Along with a recipe for applesauce, which has become a staple in her family’s diet now that they’ve added a baby to the mix, Molly talks about how her writing is evolving as she transitions into motherhood. She articulates the need to strike a balance between recognizing her new reality and writing about it, and maintaining some semblance of her former self, who might, in fact, have been a little bored by all this talk of applesauce.
Though I started this blog wanting mostly to talk about food – literally, to describe it, to convey the taste of it, to allow my readers to join me in my kitchen and at my dinner table in as vivid a way as possible – it seems that in fact the little girl who has changed my entire life has changed my writing as well.
Much as, like Molly writes, my former self would be appalled by my sometimes singular focus on describing (ranting about?) my adventures in parenthood, in place of waxing poetic about, say, the moistness of the crumb on these doughnuts, seems to be working for me. I’ve had wonderful opportunities to join with tribes of other blogger mamas – at The Creative Mama and SavvyMom.ca – that may not have come about solely with written depictions of the way these raisins pop in your mouth as you bite into each baked, spongy round, and the way they taste like a cinnamon bun in doughnut form, just like I’d imagined when I dreamed up the recipe.
- 5 tablespoons butter
- 1 cup flour
- 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 3/4 cup raisins
- 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
- Dash nutmeg
- 4 tablespoons cream cheese
- 2 tablespoons brown butter
- 3/4 cup icing sugar
- 1/2 cup milk
- Preheat your oven to 350F. Grease a doughnut pan.
- Place the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. The butter will melt, and then begin to foam and crackle. After that dies down, you will notice the butter taking on a nutty smell and a dark brown colour. Remove from the heat. You will want to keep an eye on your butter as it will brown and can burn quickly.
- Mix together the dry ingredients in a medium bowl. In a separate small bowl, whisk together the milk, egg and vanilla. Measure out 2 tablespoons of the brown butter and whisk this into the milk mixture.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, and throw in the raisins and spices as well. Mix until just combined - you don't want to over mix or you'll get tough doughnuts!
- Spoon the batter into your prepared doughnut pan and bake for 8-10 minutes, or until just lightly browned. Overbaking will result in a tougher doughnut.
- While the doughnuts cool, make the glaze. Cream the glaze ingredients together in a small bowl with electric beaters. If your glaze is too runny or too thick, add more milk or icing sugar until you achieve the right consistency.
- Once the doughnuts have completely cooled, drizzle with glaze. These doughnuts are tastiest when eaten on the same day they're made!
