Chocolate French Crullers with Raspberry Glaze

I received my subscription of Food & Wine magazine for the month of February and was inspired to make these after reading their Chocolate-Raspberry French Crullers with Fudge Glaze recipe. I tweaked it to my liking and was pleasantly surprised with the outcome. I live at an elevation of 7,700, so this recipe made double what it was supposed to make. If you live at sea level, this recipe might make 10-15 donuts, but I made over 20!

Cocoa Crullers-

1 1/2 c. water

1/2 c. unsalted butter

1/4 c. sugar

1/2 t. salt

1 c. all purpose flour

1/4 c. unsweetened cocoa

4 large eggs

safflower oil or your oil of choice, for frying

Raspberry Glaze-

1/4 c. unsalted butter

2 Tbsp. + 1 t. whole milk

1 1/2 c. powdered sugar

1/8-1/4 t. salt

2-3 raspberries, smashed (fresh or freeze dried) *I used fresh here

For the crullers: First prep 10-20 parchment squares (cut individually into 4×4 squares). Then get oil ready on the stove in medium to large pan with 2 inches of oil in bottom of pan; heat to medium (about 350 degrees). This may need adjustment mid frying if gets too hot.

Dough batter: Combine first four ingredients in medium saucepan; bring to a boil over medium until all melted together. Remove from heat and vigorously stir in cocoa and flour until no more flour is showing and mixture begins to form a sort of ball. Return to heat over medium and cook stirring constantly for about 2-3 more minutes until dough starts to pull away from sides of pan and a sort of thin film is forming on bottom of pan.

Transfer hot dough to stand mixer with paddle and beat on medium high until no longer steaming, about 1-2 minutes. Reduce mixer speed to medium; beat in eggs one at a time for about 30 seconds each egg. Dough should become smooth and glossy by the time all eggs are incorporated. **The dough is ready once you can draw a line in it with your finger and it slowly starts to cave in on itself.

Transfer dough into large piping bag or Pampered Chef piping tool fitted with the star attachment. Pipe thick 3.5 inch circles onto the prepared parchment papers.

Before you start frying the crullers, mix up the easy raspberry glaze.

Raspberry Glaze:

Microwave the butter for about 45 seconds until melted; whisk the milk, the sifted powdered sugar, and salt into the butter until smooth. Stir in the smashed raspberries. This may have to be rewarmed as you want to dip the delicate crullers into the glaze without any thick resistance.

Final steps to the beautiful glazed cruller results:

Working with one parchment square at a time, careful invert into oil, dough side down. The paper should release within 10 seconds or so, if doesn’t release within seconds then slightly increase the temperature of the oil. Sometimes I even let the paper come off on its own just to see that no batter would stick. Fry cruller for about 2-3 minutes per side, gently flipping with tongs or slotted spatula, until slightly puffed and cooked through. Transfer fried cruller to wire rack and dip in warm glaze immediately. Feel free to indulge warm or cool, both options are astronomically great!