Its been awhile since I’ve posted. Over these recent months I took a big step and launched my business, City Girl Cook, LLC, a food service. I’ve been baking up a storm. There was flour in places I never knew flour could reach, in my kitchen of course. Turning gifts into earnings was exciting but furthermore completing a big goal felt good. Felt good in my quarantined bones. My mom gifted me this wooden spoon that I frequently use that says, ” Using my gift to serve others”. I really want to live by that in life and business. Admittedly, its weird I separate the two, but I have my reasons. So, I wanted to use this space that I share with you to declare it. What better way to start off a declaration and a day than with something sweet?

I slept until noon today. I haven’t slept in that late in quite some time. Another lesson of business are the slower days. This was one of them. Although not my favorite they can be equal in returns, in different ways, resulting in more sleep, self care, meditation and Netflix. I made a mimosa and put a little extra energy into brunch, even going as far as changing the table cloth. In place of the usual french toast I elected for the sweet deep fried doughy goodness of beignets. I also whipped up some lemon banana cream to pipe into them hot out of the pan and dusted with lots of snowflake like confectioners sugar. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

• Butter (1/2 cup)
• Sugar (2 teaspoons)
• Salt (1/4 teaspoon)
• Water (1 cup)
• Flour (1 cup)
• Eggs (4 medium to large)
• Egg Whites (2 medium to large)
• Vegetable Oil

Instructions:

1. In a large deep pot mix together butter, sugar, salt, and water until all ingredients are dissolved and boiling.
2. Add flour to boiling mixture and stir until thoroughly blended into dough.
3. Transfer dough to a mixing bowl and add in eggs. *I used a hand mixer for this step to ensure eggs were mixed completely.
4. Add egg whites to mixture.
5. Hand roll dough into ball shapes (similar to the size of ping pong balls). You can roll about 15-18 with this recipe.
6. In a frying pan heat about 2 inches of oil.
7. Fry the beignets for about 3 to 4 minutes, turning until golden on all sides.
8. Transfer to paper towel lined rack.

If skipping the cream filling simply dust with confectioners sugar and serve. The sooner the better. Its always been my opinion that pastries taste the best when warm, serving shortly after cooking is complete.

Lemon Banana Cream Ingredients:

• Butter, softened (2 tablespoons)
• Cream Cheese (1/2 cup)
• Ricotta (2 tablespoons)
• Banana Extract (1 teaspoon)
• Vanilla Extract (1 teaspoon)
• Lemon Juice ( 2 teaspoons)
• Confectioners Sugar (1 cup)

Lemon Banana Cream Instructions:

1. In a medium mixing bowl mix together butter, cream cheese, and ricotta.
2. Add extracts, lemon juice, and confectioners sugar. *You can add more sugar to get a thicker textured cream.
3. Gently pipe into each beignet.
4. Dust with confectioners sugar and serve.