New Year Doughnuts

We're deep into New Year's preparations this morning. There's salad to be chopped, coconuts to be cracked, ice cream to be made, and even a few gifts to be opened. New Year's is a big deal for us (and for any Russians), the most beloved holiday.

Before we leap into the new year, we'd like to share these festive little doughnuts with you.
Glazing and sprinkling them with different colours gave us a good dose of holiday cheer. They turned out quite photogenic, and Paloma was very excited when we put the pretty plateful in front of her.

Taste-wise, they are extremely rich and satisfying, much like regular doughnuts. And as long as we are on the subject of doughnuts, I cannot resist mentioning this fascinating article by Sarma.
And so, we wish you a Happy New Year. Thank you so much for visiting Golubka in 2011, your support means the world to us. Here's to a happy and healthy 2012.


Doughnuts
2 cups cashews - soaked for four hours, or more
1/2 cup Irish moss - thoroughly rinsed and soaked in hot water for at least 10 minutes
1 cup water
1/2 cup raw honey
2 tablespoons maca powder - optional
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sprouted pecan butter or other nut butter/oil
2 tablespoons almonds - ground
3/4 cup flax seeds - ground

In a high speed blender, mix together all but the last two ingredients until very smooth. Transfer the mixture to a bowl. Add the ground almonds and flax seeds, mix thoroughly. Using a wet ice-cream scooper, scoop a ball of the mixture onto a Teflex-covered dehydrator tray. Flatten slightly with wet fingers and make a hole using a wet round tip of a pipping bag or an apple core remover. It is important to dip the ice-cream scooper and the piping bag into water every time before scooping out the next doughnut. You can reform any dough you have remaining from the doughnut holes. Dehydrate at 115F overnight. Remove the Teflex and continue to dehydrate until the doughnuts are dry enough and ready to be glazed. Keep refrigerated after glazing.

Glaze
We used Artisana coconut butter for the base of the glaze. Place the jar into warm water to soften the butter up. In separate bowls, mix the butter with the flavours listed below. Add raw agave syrup or another preferred sweetener to taste.

raw cacao powder
freeze dried strawberries
acai powder
fresh blueberries
dried apricots

Sprinkles
shredded coconut, cacao nibs, dried apricots, freeze dried strawberries and cherries