Margarita Donuts

Ingredients:
(Doughnuts)
2 cups pastry flour
1/4 cup rice flour (or, all-purpose if you don’t have rice flour)
2 t baking powder
2 eggs
1/3 c sugar
1 T unsalted butter, softened
a pinch of salt
1 T lime zest
1/3 c milk
canola oil, if frying
(Tequila Lime Glaze)
1 cup icing sugar
juice from 1 lime
a drizzle of good tequila

Directions:
Sift the flours and baking powder together. Set aside. In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, sugar and butter. Add about 1/2 of the flour mixture to the egg mixture, along with the lime zest and salt. Then, add the milk and stir with a wooden spoon until the flour is absorbed. Add the remaining flour and continue to stir until you have a soft dough. Add a little more flour if the dough is too sticky. Shape into a ball, and cover with plastic wrap (or seal the dough in a ziplock bag) and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Place a fine-weave (not terry) towel on a baking sheet and dust lightly with flour (You can also use parchment, but I’ve found cloth works slightly better). When the dough is done resting, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and roll to 1/2 inch thick, or about the width of one of my fingers (I don’t know what size hands you have!) Cut out the doughnuts with a lightly floured cutter. You can use a biscuit cutter or even a glass, but they should be about 3 inches in diameter. If you are making regularly shaped doughnuts, use a smaller cutter (1 inch) or the back-side of a large pastry tip to punch out the hole. If you are going to fill the doughnut with the lime curd, just press down the center until it is as thin as you can make it without actually breaking through (it’s going to rise up a lot when you cook it). Set each doughnut and its hole on the floured towel, and cover. Once you are done cutting them all out, let them rest for about 15 minutes.

Now is a good time to make the glaze. Sift the icing sugar to break up any big chunks, and then add the lime juice. Stir a little to moisten, and then add the tequila a teany-tiny bit at a time, stirring until you get the right consistency for the glaze. It should be fairly thick, but just pourable.

Start to heat your oil to 375F (or your oven to 375F**). You need about 2 inches of oil in the pot. I like to use a small dutch oven… while I can only fry one (two at the most) doughnuts at a time, it uses less oil and is easier to clean up. And, since I’m only making a few doughnuts in a batch, a few extra minutes to do batches isn’t really a problem. When the oil is hot enough, carefully drop in a doughnut and let it cook about 1 minute on each side. The dough should turn a light golden brown… if it is dark, your oil is probably too hot. Flip the doughnut over and cook for another minute. (Doughnut holes may take a little less time, but follow the same procedure) Use a slotted spoon to lift the doughnut from the pot, let it drain off the oil, and then place on a paper towel to absorb any remaining oil. Repeat. Let the doughnuts cool for about 5 minutes.

To glaze, you can either dip the tops or use a pastry brush to lightly coat the tops. If you are using the lemon curd, fill the little indentation that you made. Then, add the lime zest and Fleur de Sel as desired. These are best if served immediately.