Earl Grey Quinoa Doughnuts

Earthy, lightly sweetened baked doughnuts made with quinoa flour and cooked quinoa grain, mixed with pink sea salt cashew milk infused with earl grey tea.

This is the breakfast slash dessert of our Late November menu, and truly, it could go either way. These are nearly savory doughnuts save for the lightly sweetened whipped cream topping and powdered cardamom sugar on top. In fact, to say they are 'sweet doughnuts' is completely inaccurate. They're complex and earthy thanks to steeped earl grey tea and quinoa flour in addition to some cooked quinoa. And I think that's what keeps you coming back for seconds (or thirds) with these doughnuts: you can't quite grasp the flavor profile on the first bite. The texture is just what you want in a portable cake doughnut: moist, but not sticky and with a crumb texture, but not crumbly.  Oh and I guess I should address the edible gold leaf. Totally unnecessary but when you've got it on hand, why the hell not jazz up a doughnut?  

Beyond the quinoa and earl grey tea, there are some more subtle flavors and ingredients within the recipe. We went into this recipe knowing pink sea salt felt right and would look beautiful. And then we went into the grocery store and saw actual enormous pink sea salt rocks that came with their own grater and bought them. I have no idea when we will actually need this much pink sea salt, but if you have a need...we've got you covered. Some people go impulse shopping for clothes, but for us it's more of a grocery store situation.

For the liquid base of the doughnuts we went with a cashew milk sweetened with dates and with a little more sea salt. There are a few cashew milks on the market right now, but we went ahead and made a batch at home for this recipe plus a beverage we have coming up on the blog. 

Earl Grey Quinoa Doughnuts

Makes 7 medium baked doughnuts

/// Ingredients /// 

• 1 cup whole wheat white flour, minus 2 tablespoons
• ½ cup quinoa flour (we used Bob's Red Mill brand)
• 2 tablespoons corn starch
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoons pink Himalayan salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom plus additional 1/2 teaspoon
• 3/4 cup sugar 
• 1 T melted butter
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup cooked quinoa (make sure to rinse it before cooking or it will be bitter!)
• 4 bags earl grey tea
• 1 cup cashew milk (1 1/2 c raw cashews, water, splash cider vinegar, salt)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 tablespoons powdered sugar

/// Directions ///

To make cashew milk: soak raw cashews with about 1 cup filtered water (to cover cashews) in a non-reactive bowl. Add a teaspoon sea salt and a splash of cider vinegar. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and leave at room temperature for two hours to soak. Drain and rinse. Add to blender with 3 cups filtered water, a pinch of pink sea salt, 3 soft pitted dates and blend until completely smooth. Strain and store liquid in fridge for 3 days.  To infuse, measure 1 cup cashew milk into a glass and microwave until just warm. Add 4 earl grey tea bags and steep for several minutes. Remove tea bags without squeezing.

To make doughnuts: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Add four and quinoa flour, corn starch, baking powder, salt, sugar and 1 1/2 teaspoons cardamom together and sift into a large bowl. In a food processor, add melted butter, eggs, cooked quinoa, cashew milk and vanilla. Process until smooth. Pour wet ingredients into the dry ingredient bowl and mix until combined. Fill doughnut pans about 2/3 of the way full. Bake for about 12 minutes or until a toothpick or cake tester comes out clean. Leave in pan on stove for additional 5 minutes. Invert onto cooling rack. Sift powdered sugar and cardamom onto doughnuts. And if you're wild, add edible gold leaf. Serve with lightly sweetened whipped cream. 

And before you go, enjoy this look into the reality of our working relationship when it comes to hand model needs.

Photo one: Chris: "Hey reach and grab the doughnut....No. More supple and gentle looking."

Carlene: response seen in photo two.