Gluten Free Nutella Doughnuts & A Cookbook Giveaway!

I'm in Utah folks! Got in Salt Lake City yesterday afternoon and I'm heading to The Canyons Resort in Park City Utah where the Evo 10 Conference is held this year. To say that I am honored and stoked is putting it mildly. Yesterday as I was watching my inbox implode in between two planes, I just smiled and thought "breathe - take the travel time as a time out". I am looking forward to this week, complete with the workshop in Boulder. Work does pile up when you can't look! It's fine though. It's actually better than fine. It's impossible to complain when mixing work and play in such beautiful scenery as the mountains of Utah and Colorado.

Before I left I treated B. to a couple of special treats and of course stocked the fridge and freezer. When I made these Nutella Doughnuts from Lorna's cookbook, The Newlywed Kitchen, they almost ended up being dinner. We just could not stop eating them. Pop. Pop. Pop. Oops... Tender, moist, tangy and filled with Nutella....the one thing we truly fight over in the kitchen. If you finish the jar and do not replace it, be ready to face a mini temper tantrum. And not necessarily from me...!

Last week I raved about the simplicity of the Parmesan Roasted Asparagus Tomatoes and Eggs I made from her cookbook. Well, let me raved about how spending a little bit of time in front of the stove to fry these babies up was worth it. Ten times that even. The recipe comes together in no time and the size of the doughnuts makes them the perfect little bite to have after dinner or as a treat (but you won't stop at one, let me tell you that!). The oozing Nutella in the center? Literally the proverbial icing on the cake. Per-fect.

I love drop doughnuts and the simplicity of Lorna's recipe makes them so easy to adapt gluten free. If you are afraid of deep drying. Fear no more. The temperature given for the oil is right on for these. They turn into perfect airy pockets with a slight tang coming from the ricotta and lemon zest. Love how the Nutella plays so well with the lemon zest. Just the right touch of it too. They are so good plain too. Filled with some strawberry jam I made last month. I even filled some with compote I made after the neighbors gifted me with a basket full of sour apples.

Another successful bite from Lorna's book! And guess what? Today is your chance to get your hands on a copy to see and taste what I am talking about! That's right! Lorna is graciously giving away a copy of her book to one of you. All you have to do is leave a comment on this post (anonymous please sign a name) - between today Thursday June 24th and Sunday June 27th, midnight Easter time. A winner will be picked at random from the comment pool by my better half.

While in Salt Lake City I stayed with Maria and Josh, the team behind Two Peas And Their Pod and we are heading together to the conference, meeting up with Kristen, Katie, Amy and a whole bunch of people I'm thrilled to meet for the first time. Since this morning is pretty much the most quiet time I foresee for the rest of the week, I thought I'd post some snapshots of our "Bloggers Meet Up". I'll try to post snapshots of the conference, attendees and speakers as I go along.

Maria and Christie.
Maria organized a little get together for me and Christie from The Table Runner graciously hosted it at her beautiful home. We spent hours talking about life, blogging, food, kids and so much more. Made me go to bed with a full heart and a skip in my step. Thank you ladies for your generosity!

Group Shot
From left to right: Becky at Project Domestication, Barbara from Barbara Bakes, Maria from Two Peas and Their Pod, Brooke from Cheeky Kitchen, Holly from Phemomenon with baby Kayla, Bonnie from City Home Country Home, Dara from Cookin' Canuck, Becky from The Vintage Mixer and Chrisie from The Table Runner up front.

Dara.

Becky

Jaime from Sophistimom makes the best Italian sodas....

Good luck in Lorna's cookbook giveaway!

Nutella Doughnuts, courtesy and copyright Lorna Yee from "The Newlywed Kitchen" cookbook.

Makes about 14 doughnuts

Note: to adapt these gluten free, I replace the flour with 1/2 cup superfine sweet rice flour, 1/4 millet, 1/4 cup sorghum flour, and added 1/4 teaspoon xanthan gum for a smooth dough.

3 large eggs
1/4 cup sugar
8 ounces whole-milk ricotta
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
Canola, vegetable, or peanut oil for frying
Powdered sugar for dusting doughnuts
1 cup Nutella

In a large mixing bowl, stir together the eggs, sugar, ricotta, salt, and vanilla extract. Add the flour and baking powder, and mix until just combined.

Heat 3 inches of the oil in a deep pot until it registers 375 degrees F on a deep-fat thermometer. Drop a tablespoon of batter into the oil and cook for about 3 minutes on one side, and 2 minutes on the other side. (Do not make the doughnuts much bigger, as the outside will brown too quickly and they won’t cook through.) Don’t overcrowd the pot--you will probably need to fry the doughnuts in three batches. Cut one doughnut open to make sure it’s cooked through before removing the rest of the batch from the oil. When the doughnuts are cooked, scoop them out and allow them to drain on paper towels. Repeat with remaining batter.

Dust the doughnuts with powdered sugar and pipe Nutella into the center of each one. These doughnuts are meant to be devoured warm out of the fryer, so make them just before you’re both ready to eat them.

Variation: Add 1 1/2 teaspoons grated lemon or orange zest to the dough and fill the doughnuts with your favorite jelly or lemon curd.