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A beignet is a French pastry that is popular in New Orleans, Louisiana, and is similar to a donut. It can be made with choux pastry or yeast dough and is fried until golden brown before being sprinkled with powdered sugar. It is traditionally served with café au lait and can also be made at home.
A beignet is that delicious pastries order at Cafe Du Monde in New Orleans, Louisiana, and eat with a steaming cup of coffee au lait. The beignet is, for all practical purposes, a donut. However, the beignet is usually not as dense as a donut. Both are fried and the beignet is sprinkled liberally with icing sugar.
Beignet means “bump” in French, and the Cajuns, as they often do, adapted the word to their usage. In France, the beignet can be used for sweet or savory purposes, filled with meat, potatoes, mushrooms and other vegetables.
Depending on the cook, a choux pastry may be made with a choux pastry of flour, water, butter and a little sugar, or it may be a yeast dough. It all depends on the cook and the amount of time he can devote to the recipe. Yeast dough usually contains yeast, flour, shortening, sugar, eggs, a pinch of salt and milk.
A beignet about three inches square is formed and the dough is fried at about 360 degrees Fahrenheit (182 degrees Celsius) until golden brown on both sides. The pastries are then dumped onto paper towels and served piping hot, sprinkled with powdered sugar.
New Orleans Acadians felt nothing went better with a beignet than a cup of café au lait. In New Orleans, this often means strong coffee flavored with chicory and served with an equal part poured milk. This tradition is still practiced in cafes and homes throughout Louisiana, and indeed, along the Gulf Coast.
Another popular version of the beignet is the funnel cake. This Pennsylvania Dutch treat is also deep-fried batter served with powdered sugar and sometimes a whole fruit compote.
Home cooks who have a deep fryer or large pot suitable for frying can make a beignet recipe. They can look up the recipe on the Internet, or if their supermarket carries any Cajun food, they may be able to purchase cupcake mix in a box. These usually work well and take the guesswork out of making the batter. If using a regular pot with frying oil, the cook will need a good candy/fry thermometer to keep an eye on the oil temperature.
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