog, Sweet Paul, you should definitely go check it out. I’ve been drooling over his photos for the past month now, waiting on pins and needles for each new post. However, Sabra, over at Cookbook Catchall, was lucky enough to sit in with Paul for day and kind enough to share some of what she learned. Check it out!