Doughnut

Bomboloni—small round Italian doughnuts—is almost as much fun to say as they are to eat. It's like a party in your mouth when you repeat the word, which you will be doing over and over between bites of these balloon-light spheres of the tenderest yeast dough. Bomboloni are the new hot item on restaurant menus these days, and you'll instantly understand why when you taste your first. It won't be your last, that's for sure, which is why we've accompanied them with three different sauces for dipping. Each is delightful on its own, but if you want to go all the way with all three, you'll find they play well together, too.

Brace yourself for an unbelievably adorable, moist, and perfectly sweet donut that will leave you breathless and endlessly happy. We're going to bake them, not deep-fry them! If you're OK with sugar, this should be your go-to recipe, as it yields a fantastically crispy outside that secures the light, pillowy inside. The donut here is shown with the cinnamon sugar topping .

For years before I opened Flour, I had a notebook where I kept menu ideas for when I finally had my own dream bakery. It was filled with all of the pastries I had read about in cookbooks, learned to make at my jobs, and savored on my travels. When it came time to write a menu for the bakery, I realized it was impossible to include everything I wanted to offer. These doughnuts barely made the cut. After all, we were opening less than a block away from an outpost of the ubiquitous Dunkin' Donuts chain. But they ended up being a Flour best-seller. I first learned how to make doughnuts at Payard. A French pastry chef taught me how to make doughnuts that make Americans swoon, though they scarcely resemble what you get at the competition down the street. We only make them on Sundays, and they sell out every week.

Like many delicious treats, this preparation takes a bit of time and planning. You can speed up the process of proofing the dough if you leave the dough covered at room temperature for an hour or so, instead of letting it rest in the refrigerator overnight.

Up until I was about 12 years old, my parents took my sister, Tracy, and me to Easter service at St. Louis Cathedral in Jackson Square. The only way they could keep us in check during mass was by bribing us to be good and quiet with promises of post-church beignets at Café de Monde across the street. We'd get so excited about the prospect of massive quantities of sugar that we probably would have done pretty much anything to ensure we got beignets before going home. Mom was a bit of a stickler when it came to sweets; I mean, at our house, Raisin Bran® was considered toeing the line of junk food! So you can only imagine how amped up we were at the mere prospect of real, honest-to-goodness fried dough piled sky-high with a mountain of powdered sugar. Like good southern kids we were dressed to the nines—me in my blue blazer, khakis, and white oxfords, Tracy in her Easter dress—and Mom, like all the proper matriarchs, with an Easter hat perched on her head that has a wingspan of at least 18 inches. No sooner had the crispy-fried beignets arrived than our holiday best was coated in a dusting of white powder, as it was our tradition to see who could blow the snowy confectioners' sugar off of the mountain of beignets and onto the other the quickest. After we'd made a complete mess of ourselves, we'd get down to business and devour our crispy-fried beignets, still hot from the fryer and so amazingly tender.

Turkey is a paradise for street-food fans, and when Feniger travels there, she especially loves nibbling on the airy doughnuts soaked in syrup that are offered by many vendors. She made them her own by lacing a basic cream-puff dough with cardamom and cinnamon. Dried rose hips steeped in the syrup add a little texture and tartness to the sticky, fragrant bites.

Brandy and apricots amp up the flavor of these fritters. The finishing touch? A dark-chocolate sauce.

Each of these incredibly tender golden puffs is like a warm little gift—break one open and be rewarded with the aroma of oranges and rose water. They're typically a yeast-leavened street food; Zadi's use of a choux paste "is a special touch, more for home cooking," he says. "And almond sugar belongs in the Algerian pastry lexicon."

This kid-friendly version of a classic French Christmas treat subs doughnut holes for the traditional cream puffs. They're attached to a Styrofoam base to form a tall cone, which can then be decorated with candy or artificial leaves bought at craft stores.

You'll be happy that these are generously sized, and that the recipe will leave you with a few extras. Tender textured, with an oozing cheese center, they're sure to be devoured before the frying oil has had a chance to cool down.

For the Mediterranean's Sephardic Jews, sweet fried pastries are as strong a tradition as potato latkes are for Eastern Europe's Ashkenazic Jews. The version here is distinctive for the addition of raisins and pine nuts, inspired by a Roman recipe.

While any yeast dough can be kneaded by hand, this one is done in a heavy-duty mixer with a dough-hook attachment — it's the fastest, easiest way to get the best texture. Use a clip-on deep-fry thermometer to gauge the oil temperature when frying these doughnuts: too low and they'll absorb oil, turning leaden and soggy; too high and they'll burn before the insides are cooked through.

Use a clip-on deep-fry thermometer to gauge the oil temperature when frying these doughnuts: too low and they'll absorb oil, turning leaden and soggy; too high and they'll burn before the insides are cooked through.

The tender texture of these cake doughnuts comes from folding in the dry ingredients gently by hand, rather than beating them in with a mixer. Use a clip-on deep-fry thermometer to gauge the oil temperature when frying these doughnuts: too low and they'll absorb oil, turning leaden and soggy; too high and they'll burn before the insides are cooked through.

These are great served warm for breakfast or even cold with cheese.

This recipe is an accompaniment for Mocha Custards with Buttermilk Doughnuts .