Beignet: It's What's Hot in Dessert
Things always seem to happen in threes. Or, more likely, it takes something happening thrice for me to notice it. The latest triple redundancy that I've spotted is beignets, the fluffy powdered sugar-covered balls of deep-fried sweet dough, which seem to be enjoying a sudden renaissance. Or, more likely, it's just that this time last year--pre-economic meltdown--I was sitting in a shaded corner of the crowded terrace at Cafe Du Monde in New Orleans, noshing little puffy doughnuts and thinking I still had disposable income, so now I'm feeling a little nostalgic for that delicious caprice.
Either way, within the past week, I've encountered beignets at 1808 Grille in the new Hutton Hotel, at Cajun Steamer in Cools Springs and at Wild Bill's Beignets & Bikes downtown. I've tasted 1808's banana-stuffed version, brought to the table in a brown paper bag with powdered sugar and served with a twee squeeze bottle of cinnamon cream. I've also devoured Cajun Steamer's beignets with caramel sauce and homemade coffee ice cream. (Frankly, that ice cream could be the crowning glory of the whole beignet revival.) I haven't been to Wild Bill's yet, but I'm eager to try his, because he says he has the actual recipe from CDM, though he won't say how he got it and he promises it's not the mix they sell to tourists.
Has anyone else encountered good beignets lately? If you were staging a Battle of the Beignets, which would be hard since beignets do not travel, who would you include?
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