Heart Craving (14 page)

Tante Lulu’s Beignets

History: Beignets (pronounced BEN-yea) have long been a Southern Louisiana specialty, particularly in New Orleans where they were made most famous by the French Quarter’s Café du Monde. Best served with café au lait, especially for breakfast, beignets are considered the forerunner of modern doughnuts, minus the holes. Nothing more than fried pieces of raised dough sprinkled profusely with powdered sugar, the beignet has to be tasted to be appreciated. Tante Lulu loves to serve them to her guests.

Ingredients:

1 envelope dry yeast

1/2 c. warm water

4-5 c. flour

1 c. evaporated milk

1/2 c. granulated sugar

1/2 c. shortening (or ½ c. canola oil, or 3 tsp. softened butter)

1 X-large egg, or 2 small eggs, beaten

1 tsp. salt

2 c. powdered sugar

Oil for deep frying

Directions:

Mix water, granulated sugar, and yeast in a bowl and set aside for a half hour. Beat together the egg/s, salt, and evaporated milk and add to the yeast mixture. Stir in half of the flour, then add the shortening. The remaining flour should be added a little at a time until you have the right consistency . . . a soft dough that is not sticky. Do not knead. Place the dough in a greased bowl (or one sprayed with non-stick oil), cover, and refrigerate overnight.

Next day, punch the dough down and roll on a floured surface to 1/4 to 1/2 inch thickness. Cut into two-inch squares (bigger or smaller, depending on preference).

Preheat oil to roughly 375 degrees or until a drop of water sizzles in the pan. Lower the squares into the hot oil and brown on both sides. Drain on brown paper (a grocery bag will do) or paper towels. Roll the warm beignets in a generous amount of powdered sugar, or shake them in a bag of powdered sugar. Yum!

[A shortcut: My mother, who was by no means a Southerner and was in fact of Polish descent, used to make something similar that is called chrusciki. But she used frozen bread dough. After it had risen, she dropped finger pinchfuls of the dough into the hot oil. In her case, she rolled the final product in granulated sugar. These were not nearly as light or delicious as true beignets, but for today’s working mother (and my mother was just that), it did in a pinch.]

About the Author:
Sandra Hill

Sandra Hill is the bestselling author of more than thirty romantic humor novels. Whether they be historicals, contemporaries, time travels, or Christmas novellas, whether they be Vikings, Cajuns, Navy SEALs or sexy Santas, the common element in all her books is humor.

As the mother of four sons and the loooong-time wife of a stock broker, Sandra says that she had to develop a sense of humor as a survival skill in the all-male bastion she calls home. (Even her German shepherd is a male.) And as a newspaper journalist, before turning to fiction, she managed to find a lighter side to even the darkest stories.

It’s been said that love makes the world go ’round, but in Sandra’s world, love with a dash of laughter, makes it spin.