My Mom passed away far too young, at the age of 69, after a very brief cancer journey. In the almost 11 years since her passing, I’ve learned to be grateful for the journey. I spent as much time as I could with her and we both said things we needed to say. Lots of love was shared and yes, lots of laughs. My Mom was a very classy woman, she didn’t like trashy movies or tv shows. So I was very surprised when I crawled into bed with her one night after chemotherapy and she was all hyped to watch The Bachelor and Cops! This was a whole different side to my Mom! I teased her about that a lot! I saw my Mom cry only once during her illness and it was only because she had received a card from her niece. The tears were happy ones, she too was grateful for the family and friends who showered us all with love.
My Mom was raised on a farm in northern Alberta. She was a farm wife (and teacher) and all three of us kids were born on the farm. My Mom learned to cook the old-fashioned country way … by feel and smell. I’ve often wished that I’d paid more attention to how my Mom cooked. Unfortunately, that old saying is right … you don’t know what you’ve got ‘til it’s gone! But, since Mom’s passing, I’ve learned to cook many of her old standards. I’ve learned that when the recipe says “add flour ‘til it feels right” to not be scared and to try, try again. This is one of those recipes: potato doughnuts!
What’s different about these doughnuts is that they begin with a base of mashed potatoes. I don’t have exact flour measurements to share with you but I’ll try my best to give a good description. One other note: we only make these at Christmas which is what makes them so special. And, because we only do this once each year, I make a triple batch and up with about 200 doughnuts and doughnut holes. Here we go …
Mom’s Potato Doughnuts
2 cups mashed potatoes, warm
2 cups sugar
2 tablespoons margarine
1 cup milk
5 cups flour (approximately) + extra for kneading
2 heaping teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 teaspoon salt
1. Peel and chop potatoes. Cover with water and boil until soft. Do not add salt to your water.
2. Mash the potatoes very well, you don’t want any lumps. To the warm potatoes, add the margarine and sugar and stir until both have melted in with the potatoes. The mixture will be very wet.
3. Add the milk and mix well.
4. In a separate bowl, mix 3 cups of flour with the baking powder and salt. Mix with the wet potato mixture.
5. The dough will be quite wet and sticky at this point. Put some of the dough onto a well-floured surface. Add large pinches of flour and knead the dough. When it “feels right” is when the dough is sticky but not too sticky. I’m thinking that bakers who are experienced in bread making will know the feel.
6. Roll the dough out to about a ¾” thickness and cut with a doughnut cutter.
7. Heat the oil in a deep fryer to 180F. Fry the doughnuts and holes until they are a nice golden brown.
8. Cover a wire rack with paper towel so the hot doughnuts can cool and the towel can absorb some of the grease.
9. Repeat with your remaining wet dough. Just adding enough flour to get that sticky/not sticky consistency. Don’t over-knead or add to much flour … your doughnuts will be tough.
When my parents made doughnuts, it was an all-day affair. Their small deep fryer could only handle 3-4 doughnuts at most! My youngest son has taken on the annual job of being the chief doughnut fryer. Fryers are larger now and he manages 2 of them so he’s putting through 12-15 doughnuts at a time! This year his lovely girlfriend came to help and to learn about frying … next year, she’s going to learn what the dough feels like!
What does Norma say about Mom’s Potato Donuts? Slightly sweet and somehow dense and light at the same time these donuts are potatoey perfection! I had the ones that Shelley’s Mom made and I’ve had the ones that Shelley makes and I can tell you it really is possible to pack love and tradition into a little piece of deep fried goodness!
TEMPTATION LEVEL out of 10: Be warned—they go down like popcorn, one tastes like ten more! 10 out of 10.
Recent Comments