Matcha baked doughnuts

musicals, new spots, and old favourites

A short absence for a full moon of happenings. Let’s dive.

Food news of the week:

Nostalgia road all the way to Sunday in Islington for my all-time favourite french toast (pictured below) amongst other things. No but really, I’ve been coming here for the past 8 years, and their standards haven’t twitched, their mainstays evolving into my own brunch benchmarks. Then it’s on to new and cute 64 Goodge Street with Zoe, doing big favours for the world with their soft, red squab pigeon (review below), the dessert tray at Maison Francois (talk for which will be saved for the next few weeks), and the pork chop at Norma, if ‘juicy’ and ‘fatty’ speak to your soul. Finally, matcha doughnuts (pictured above) for today’s fall-transition recipe.

Ladies and gents, Her

Science news of the week:

Did a mini literature review on common bacterial species and their relationship with major depressive disorder and generalised anxiety disorder. Lactobacillus rhamnosus seems to have a particularly strong association with stress response, reducing it significantly in animal studies and small human studies.

Insight of the week:

Operation Mincemeat is the best comedy musical I’ve watched in London so far, based on a true story on how British Intelligence tried to deceive the Germans during the Second World War. It’s testament to sticky storytelling when such a small, but fiercely synchronised and talented cast, come together. Two main insights here: 1) I can actually enjoy a long musical, and 2) humanity is complicated; good people can do bad things for the supposedly ‘best’ reasons.

Recipe of the week:

Jealous of my friend who is in Japan right now surrounded by matcha-laden goodies, which brings me to this gem of a recipe, perfect for this transition into Fall!

Spiced Nutella-stuffed Matcha Baked Doughnuts (makes 6 doughnuts)

Ingredients

For the doughnuts:

125g (1 cup) all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1 1/2 tsp matcha powder

75g (1/3 cup) white sugar

1 egg

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

120ml (1/2 cup) buttermilk

28g (2 tbsp) unsalted, melted butter

~1/3 jar of nutella/melted dark chocolate

For the matcha glaze:

115g icing sugar

1 tsp matcha powder

2 1/2 tbsp whole milk

Directions

Preheat your oven to 177C (350F) and grease a doughnut pan. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, spices, matcha powder and sugar. In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg, melted butter, milk and vanilla extract. (tip: it helps to have all your ingredient at room temperature for even, stress-free mixing). Tip your dry mix into the wet mix and mix together with a wooden spoon or spatula until everything is well combined.

Take a tablespoon of batter and place at the bottom of a doughnut mold, spreading so it coats the bottom (you don’t want too many chocolate leaks) and goes about halfway up the side. Using two teaspoons or a piping bag (or use a small ziploc bag with the tip cut off), line the middle of each doughnut with nutella/any chocolate spread or even melted chocolate. Do this 6 times for 6 doughnuts, then place the molds in the preheated oven and bake for exactly 8 minutes. I find that the shape and size of the doughnuts are perfect if you fill the molds 3/4 of the way with batter, rather than all the way. Once you take them out of the oven, the doughnuts will feel soft and tender to the touch, with a gentle rise and the gentlest browning on top. Leave them to cool on a cooling rack while you make the icing (thankfully, it doesn’t take long).

For that, simply whisk together the icing ingredients and set aside to use once the doughnuts are cool, else it will melt everywhere. After 10 minutes, remove the doughnuts from their molds and dip one side into the bowl containing the matcha icing, then place right way up again on the cooling rack to let any excess icing drip down the sides.

Eat right away, or store in an airtight container and keep at room temperature for 1-2 days, or the fridge for up to 4 days. The sooner, the better!

Restaurant of the week:

snail, garlic and bacon bon bons

I love Fitzrovia, and now it’s even better.

This time it has to be French fare at 64 Goodge Street. You know it’ll be good in more ways than one when there’s a new opening by the people behind Clipstone and Quality Chop House.

It didn’t need glitz or a runway show of hors d’oeurvres, but don’t bring a skinny wallet. There’s pigeon for the gods, and a fig dessert to shower your night in earthy sweet. There is teak and brass, and food for the heart, and ingredients like myrtle berry in case you’re bored.