- Amanda
There are many doughnuts in the world to love. But few are as plump and sugared, slight in weight, and brashly fragrant as the cardamom doughnuts from Bluebird Coffee Shop in the East Village. They're a baked doughnut, which makes them even more dangerously accessible.
You make the dough the night before, and it will seem impossibly wet -- the key to fluffy doughnuts. Even after watching Adam Baumgart, the pastry chef, make the doughnuts, I didn't trust my instincts and threw out the first batch, thinking it was all wrong. But another batch and 2:30 am later, I got it right. So don't do what I did, and you'll be just fine.
The next morning you do a little shaping and spritzing and dipping into chopped pistachios, and you are near the finish line.
Baking fiends knew Bluebird Coffee Shop, but it was such a tiny space that it never got too big for its britches. Earlier this week, Merrill wrote about their Cheese Biscuits. Baumgart was generous to share his excellent recipes, and while that is good news, the sad news is that Bluebird is changing ownership this Sunday and Baumgart is moving on. But tastes of the old Bluebird can live on in all of our kitchens.
Cardamom Doughnuts
Adapted from Adam Baumgart, Bluebird Coffee Shop
Makes 9 doughnuts and 9 doughnut holes
- 2 1/2 cups plus 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 3 tablespoons plus 1 cup sugar
- 2 teaspoons coarse kosher salt
- 1 1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 2 3/4 teaspoons ground cardamom
- 1 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
- 11 milliliters lukewarm water
- 2 large eggs
- 2 large egg yolks
- 95 milliliters whole milk
- 95 milliliters buttermilk
- 13 tablespoons unsalted Plugra or other high butterfat butter, at room temperature
- 1 cup pistachios, finely chopped (by hand, not in a food processor)
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
See the full recipe (and save and print it) here.
-
amanda
Before starting FOOD52 with Merrill, I was a food writer and editor at the New York Times. I've written several books, including "Cooking for Mr. Latte" and "The Essential New York Times Cookbook." I played myself in "Julie & Julia" -- hope you didn't blink, or you may have missed the scene! I live in Brooklyn with my husband, Tad, and twins, Walker and Addie.
Some past articles from this author you'll love:
Amanda's Beat Up Baking Sheet
Friday Night Dinner Party I
Advice for Future Food Writers
19 Comments on Cardamom Doughnuts:
So we are in New York, didn't realize Bluebird was on the same block we were on for brunch at Prune, so stopped in on Monday to find that they were closed and had changed owners and they would reopen on Wednesday. So we stopped in today asking for the doughnut, and the gal says we are using a different bakery now.....so sad :( So no more housemade goods??
These look great! Although they don't appear to be healthier than the fried version. Actually, I think baked doughnuts taste better.
Anitalectric - Put that St. Germain in some oh-so-delicately cardamom-ed whipped cream or pastry cream, gloop it on to/into the donuts and we're golden. Golden brown!!!
Oh.Dear.God. YUM!!!
Amazing looking donuts (and kitchen)!
These look ridiculously good! Thank you for sharing the recipe, Adam, Amanda & Jennifer!
Anita is a vegan pastry chef & founder of Electric Blue Baking Co. in Brooklyn.
added about 1 year agoIf you really want to take these baked donuts to the next level, butter them, sugar them, and then torch them! You will get a crisp, sweet exterior like with fried donuts but without all the grease.
I used to make donut cupcakes like this. I actually did 2 layers of the butter/sugar/torch thing, and brushed them with St. Germain liquor in between ;)
okay! I'm on that too!
Oh man, these are totally irresistible. I am on it.
This photo makes your kitchen/dining area look huge!! If you can't have it, fake it, is what I always say!! Seriously, what a great shot!
They look like a glorified version of my favorite type of doughnut, which is an old-fashioned. Nothing like that flavor. Hope my instincts are correct! Or maybe I should hope I am incorrect; my waistline will be a lot prettier if I never, ever, ever learn the secret of making anything close to an old-fashioned!! If you love me, Amanda, you will be sure to protect me from myself! ;-)
I want one of those now so bad that I might cry! Will anyone make them and send one to me? No? Sigh...
The donuts look great, but i forgot how amazing your kitchen is. I love the white storage area!
Quick question . . . to get the ground cardamom that you used when testing these, did you open pods and then grind the seeds? Or did you buy just the seeds and grind them? Or did you buy already ground cardamom? 2 3/4 teaspoons of freshly ground cardamom sounds like so much, for 9 doughnuts/holes. (Or perhaps the cardamom seeds I get from the local Indian grocery is much stronger than what you used . . . . ) Many thanks. ;o)
Amanda is a co-founder of Food52.
added about 1 year agoI used pre-ground cardamom so it's probably weaker in flavor.
Those look so good!!!
Uh oh . . . . . ;o)
Thanks for posting, these look fantastic!
I love that these are baked! Still not health food, but so much better than deep fat fried. Thanks Adam and Amanda (and Jennifer.)
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