#134 Baked Jammy Doughnuts

On Monday I learnt (via a very intellectual film on Netflix starring Jennifer Lopez – called ‘The Back Up Plan’ if you’re interested) that it’s only lucky to find a penny if it’s heads up. Tails up and you’re doomed (or something like that).

Which means I’ve been doing it all wrong… I was under the impression that all pennies were good luck and evidently, it’s not as straightforward as this.

I now wonder whether my penny-related errors up to this point in my life, are the reason for my raft of bad luck, especially this week.

In no particular order I have:

• Melted half of Mum’s beloved 40-year-old food processor (don’t ask… ok, I’ll tell you… just don’t laugh, or cry). I tried to dry the plastic bowl-y bit, that I’d just washed up, by placing it in the oven that had recently been on at 220C. Cooling ovens are excellent airing cupboards for washed-up-kitchen-bits, by the way, although not when the oven is still hotter than the sun… and obvs be careful with plastics because, yes, they are prone to meltage).

• Witnessed a FULL bottle of wine launch itself out of the fridge… at 7am one morning… I’m still perplexed as to how this happened… thankfully it was in the garage, so the carnage was contained but it was a tragic moment for multiple reasons.

• Dropped a carton of yoghurt… and in my attempt to catch it mid-fall, I launched it even harder at the floor which definitely exacerbated the situation. I’m still finding yoghurt smears around the kitchen - heartbreak!

• Severed a plate by launching it into the sink (not on purpose).

• … And subsequently consolidated all this misfortune (incompetence) by dropping a very lovely pasta bowl, containing the remnants of my lunch (doubly tragic), onto the dining room table whereupon it spectacularly smashed into a million pieces… this final episode made me really quite shouty.
  *(tell me, why is it that when one breaks stuff, it’s always one’s ‘favourites’ too?).

Just to round things off nicely, the dog robbed a slice of bowl and wouldn’t relinquish it… until she’d chomped on it a bit and cut her mouth.
I therefore not only had a misshapen food processor and various smashed bits of crockery littered around the house, but the dog was also leaking bodily fluids… and I was responsible (guilt x 1 million).
[Thankfully princess-pooch is now A-OK… but I still feel bad that I let her come to harm - v.bad dog Mum]

So, I’m thinking this ‘bad luck’ is probably down to my misinformed beliefs re. penny laws up to this point (couldn’t possibly be the fact that I’m just a clumsy, careless halfwit). Will obviously NOT be making the same mistakes going forward.
***FYI, penny laws also state that if you find a penny that is tails-side up, you must flip it over so that the next person to find it gets the good luck (such technicalities should be taught as part of the school curriculum, I think)

All this is to say that those lemons (and eggs) I had to deal with last week were monumentally trumped this week, with food processors and plates… so that’s all good, eh?

Weirdly though, I seem to have been able to cope with all this life-age much more successfully this week. I wish I could say I knew why or how I’d managed to be a bit more ‘zen’ about stuff, as this would be useful, both for you, and for me if/when I’m next floored with worry… but I don’t know what’s changed, if anything has at all, and I certainly can’t put it down to anything specific.

That being said, a few little things have made me stop and think a bit and maybe they’ve been enough to tame the anxious butterflies, and make me feel a smidge more capable…

Of course, I've taken note of said little big things so that I can share them with you, so here goes…

• I’ve chatted to good people (my people). They tell you that the key to happiness is to find your people and surround yourself with them and this week, both in person and online (yes that’s you too), I feel like I’ve had my people with me.

• I’ve, not for the first time, acknowledged the beauty of the ordinary. From a young age I believed that life was meant to be like the movies. I assumed world domination was the only respectable role for me. I would find my Prince Charming, I was winning Olympic gold medals and doing really pivotal ‘good’, massive stuff for the World and for others. There was a theme tune to my life that depicted ‘success’, progress, health (also wealth) and an inevitable ‘happy ever after’. Instead, life often feels small, unexciting, lacking in some way… I’m not trailblazing, distinguished, independent… I’m not enough...
  This week, though, I’ve read a few things that I’ve come across - purely by chance (do you ever get a spooky sense that the world – or someone up there - is trying to tell you something? That’s how I’ve felt this week), and it sort of hit me, that this is it; this is my life! And in the words of Ferris Bueller:

  ‘Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.’

  I’m so guilty of constantly chasing the extraordinary; bigger, better, MORE, I want to (MUST) maximise productivity, increase efficiency, extract more out of every second. I also spend so much time worrying about all the potential ‘what ifs’ and the maybes… anticipating catastrophe and drama. In doing so, I totally overlook the gentle rhythm of life – the stuff that happens every day, the beauty of nothingness, of being, of warmth, and love – that’s what really matters, right?
  I’ve no doubt that I’ll forget myself again soon, fall into the trap of believing everything about my life isn’t good enough… but I guess this week has slapped me in the face a bit with the reminder to find joy in the ordinary, be content with simplicity and appreciate the series of ‘soft’ moments that together, shape me into the person I am today.

• The understanding that ‘big’ is the same as ‘small’… there is just more of it (GROUNDBREAKING!).

I’m not sure if I’ve made sense with what I’ve said there, but I think these mini epiphany’s have helped calm me a touch this week … and I hope maybe they might help you too!

OK, enough big profound chat, some other cosy highlights:

• ‘Blackwell’s Bakery’ has been churning out heaps of yum this week… I started with some pistachio and lemon cheesecake flower biscuits (insane), more baked-not-fried jammy doughnuts (which I’m THRILLED to be sharing with you below), more chocolate loaf cake (durhhh), a millionaires shortbread concept that, following a few tweaks, I think you will LOVE, my first of many hot cross bun trials (with wholemeal and earl grey - so good ), and more granary rolls (a staple). I’ve, once again, been reminded that more baking = more happiness in Steph’s World!

• As we speak, I have SERIOUS jet lag - I’ve been banging on about this for the past few weeks but F1 IS BACK… for those who don’t follow it (it’s good and I think you should try it!), this first race is in Australia which means I’ve been up before the birds over the past 3 days and GAWD, I’m TIRED! Peaking adrenaline at 5am is not ideal!!

• Instead of buying new books, I’m trying to read ones that we already have and my latest discover from our (not extensive) library is Richard Osman’s first book ‘The Thursday Murder Club’… I tried to read it when I first got it and really struggled with it, (I bailed after about 100 pages). I’ve gone in for a second stab at it this week, and I’m really enjoying it this time around, I do feel like I need to take notes - there are a lot of characters - but it’s witty and fascinating and CLEVER. Will let you know my verdict once I’ve finished…

• Some incredible coffee gifts from Volcano coffee - COULD NOT BE MORE EXCITED to try these - Hot cross bun flavour? YES PLEASE!!!

  

  

  

  All the good things...

Ok, over and out for another week, thank you all - again - from the bottom of my heart for the support - your kindness truly stuns me. I’m forever indebted to you all.

Big love and hugs as ever,

Steph X X X

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Baked Jammy Doughnuts

I’ve baked multiple batches of these baked-not-fried (raspberry) jammy doughnuts in the last week or so, and I’m absolutely NOT tiring of them. They’re a riff on the real things (which are obviously heavenly) but without the need for a post-bake hair-Wash, arguably a major bonus?

The bun dough is buttery, SOFT, pillowy, and the crust wafer-thin, golden, and a little toasty. The warm buns are brushed with melted butter and rolled in sugar, then injected with raspberry jam, I’ve topped them off with a tiara of cream, a touch more jam, and some pointless green stuff, for aesthetic purposes mainly. I’m biased, of course, but they’re insanely good, they really taste like the best jam doughnuts, and I think you should probably (definitely) try them… there’s something about eating a jam doughnut that transports you back to your youth, I think. Takes years off you, the ‘botox’ of bakes… also a very viable Mother’s Day bake?

Bit of nostalgia here for you too - every Friday after school, Mum used to greet me with a jam doughnut from the fresh bakery bit of Tesco or M&S (they were better then). Mum worked Monday to Thursday and so her collecting me from school felt SO special… the jam doughnut was quite literally the cherry on the cake, and it remains up there as one of my favourite comfort bakes. A doughnut also has a unique power to cure almost any ill. They’re magic. I partly wonder whether my doughnut consumption over the past week is responsible for my improved mood - very logical. On that note, I’d be INTRIGUED to hear your ‘cure all’ bake - like, what do you turn to when you need to ‘make everything better’ with food?

Right, I’m not going to waffle about them anymore… you just need to try them!

Enjoy!

It’s all about the insides…