I almost feel like this post doesn’t even need any words. The pictures seem to be enough eye-candy on their own.
Cloud-like, fluffy fried dough covered in sweet, sweet mounds of powdered sugar. Some cinnamon-sugar apples and a bit of creamy, buttery havarti makes for a delicious twist on these classic favorites. — Apple Havarti Beignets.
PARTNER POST – Get creative with any of Castello’s uniquely crafted cheeses. Click here for a $1 off coupon to create your own gourmet masterpiece.
Seated outside in the vibrant, historic Jackson Square park of the New Orleans French Quarter– café au lait in one hand, benny in the other. A powdered sugar fog slightly blurring your line of sight. This is the true Café du Monde experience that brings so many to this anciently famous NOLA coffee stand.
Beignets themselves are a pretty simple idea. Some dough, a fryer, and an endless supply of sweet, sweet daze-inducing sugar.
Around in the States since the 18th century, beignets are a french-founded fried choux pastry. During the earlier days, it’s said that the Cajun home cooks would roll leftover yeast bread dough out and toss it into a fryer for a quick breakfast. I’d get up early for that.
A traditional beignet is a thing of magnificent beauty. Light, fluffy like a dream-filled cloud. The sweetness of the powdered sugar (which IS mandatory) brings out the simplistic richness of the yeast-risen dough. These luscious, light treats will just melt in your mouth.
I am usually one of those types that sticks with the traditional, purist varieties of classic favorites. This time, I had an idea that I just had to try. A bit of an experiment. For science, ya know. — Turns out, it was a huge success.
Apples are a pretty common dessert addition. Havarti, on the other hand, may not be your first thought for how to kick up your sweets to a new level.
Havarti is a very soft, extremely creamy cheese. Fairly mild, it turns out that this buttery smooth cheese is perfect to incorporate into the sweeter side of the table. When I partnered with Castello to develop a unique recipe for this versatile cheese, I knew that this was going to be the perfect application.
Everyone knows that cheese and apples go together like a fat kid and cake. Apple, cheese and powdered sugar go together like a fat kid and cake with extra icing. It doesn’t get much better than that, y’all.
[ Check out some of our other cheesy posts HERE. ]
I sliced the apples with a handy-dandy spiralizer thingamajig. These are just awesome. A quick spin of the handle, and you get perfectly peeled, sliced, and cored apples. Since this also removed the core from the apples, I accidentally found the perfect pre-formed bed for the delicious cheese that we are going to introduce. A large piping tip made for the perfect cutter to give a cheese-filled apple slice to fill our beignets.
Folded between two thin layers of the yeast-risen, rolled-with-love dough, the cinnamon-sugar coated apple havarti rings melt to become a delicious surprise in the center of these pillow-perfect fried favs. The cheese adds a mouth-watering creaminess to the sweet citrus addition. These will make you wanna slap your Cajun-cookin’ mama. [But only after she’s shown you how to fry these puppies.]
Don’t mistake this cheese-stuffed beignet as a savory spin. It is most definitely sweet. I mean, how could it not be with all of that sugar on top, right? Havarti was actually considered to be a dessert cheese by the Danish that blessed us with the recipe. The beautifully mild sweetness lends magically to the sweeter side of your day.
You’ll notice the creamy, buttery filling but it wont leave you with an overwhelming bitterness that some more savory cheese would. The Castello Creamy Havarti was the perfect choice for this successful snack experiment.
Perfectly balanced and unique, these beignets are a great way to perk up your next Mardi Gras party, or even just this weekend’s brunch. Purists and adventurists alike, these are sure to be a new favorite. Pull up a chair and pour yourself a coffee. You’re gonna want to stay for a while.
- 1 apple, peeled/cored/sliced into thin rings (THIS slicer works well)
- creamy havarti cheese, (Recommend Castello Creamy Havarti - Click here for coupon)
- cinnamon/sugar mix
- ¾ cup warm/hot water
- ¼ cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar, white granulated
- 1 plus ¼ teaspoon yeast, active dry
- 1 egg, beaten
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup evaporated milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or extract
- 2 cups bread flour
- 1 plus ½ cup AP flour
- 2 plus ½ tablespoons shortening
- powdered sugar, to finish
- Start by adding warm water, yeast, sugar in mixing bowl and let bloom for 10 minutes.
- Add egg, evaporated milk, vanilla and combine.
- Sift together flours, salt and add about half to the yeast mixture. Combine until roughly mixed.
- Add shortening and then remaining flour slowly until combined.
- Remove dough from mixer and place on a lightly floured surface for kneading.
- Knead dough until smooth. Take care to not over-knead the dough, or it will toughen. Knead only until smooth.
- Place in a oiled bowl and cover. Let rise in a warm spot in the kitchen for 2 hours. This step is very important to forming the softness. Don't skimp on the time.
- Remove back to the lightly floured surface and roll out to a large rectangle, about ¼ inch.
- Core, peel, and thinly slice apples into rings.
- Punch out circles of creamy havarti to fit in the center of the apple rings (I used a piping tip to do this - see blog post photos).
- Brush away all excess flour on the top of the dough.
- Place the apple rings with the havarti in the center on the left rectangular half of the dough, with about an inch between each to allow room to cut.
- Sprinkle cinnamon/sugar mixture just over the apples.
- Fold the right half over the left. Press between and around each apple slice to seal the dough layers together.
- Using a pizza cutter, cut out squares around the apples. Transfer to a lightly floured parchment paper lined baking sheet.
- Cover and allow to rest and rise for 30-45 minutes.
- Heat peanut oil (vegetable oil works too, but peanut is what I prefer) to 360 F.
- Very carefully pick up and fry the beignets. The best approach is to baste the dough with a ladle--
- Using the ladle, pour hot oil over top of dough. This helps with the puffing. Flip as needed and continue basting. Cook until beautifully golden.
- Drain on paper towels until cooled slightly.
- Cover (yes... cover!) in powdered sugar and enjoy while warm for best results.
- NOTE: You can freeze these beignets after the cutting process. Place in single layer on baking sheet, place in freezer. After frozen, you can bag the squares together without sticking. To cook, remove to baking sheet and allow to proof/rise overnight in refrigerator or until puffed (2 hours or so) at room temperature. Fry as instructed.
- Enjoy! - More recipes and drool-worthy photos on SouthernFATTY.com.
PARTNER POST – Get creative with any of Castello’s uniquely crafted cheeses. Click here for a $1 off coupon to create your own gourmet masterpiece.
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Thanks! Havarti is a great choice because it is so creamy and light. I would say anything that is similar would do. Maybe brie, a mild gouda, camebert. Good luck!
I agree, you almost don’t need words with the picture. That’s almost true for any food photography, but then that takes the fun out of naming things like Banana Cream Cheese Stuffed French Toast with Strawberry Compote for example. Plus how would we know about all that gooey cheese inside these. Ridiculous!
So true! Hah
SO freakin’ inventive and delicious! happiness in a little fried pillow indeed. 🙂
Thanks, Grace! They sound a little odd, but were delicious!
Phillip, I think you’re trying to kill us with hyperlipidemia and diabetes here.
Man this looks utterly amazing <3 I was in New Orleans recently and the beignets smelled SO good!!!
They’re just… happiness. In a little fried pillow.
OMG beignets are my weakness. Love the idea of filling them with havarti, which by the way is another one of my fav cheeses, and apples. Brilliant!
Beignets are just perfect to me. Simple, sweet, deliciously perfect. I’m thrilled that this twist worked out so well!
Are you kidding me with this, Phillip (by the way, my husband’s name is PhiLip so it is really hard for me to type your name with 2 Ls!)? I never would have thought of putting cheese in the center of a beignet but good grief, with the apple…so much YES.
I mean… 2 L’s is just how it should be 😉 — The cheese worked sooo well! Almost like a cream filling, really. Thanks!
Hmmm….1 L is the biblical spelling! 🙂
Hahahahha. Touché!
Yes. Just yes.
Ummmhmmm!
Oh my god, Phillip. Oh my god.
Oh. It’s ok. I’ve inhaled all of the powdered sugar before, too. This too shall pass. Now… Have another. You deserve it. *huur flip*