Who needs a glass of rosé when you can have rosé doughnuts? Chef Richard Blais, who is one of Top Chef’s most celebrated alums, recently teamed up with Amazon Alexa to help create a new skill called Morton Salting Sous Chef, which is designed to help at-home chefs correctly season more than 4,000 food items including veggies, mains, side dishes and desserts.
Generally speaking, Blais advises home cooks to sprinkle high when cooking with salt in order to disperse it, and he’s also a fan of using different types of salt for various foods. “I like fine-grain sea salt for fish and chicken, but coarse kosher for red meats,” he explains to Us Weekly. “Season as you go, not just at the end of cooking and finish items, like sliced steak off a grill with a tiny amount [1/2 teaspoon] of coarse sea salt on the interior of the slices – adding a crunchy flavor.”
And even though desserts tend to be on the sweeter side, salting them correctly is crucial and can make or break the dish. With the rosé doughnut recipe, which is included as part of the Morton Salting Sous Chef skill, Blais uses Morton Coarse Sea Salt as a garnish to add “a burst of flavor and crunch.”
“There’s an elegance about rosé that you don’t necessarily think of as a flavor in a donut, but it sets up a wonderful contrast,” the chef, 46, says of the unique pastry. “Taking the contrast to the next level is the coarse texture of the salt, which becomes the chocolate chip to this recipe’s cookie, if you know what I mean.”
Check out the complete recipe below!
Rosé Doughnuts
Makes 6 Servings
INGREDIENTS:
Doughnuts
• 1 cup milk
• 1/3 cup vegetable shortening
• 2 packages instant yeast
• 1/3 cup warm water (100 degrees)
• 1/2 cup rosé wine
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 tsps Morton Coarse Sea Salt
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 23 oz all purpose flour, plus more for dusting
• 1 gallon peanut or vegetable oil for frying
Glaze
• 2 cups rosé wine
• 2/3 cup powdered sugar
• 1 cup smooth strawberry jam (blend if needed)
• 2/3 cup condensed milk
• 1/2 cup crumbled freeze-dried strawberries
• 1 tbsp Morton Coarse Sea Salt
INSTRUCTIONS:
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- Place the milk in a saucepan and heat over medium heat just until warm enough to melt the shortening. Place the shortening in a bowl and pour warmed milk over it. Set aside.
- Sprinkle the yeast over the warm water in a mixing bowl or small sauce pot and let dissolve for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, pour the yeast mixture into the large bowl of a stand mixer and add the rosé, milk and shortening mixture.
- Add the eggs, sugar, Morton Coarse Sea Salt, vanilla, and half of the flour. Using the paddle attachment, combine the ingredients on low speed until flour is incorporated and then turn the speed up to medium and beat until well combined.
- Add the remaining flour, combining on low speed at first, and then increase the speed to medium and beat well. Change to the dough hook attachment of the mixer and beat on medium speed until the dough pulls away from the bowl and becomes smooth, approximately 3 to 4 minutes.
- Transfer to a well-oiled bowl, cover, and let rise for 1 hour or until doubled in size.
- On a well-floured surface, roll out dough to 1/2-inch thick. Cut out dough using a 2 inch pastry ring and using a 2/3 inch ring for the center hole. Set on floured baking sheet, cover lightly with a kitchen towel, and let rise for 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oil in a deep fryer or Dutch oven to 365 degrees. Gently place the doughnuts into the oil, 3 to 4 at a time. Cook for 1 minute per side. Transfer to a cooling rack placed in baking pan. Allow to cool for 15 to 20 minutes prior to glazing.
- To make the glaze, heat a large skillet over high heat. When pan is hot, remove from heat and add rosé wine. Replace pan over medium-high heat and simmer until wine is reduced by half, about 3-4 minutes.
- Whisk in powdered sugar, strawberry jam, and condensed milk until smooth. Add 1 tbsp more powdered sugar if glaze seems too thin.
- Dip cooled donuts into the glaze. Garnish with freeze-dried strawberries and Morton Coarse Sea Salt.
