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After traveling to New Orleans last September for the first time, I came home determined to figure out how to make the fluffiest beignets. Many attempts, cuss words and flour messes later and with the help of the very talented Ladycakes Kitchen, I finally have some tips to share with you on how to get those fluffy little pillows of magic!
First, we did not make these beignets from scratch. I came home with several boxes of delicious beignet mix from Cafe du Monde that we used to make these and I would highly recommend this mix if you’re looking for something a little less time consuming (although, just to be clear, beignet making is not a quick process either way)!
Tips for MAKING Your Fluffy Beignets:
Once you’ve mixed up your batter, here are some things I learned while beginning the rolling and frying process:
Don’t be afraid of the flour! Really coat that countertop and rolling pin with flour- you do NOT want these babies to stick and they really, REALLY want to.
Be sure that you oil is NIICCE and hot. We had our oil even 20 degrees hotter than the box called for and this really seemed to help the dough puff.
Try to keep that oil temperature as even as possible! Don’t add in too many pieces of dough at once and keep an eye on the temperature between batches.
When you go to drop the beignet dough into the oil, place it in using a flat spatula! We had started by picking up the pieces with our hands and the act of pinching the dough along the sides or middle caused the dough to cave rather than puff in the oil.
Baste, baste, baste! Scoop spoonfuls of oil over the top of the beignet as its cooking and before flipping it over. This will help keep both sides warm and keep one side from being too undercooked!
Tips for PHOTOGRAPHING Your Fluffy Beignets:
The most important thing about a great beignet is the air pockets. Remember to bite one of these babies open and to shoot from a 90 or 45 degree angle so people can get a really good idea of how airy these are!
Have fun with sprinkle shots!!! The dusting of powdered sugar that is an essential piece of the beignets lends itself perfectly to all the sprinkle shots. Play around with getting a 90 degree angle with the sugar coming from the tip of the frame of shooting at a 45 and having the sugar come from the side of the frame!
Keep the styling simple. Traditionally in NOLA, these are just served with coffee!
