Miette mini madeleine donuts

Some time ago, I declared with some authority, that doughnuts were in fashion. (You will never hear me saying that cupcakes are out. That's just ridiculous). Of course, the timing was poor because I have been on a diet (let's call it a lifestyle change) for several months now.

And the day I had two Timbits (doughnut holes for my American readers) I felt guilty for days. But when my husband showed me the Smart Planet mini donut maker, I had to have it. I don't have any extra counter or drawer space so when I buy an appliance, it's a big deal.

Bonus: you can make the mini donuts without deep frying them. It's more like a waffle maker with a super hot surface, if you can envision it. And they're mini! I love mini anything. When you can fit two of anything in the palm of my hand, you've won me over. And these mini donuts are just a few inches wide in diameter. Swoon!



You can watch a demo here if you have the time, but it's not hard to figure out on your own.

      

(If you're interested, my husband can source it for you through his shop Computer Source.)

The weekend we got it, I saw a recipe for mini madeleine donuts from San Francisco's famed pastry shop Miette in InStyle magazine and I knew my stars had finally aligned. This recipe included honey, and lemon zest, and was inspired by my favourite madeleines, so I knew I found a winner. I made dozens. Dozens! And we had them for breakfast. But they went like hotcakes so I only managed to grab the sorry photo you see above via my BlackBerry.

I'm sorry to say I can't find this recipe online and I feel uncomfortable copying it out word for word, but if I do, I will update this blog post. In the meantime, I couldn't resist sharing these with you.

I do want to tell you how I served them, however. The recipe also had ingredients and directions for semisweet chocolate ganache dipping sauce, but that was much too complicated for my blood on a Sunday morning so I skipped the sauce.

Instead, I sprayed them with canola oil cooking spray and dipped them in a mix of cinnamon and sugar for my husband and I, while I dipped them lightly in sprinkles for my son. (Don't get ready to hand out the Worst Mother of the Year award just yet, he doesn't like sweets so the appeal was lost on him).

At one point, my husband bypassed the cinnamon entirely and dipped them straight into Nutella. I ate them plain. They're best fresh out of the donut maker, slightly crispy. But you'll need to experiment with the cooking time. I learned a couple of batches in to slightly undercook them if I didn't want them to brown, as they continued cooking when I pulled them out.

Don't get lazy and skip the piping bag. You can use a plastic baggie as a makeshift bag if you must!