Norlens Beignets With Vanilla Sauce

Total Time: 1 hr 5 mins Preparation Time: 20 mins Cook Time: 45 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 8
• 1 cup water
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup sugar, divided
• 1 cup all-purpose flour, sifted
• 4 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (or more to taste)
• 4 cups vegetable oil
• 1 1/2 cups creme anglaise, heated (recipe follow)
• 4 egg yolks
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 cups milk, heated
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon butter, at room temperature (optional)

Recipe

• 1 combine the water, butter, salt, and 1/4 teaspoon of the sugar in a deep, heavy saucepan.
• 2 bring the mixture to a boil over medium heat, stirring to dissolve the butter, then remove from heat.
• 3 immediately add the flour all at once and stir vigorously to blend.
• 4 return the mixture to medium heat and cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture pulls away from the side of the pan, forms a ball, and leaves a film on the bottom of the pan. should take about 3 minutes.
• 5 remove from heat and beat in 1 egg at a time with a wooden spoon. the finished paste should be very smooth. cover and set aside.
• 6 mix the remaining sugar with the cinnamon and place it in a deep plate or shallow soup bowl.
• 7 in a deep, heavy pot or deep-fryer, heat the oil over medium-high heat to 375 degrees fahrenheit, or almost smoking.
• 8 when the oil is hot, scoop up 1 heaping teaspoonful of the dough, push it off the spoon into a rounded lump with your thumb, and drop into the oil. increasing the heat slightly, fry 10 - 12 beignets at a time, moving them around in the oil so they brown equally on all sides.
• 9 remove cooked beignets with a slotted spoon to paper towels to drain briefly, then keep them warm in an oven on very low heat. repeat with remaining dough.
• 10 roll the warm beignets in the cinnamon sugar and serve at once with the warm creme anglaise on the side.
• 11 note: cream puff dough can be made up to 6 hours in advance and kept at room temperature; the puffs should be fried just prior to serving.
• 12 creme anglaise:.
• 13 place the egg yolks in a medium, heavy saucepan and whisk them over low heat until they are pale in color. add the sugar 1 tablespoon at a time, beating well between each addition. beat until the mixture reaches the consistency of cake batter.
• 14 whisk in the milk, then stir continuously with a wooden spoon until the custard coats the spoon and a line drawn down the back of the spoon remains visible. remove from heat and stir in the vanilla.
• 15 if the custard is to be chilled, press a sheet of plastic wrap directly onto the suface to prevent a skin from forming, or dot the top with bits of the optional butter.
• 16 chill custard for up to 2 days.
• 17 note:.
• 18 if the custard begins to overheat and the egg yolks are forming lumps, remove it immediately from the heat and whisk briskly to cool the mixture. push the custard through a fine-meshed sieve with the back of a spoon to remove the lumps. if it has not sufficiently thickened, return it to heat to complete cooking.