I hereby dub thee: Learning to Fry: Full Moon(shine) Fever Doughnuts. And if you got those references, you get a big high five from Taylor. Taylor, of course, being the resident Tom Petty fan in our household. So what do doughnuts have to do with Tom Petty? What, you don’t immediately think of doughnuts when you blast The Best of Everything? I mean, Even the Losers can appreciate a good doughnut. We were tasked with creating a Tom Petty-inspired recipe for the Music City Eats’ blog. If you haven’t heard, Music City Eats is a Nashville food, wine, and spirits festival happening this coming weekend in downtown Nashville. The festival really embraces Nashville’s musical culture as much as its amazing food. Saturday’s events culminate in Petty Fest, a musical tribute to Tom Petty (cue: Taylor giggling like a schoolgirl). So. Tom Petty. Recipe. And Go. Since Tom Petty’s catalog isn’t exactly ripe with food references, so we had to get creative. Hence the puns. Learning to Fry… Learning to Fly. Get it? (Har har)
Puns aside, can you believe I’d never made doughnuts? I mean real raised, fried, and glazed doughnuts (baked doughnuts just aren’t quite the same). But don’t be fooled, these beautiful deep-fried and golden brown lovelies aren’t as innocent as they look. The glaze takes a cue from Petty’s Southern Accents and Rebel roots with a moonshine-spiked glaze. Like hair of the dog(s on the run), only sweeter.
I did both chocolate and vanilla glazes, both generously spiked with moonshine. Moonshine is a high-proof, clear alcohol also known as white dog, white lightning, or stump juice. Yes, it has a tainted reputation, but there is plenty of legal moonshine available these days. Many new craft distillers sell moonshine, or white whiskey, when they are just starting out – to bring in some income while their whiskey comes of age. I used Buffalo Trace’s “White Dog”, which is basically bourbon that hasn’t been aged in oak. Baby bourbon, if you will. But boy does this baby have some bite. I think Tom Petty would approve.
