Honey Cardamom Caramel

I
love summer mornings.  I love that there isn't the "rush" that I
feel during the school year.  After my morning run, I spend a little time
in my little growing garden.  I love inspecting each plant and watching
with amazement as zucchini, peppers and peas seem to grow overnight.  I
love that when I walk into my house, breakfasts are slow and drawn out and are
more than just a quick bowl of cereal with bites taken in between making peanut
butter sandwiches.  Sometimes (okay a lot of the time), I go to sleep at
night thinking about what I will make for breakfast in the morning.  A
little while back, I came across this recipe for baked donuts and new they
would make the perfect slow morning summer breakfast.  The donuts were
tender and not overly sweet, making the vanilla bean glaze a perfect compliment
for this simple summer breakfast.  

 

Vanilla Bean Baked Donuts







Doughnuts:



1/3 cup milk



1 teaspoon vinegar



3 tablespoon butter, melted



1/2 cup white whole wheat flour



1/2 cup unbleached all-purpose
flour



1 teaspoon aluminum-free baking
powder



1/4 teaspoon salt



1/8 teaspoon freshly grated
nutmeg



1/4 cup sugar



2 tablespoon honey



1 large egg



1/4 vanilla bean







Glaze:



1 1/2 tablespoons half and half



1/4 vanilla bean



3/4 cup powdered sugar



1/4 teaspoon freshly grated
nutmeg



1/8 teaspoon salt











Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
 







In a small bowl, mix together
milk and vinegar.  Allow to sit for 5-10 minutes to curdle.  Melt
butter in a small bowl and set aside to cool.  Meanwhile, whisk together
flours, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg in a large bowl.  Set aside. 
To the cooled butter, add the sugar, honey, egg and vanilla bean seeds and
whisk until combined.  Add in curdled milk.  Add wet ingredients to
dry ingredients and mix until just combined.  Over mixing with create a
donut that is dense.  Spray donut pan with non-stick cooking spray. 
Add donut batter to a piping bag (a large Ziploc bag also works) and pipe
batter evenly into the prepared pan.  Bake for 7 minutes.  Allow to
cool for 1 minute before removing donuts from pan to cool on cooling rack.







While the donuts are cooling, make
the glaze.  In a flat bottomed bowl, whisk together the half and half,
vanilla bean seeds, nutmeg, and salt until evenly combined.  Slowly whisk
in powdered sugar until smooth.  If glaze is too thick, add 1 teaspoon
more of half and half at a time.  If glaze is to thin, add 1 tablespoon
more of powdered sugar at a time until desired consistency is reached.







Once the donuts have cooled
completely, about 15-20 minutes, dunk donut in glaze to evenly coat the top of
the donut.  Repeat until each donut is topped with the vanilla bean
glaze.  Place on the cooking rack and allow to dry for about 20
minutes.  (I'm pretty sure we only waited about two minutes.)  Makes
six donuts.







Recipe changed just a bit from The
Faux Martha



*Picture taken with my iphone (summertime food for me and my family through the eyes of me and my iphone).