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Last summer I got a new bike for my birthday. Besides being a gift that I really wanted,  going to the store to be fitted for my bike was a bit of a present, too. Martin chose a Dutch bike for me that’s only sold at a handful of places including a store on Toronto’s Bloor Street near the University of Toronto campus.

The staff, besides being knowledgeable about bikes, is also young and painfully fashionable in a nerdy way. In fact, the sales person I dealt with directly was a walking iteration of Ned Flanders’ younger brother: over-sized, brown framed specs,  70’s moustache – his style was so ironically hip, it hurt!

Just like those crazy moustaches hipsters are wearing these days, ironic foods have a place in our current food landscape, too. From doughnuts on fine dining dessert menus, mac and cheese with truffle oil, fancy meatloaf concoctions and the fried chicken I mentioned earlier this week on these pages, elevating retro, originally homey or down market favs has never been more popular.

What about at home?  When you entertain do you find yourself glamming up retro favs or do you try to pull off four star restaurant panache?  I’ve definitely  been enjoying making ‘ultimate’ versions of old favs such as pizza and tacos at my parties. In fact, just recently, I had a very fun dinner party where I made three kinds of gourmet burgers (chicken, beef and lamb) and home made hamburger buns to match. Dessert was brownies and butter tarts. I think we all enjoyed it as much as any more formal, three course meal I could have made.

PS: I borrowed this montage of 70’s moustaches as sported by actors both old and new from the blog Alice Q. Foodie where you can find lots of posts about food and a few about moustaches.

Off Topic Announcement:  I’m thrilled to have been chosen as one of Makefive.com’s best Canadian bloggers. It’s doubly exciting since I’m the only food blog featured. Please drop by their site and make a comment or vote for your favs.

I love any excuse to eat something delicious so I was very happy to discover that next Monday, June 1st will be doughnut day!

Although this calendar observance is an American tradition that dates back to World War One when Salvation Army volunteers cooked up doughnuts in foxholes to cheer American army troops, I’m embracing this sticky tradition in the name of Canada. After all, we have a long tradition of being not only excellent doughnut makers, but also voracious consumers of classic Tim Horton’s Donuts, Ottawa Beaver Tails and Canada’s Wonderland Funnel Cakes. In fact, according to Wikipedia, Canadians are the highest per capita doughnut consumers in the world. And, not surprisingly, we’re also the country with the most doughnut shops per capita, too.

Although this easy access to doughnuts is a comfort to me and many other Canadians, I have to say that the ultimate doughnut experience is not found in a doughnut shop but at home where you can fry up the dough, glaze the golden little ‘O’s a few minutes later and then gobble up the doughnuts while they’re still warm. In my opinion, that’s what it means to be a happy Canuck!

How often do you eat a doughnut? I eat them only once or twice a year but when I do, it’s always a happy day!

If you’d like to try your hand at making doughnuts in honour of Doughnut Day, here’s a recipe I developed for last year’s Bakefest Recipe Booklet. I hate to brag, but I think it’s one of the best classic doughnut recipes you’ll find!

Classic Glazed Donuts

Dough:
1 pkg (8 g) Fleishmann’s Traditional Yeast
1/4 cup (60 mL) warm water, about 115ºF (47ºC)
1 tsp (5 mL) Bee Hive Golden Corn Syrup
1/2 cup (125 mL) milk
1 Naturegg Omega 3 Shell Egg, beaten
1/4 cup (60 mL) Lactantia Unsalted Butter, melted
3 cups (750 mL) all-purpose flour (approx.)
1 tsp (5 mL) salt
1/4 cup (60mL) granulated sugar
6 cups (1.5 L) Mazola 100 % Pure Canola or Corn Oil

Glaze:
1/4 cup (60 mL) Bee Hive Golden Corn Syrup
1/4 cup (60 mL) warm water
1 1/3 cups (325 mL) icing sugar
1 tbsp (15 mL) Lactantia Unsalted Butter, melted
1 tsp (5 mL) vanilla

1. Dough: Blend the yeast with the warm water and syrup; let stand for 2 minutes. Whisk the milk with the egg and melted butter. Reserve. Meanwhile, place the flour, salt and sugar in a food processor. With the motor running, blend in the yeast and milk mixtures just until the dough begins to form a ball.

2. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 2 to 3 minutes or until smooth and elastic. Sprinkle with additional flour, if necessary, to prevent sticking. Cover and let rise for 1 1/2 hours. Punch down the dough; cover tightly and refrigerate overnight.

3. Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface until 1/2–inch (1 cm) thick. Cut donut shapes using a 3 1/2-inch (8 cm) donut cutter (or a large and a small round cookie cutter). Re-roll the scraps once to make additional donuts (cut any remaining dough into donut holes). Cover donuts with a kitchen towel and let rise in a warm place for 30 minutes.

4. Glaze: Blend the corn syrup, water, butter, icing sugar and vanilla until smooth. Reserve.

5. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a wok or Dutch oven until it reaches at least 325ºF (160ºC) but doesn’t exceed 350ºF (180ºC). Gently lower 3 donuts at a time into the oil; fry for 3 to 4 minutes per side or until golden. Lift from hot oil and dip into glaze. Coat all over and transfer to a rack set over a baking tray to cool. Makes 8 donuts, plus donut holes.