They're Poisoned! Boysenberry Beignets

At the very beginning of Game of Thrones, the Hand of the King was poisoned: Jon Arryn. Unfortunately, there are things hidden in food even in the kitchen. Our Hand of the Kitchen found this out the hard way when she bit into one of our fluffy beignets. They were boysened! 

That's right, boysenberry jam filled beignets. This beignet recipe makes enough to feed the whole kingdom, but watch out. You don't want to lose your Hand of the Kitchen to a boysened beignet.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups lukewarm water

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 envelope or 2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast

2 eggs

1 1/4 tsp salt

1 cup evaporated milk

7 cups bread flour

1/4 cup shortening

Oil, for deep-frying

3 cups powdered sugar

2 cups boysenberry jam (seedless is easiest)

Step 1: Pour lukewarm water into a large glass bowl. Stir in granulated sugar. Carefully stir in yeast. Let mixture stand for 10 minutes.

Step 2: In a separate bowl, mix together eggs, salt, and evaporated milk. After the yeast mixture has sat 10 minutes, add egg mixture and stir together.

Step 3: In a separate bowl, measure out bread flour. Add 3 cups of flour to the yeast mixture. Stir in. Next stir in shortening and then slowly add the rest of the flour while stirring.

Step 4: Remove dough from bowl and place on a lightly floured surface. Knead dough until smooth.

Step 5: Spray a large glass bowl with nonstick spray and place kneaded dough in bowl. Cover with a towel or plastic wrap and let sit in a warm place for at least 2 hours.

Step 6: Preheat oil in a large pot to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. *If you can't check the temperature of the oil, then use a small piece of dough to check if the oil is hot enough.

Step 7: Roll dough out to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut into squares about 1 1/2 inches wide. Deep-fry, flipping the beignets constantly, until brown. It should take about 3-5 minutes per beignet. Make sure not to overcrowd your beignets in the fryer. Remove from fryer and place on a plate covered by at least two paper towels. 

Step 8: To insert the filling -- Using a toothpick or any other small object, puncture a hole into the side of the beignet. Put jam in a piping bag with a round pastry tip. If you have a small round tip, make sure you're using seedless jam as seeds will need a larger tip to fit through. Insert the piping tip into the hole in the side of the beignet and squeeze out some jam. You'll probably have to do a couple of practice beignets to figure out exactly how much jam to push out of the bag.

Step 9: Sift powdered sugar over your beignets and serve.

This recipe makes a lot of beignets, but don't worry. If you don't want to make all of them at once, store the dough in the refrigerator for up to 36 hours. Enjoy!