donuts

Star Wars Days 2026

May the Fourth Be With You! (But watch out for the Revenge of the Fifth!!!)

We have once again enjoyed a duo of Star Wars Days, starting yesterday with a breakfast of Circumtore Hoops (buttermilk donuts flavored with nutmeg and topped with a vanilla glaze and freeze-dried strawberries) from Star Wars: The Ultimate Cookbook. I also made Huyang Tea, which was flavored with coconut milk and honey, from the new Star Wars: Galactic Drinks book.

We had a snack of Kullgroon Drops (frozen grapes tossed with blue raspberry Jell-O) from Star Wars: The Ultimate Cookbook. I don’t even like grapes, but I thought these were really good…freezing them makes a ton of difference!

For dinner we had our favorite Ronto Wraps made with pork tenderloin, sausages, a tangy slaw, and a spicy peppercorn sauce on homemade flatbreads, just like we had at Galaxy’s Edge at Disney World!

To go with dinner, I made Yocola Azalus, a kiwi and matcha based drink from Star Wars: The Ultimate Cookbook:

And for dessert, blue raspberry flavored Csaplar Shakes from Star Wars: The Ultimate Cookbook:

Of course I had a fashion for the day…I wore the same skirt as last year, and added a new pair of earrings also inspired by Padmé: 

For the Revenge of the Fifth, we had “Darth Donuts,” my own creation that was a twist on the previous day’s recipe for breakfast.

For dinner, I made Sakhet’s Special from Star Wars: The Ultimate Cookbook. It featured soba noodles topped with steak and a sweet sauce made with tamari, mirin, ginger, and sesame oil.

Our drink was the Red Kyber Crystal from the new Star Wars: Galactic Drinks book. The main flavors were watermelon and mint, and included a Pop Rocks coated piece of watermelon on top!

I made Nectrose Crystals, a homemade candy from the Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge cookbook:

Which went on dessert, the Mimbanese Mudslide. from the same cookbook. It’s chocolate pudding with a touch of cinnamon and topped with whipped cream and crushed Oreos in addition to the candy:

This is one of favorite celebrations of the year, and I love coming up with menus and trying new things for it!

Pfannkuchen for Fasching

It’s Berliner season!

Bunny and I made a trio of varieties this year, starting with a Milano Cortina 2026 fusion flavor that was filled with cannoli filling in honor of the host country of the Olympics:

We also made plum butter Berliner, filled with homemade Pflaumenmus, which was sehr lecker!

And our final variety was filled with our favorite Guinness mousse and topped with a chocolate glaze:

It was a tasty trio!

As long as I was already frying donuts, I also made German Mutzen from the Rhineland, which turned out very much like beignets:

And here’s a bonus look at our Mardi Gras dinner of “Bayou Queen Punch” and “Tiana’s Famous Gumbo” from Entertaining with Disney:

We had a nice day of feasting, and now we’re ready for Lent!

Tasty Tuesday–New Berliner Flavors for Fastnacht

Now that I’ve been making Berliner for a few years, I feel pretty comfortable with the process of frying and filling them, so this year, I decided to focus on creating new flavor combinations! First I made a Black Forest variety, filled with the cherry topping from my Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte and topped with a chocolate glaze. Next up was s’mores, filled with marshmallow fluff and topped with the same chocolate glaze plus crushed graham crackers. Finally, I made Lebkuchen-inspired Berliner, filled with a gingerbread mousse and topped with a white chocolate glaze and crushed spice cookies.

I also made some traditional jelly filled donuts with blackberry jam:

I’m looking forward to coming up with more flavors in the future!

Tasty Tuesday–A Trio of Berliner for Fasching

Making donuts during the Karneval season is no longer a surprise around here (I started by trying my hand at Pączki in 2021, and then moved on to Berliner, which I’ve been making ever since), but I’ve never made three varieties at once before! This year, I decided to make a double batch of Zitronen Berliner (lemon donuts), and since I had 24 of them to work with, I thought we should try some different fillings. I started with homemade lemon pudding, and dusted the donuts with powdered sugar:

Next I made a homemade vanilla custard filing, and also a chocolate glaze for the top:

And finally, an old classic, filled with plum jam and sprinkled with granulated sugar:

They were all delicious, and honestly, I’m not even sure which ones I liked best, but I’m always thinking of even more tasty fillings!

Tasty Tuesday–The Fourth Disney Dinner

Our fourth Disney Dinner (which was thankfully not a disaster!) was The Princess and the Frog themed. We started, as always, with a drink…Bayou Queen Punch. I made one adjustment to the recipe…since we’re not millionaires, I substituted ginger beer for the ginger juice, which was prohibitively expensive. The drink was refreshing and perfect for summer!

Our main course was Tiana’s Famous Gumbo. I’ve made gumbo before, so this wasn’t totally new, but the preparation was a bit different for this recipe, and I really liked it!

For dessert, I made “Man-Catching Beignets.” It’s not the first time I’ve made this variety of donut, but it’s been so long, I’m not sure any of the children really remembered them, so they were looking forward to trying them…beignets are definitely a hit here!

This was an excellent dinner after a disappointing previous attempt…now I just have to decide what we’re having next!

Tasty Tuesday-Mardi Gras

Happy Mardi Gras! I decided to do something a little different this year, so instead of buying or making Pączki, I made Berliner. They’re practically the same donut (I think the main difference is that the Berliner dough is made with less eggs), and they reflect our family’s ethnic heritage, plus they’re super delicious! I filled them with homemade custard, and made a chocolate glaze to go on top:

For dinner, I made cajun stuffed peppers with a side of hush puppies:

I baked a King Cake for dessert…it’s been many years since I attempted this, and I don’t remember being impressed with it the last time, but this year, it was a huge hit!

Laissez les bons temps rouler!

Tasty Tuesday–Tim Hortons Comes to St. Louis

The big day is finally here…St. Louis now has a Tim Hortons!

Now, I’ve never been to a Tim Hortons before. I’ve heard a lot about it, and how awesome it is, especially the Timbits, so I was looking forward to finally trying it for myself. I certainly wasn’t disappointed! Although it was extremely busy, the line moved fairly quickly, and we soon had an assortment of donuts and Timbits, plus some Nutella pockets and a coffee for me. It was all amazing! I really liked the way the restaurant was decorated, too, with a little local flair, and the employees were very friendly and helpful.

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I’m looking forward to visiting Tim Hortons again…but maybe when it’s slightly less crowded, so we can actually sit down and enjoy our treats in the store!