I did not like doughnuts as a child. Repeat DID NOT. I could never understand why it was a “treat” if someone brought a box of doughnuts to school or a sleepover. This may sound weird coming from a self proclaimed sweet tooth, but I thought they were too sweet. They were cloyingly sweet to be exact. To add to the unpleasant, tooth-aching sweetness, the dough lacked flavor and the glaze would always flake off in unattractive bits all over your clothes. Despite this dislike for doughnuts, there was one exception. I loved plain cake doughnuts. There was no sweet, flaky glaze on them and they basically tasted like lightly sweetened pound cake. They were totally my jam.
If I’ve learned anything over the past few years, it’s that I can improve upon foods by making them in my kitchen with my own two hands. That philosophy coupled with my distaste for doughnuts and the splurge purchase of a doughnut pan led to these espresso banana doughnuts. They are baked and have a much more complex flavor than anything you can buy at the corner doughnut shop. Aside from tasting awesome, they are both gluten free and vegan. If you don’t have a doughnut pan, you can still make some killer muffins out of these. Just make sure to watch the baking time.
…
Back in January, around the time of my birthday, I was given a small bag of homegrown Eureka lemons. I was pretty excited considering I love anything homegrown, especially if it’s given to me. I set about thinking up a way in which I wanted to preserve them. I briefly thought about a small batch of marmalade, but this particular type of lemon isn’t well suited for that, and it would have taken a huge amount of effort for only a very small return. It was when I spied a much forgotten Moroccan cookbook on my shelf that I had a “Eureka” moment. (please forgive the corny pun, or don’t and laugh hysterically like I just did…)
