Leonard's Malasadas

These are sugary donuts with no hole. The WARM chocholate filled ones were hands-down the best thing I have ever eaten in my life!!!!!!!!!! (They are far superior to Krispy Kreme, which I dearly love.)

I saw this place on Food Network and made a point to go there while in Hawaii. It was to die for! Although the chocolate ones were best, I only have the recipe for the plain ones which were also delicious. Don't worry, figuring out how to make the chocolate ones is on my adgenda and it's pretty high up on the list!

Ingredients:

2 teaspoons dry active yeast

1/4 cup warm water

1 tablespoon sugar plus 1/3 cup sugar

2/3 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

4 eggs, well beaten

1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted

4 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

Vegatbel oil for frying

Cinnamon-sugar for coating (about 1/4 cup suagr mixed with cinnamon to taste)

Directions:

In a medium bowl, combine the yeast with 1/4 cup lukewarm water and 1 tablesppon of sugar. Mix until the yeast dissolves then set aside for 5 minutes. Stir the milk, vanilla, eggs and butter and reserve.

In a large bowl, mix the flour with the 1/3 cup of sugar, salt and nutmeg. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients. Pour the yeast and milk mixture into the well. Mix the wet ingredients into the dry, forming a soft, smooth dough. Cover the dough with a clean towel and set aside to rise in a warm place until dough doubles in size, about one hour. (A good place that is warm, is the back portion of your stove top after you have been using your oven. Also, depending on the humidity, it may take them longer to rise. Use your eyes and do not rely on the time alone.)

Punch the dough down, then with oiled fingers, pinch off pieces about the size of golf balls. Place the dough balls on greased baking sheets. Cover the malasadas with a clean towel and set aside to rise in a warm place for about 15 minutes.

In a heavy, high-sided pot (or electric fryer if you have one) heat about 2-inches of oil over medium to medium-high heat until the oil reaches 325 degrees F. Working in small batches, fry the malasadas until they are uniformly golden brown, 7-10 minutes per batch. Drain the malasadas on a plate lined with paper towels just until they are cool enough to handle, then roll in cinnamon-sugar and serve.

To help you, check out the website for photos of them being made....

http://www.leonardshawaii.com/malasadas.html

Recipe courtesy Chef Leonard Rego, Leonard's Bakery - Hawaii

No Bake Twix Cheesecake

Ingredients:

1 prepared chocolate pie crust

1 jar of Hershey's caramel sauce (located with ice cream toppings)

1 small bag of pecan pieces 

1 box of no bake plain cheesecake (Kroger brand works fine)

1 1/2 cup milk

3 packages of Twix

1. Place a small saucepan filled 2/3 full of water on stove on medium heat for 5 minutes.

2. Turn off heat. Remove lid from caramel sauce and place in water. Let caramel sit for 3-5 minutes or until warm so it is easier to pour.

3. Chop up half of the Twix bars in very thin pieces.

4. Pour a thin layer of caramel in the bottom of the pie crust.

5. Put chopped Twix on top of caramel in bottom of pie crust.

6. Prepare the cheesecake filling from the box as directed. Check box because the amount of milk required may be more or less depending on what brand you use. Typically you pour milk into mixing bowl and then add filing mix. Beat with hand mixer on medium speed for 3 minutes so filling thickens.

7. Pour filling into pie crust on top of caramel and Twix and refrigerate uncovered for one hour.

8. Chop remaining Twix into slightly larger pieces.

9. Remove cheesecake from fridge after one hour. Scatter Twix and nuts on top. Drizzle caramel on top. (The cheesecake pictured below has too much caramel on it. I didn't realize how much I had used until I pulled it out of the freezer so drizzle with caution!) If you need to heat it up in order to be able to pour it, only heat it slightly. You do not want it to be hot or even moderately warm.

10. Place in fridge for 2-3 hours or in the freezer for about 1 hour. The cheesecake needs to cool all the way through before serving.