DINING

dining Trick or treat Forget about supermarket candy, donuts are having a moment. By Charmaine Ng

This newly-launched donut shop was founded by Hong Kong-based personal trainer Dan Yeung, who believes that fitness is all about balance. Dough by Design’s creations combine the fluffy and light textures of Tokyo’s donuts with the size and amazing flavours found in the US. Each one of its golden fried rings are handmade by Yeung and his girlfriend, who perfected the craft of donut-making through hours watching Youtube videos during the pandemic. Instagram: doughbydesignhk

Flakes & Layers

Looking for something a little different? Flakes & Layers offers a hybrid of donuts and millefeuille dubbed Ooonuts. Founded by Hong Kong actress and model Amanda Strang, the pastry concept runs seasonal pop-ups all around town, offering limited-time flavours like Hong Kong-style yin yang and pistachio. Previous pop-up locations include IFC Mall, Teakha and K11 MUSEA. Follow Flakes & Layers on Instagram to find out where it is headed to next.

Dough Bros

Dough Bros may be most known for its cheese-laden sourdough pizza, but its donuts are not to be overlooked. These sugar-dusted, stuffed dough balls have stolen the spotlight with their dense, sweet

Amada Strang founder of Flakes & Layers

Dough by Design

fillings in three flavours – Nutella, custard and

strawberry jam. Expect a 10 minute wait when ordering in store as the donuts are freshly fried to order. doughbroshk.com

Bakehouse

Bakehouse is one of our favourite bakeries in the city. Opened by Gregoire Michaud, who has worked in some of the top hotels in the world (including an eight year stint as the executive pastry chef at Four Seasons Hong Kong), the bakery serves up everything from danishes and tarts to quiches and cookies. Three donut flavours – chocolate hazelnut, vanilla custard and raspberry jam – are currently available and offered on a weekly rotation. bakehouse.hk

The Mandarin Cake Shop

Donuts can be classy too, as proven at The Mandarin Cake Shop, but you’ll have to get them while they’re hot. Homemade donuts are only available on Wednesdays at the hotel café, with limited options such as the Boston cream and strawberry jam flavours. Luckily, they’re not too expensive at $30 apiece, so everyone can have a taste of royalty without breaking the bank. mandarinoriental.com Sweet talk with Dan Yeung

The co-founder of Dough By Design shares his big donut ambitions

Tell us a bit about yourself.

I’m a personal trainer (@danyeungfitness) based in Central. I’ve been a PT for over six years and have always loved doughnuts. I’m a strong believer in balance, so I always encourage my clients to treat themselves to indulgent foods as long as they maintain a healthy balance and don’t skip out on eating other nutritious foods.

How did you go from being a personal trainer to making donuts?

I founded Dough By Design with my girlfriend who is an IT headhunter by day. During the lockdown, we learnt how to make donuts by watching YouTube videos. There were a lot of trial and errors to begin with and we experimented with different types of ingredients to get the right texture and flavour that we wanted. We’d go out to buy every single available donut in Hong Kong for inspiration and make batches every weekend. We distributed our donuts to colleagues and pressed on for feedback until we arrived at the current recipe.

As a newly launched brand, what are your goals for Dough by Design?

Currently, we’re still looking to establish our base of consumers and get our name out there. Once we feel like we have built a strong customer base, we will look into doing some pop-ups and events across Hong Kong. Alongside this, we plan to work with some coffee shops to develop a list of stockists and make our donuts accessible to more people.

Ingredients Pasta dough:

120g 00 flour, 1 pc egg, ½ tsp salt

Bolognese sauce:

3 tbsp unsalted butter, ½ pc onion, minced ½ pc carrot, grated, 3 cloves garlic 170g beef, minced, 170g pork, minced 1 cup whole milk, 2 cans whole tomatoes, 400g each Salt to taste

Cream Puff

Ingredients Choux pastry:

60g flour, 2 pcs egg, 50g unsalted butter 1g salt, 2g sugar, 100ml water

Pastry cream:

20g AP flour, 20g cornstarch, 3pcs egg yolk, 300ml milk, 50g sugar ¼ tsp salt, ½ tsp vanilla extract

Making Pastry Cream

1. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk yolks, sugar, flour, cornstarch and salt together until fully combined. 2. In a small non-reactive saucepan, bring milk to a boil. 3. Slowly temper boiled milk into egg yolk mixture, drizzle in while continuously whisking to combine.

Method Making the pasta

1. Mix all ingredients in a stand mixer on medium speed until smooth, add more flour if necessary, about 8-10 minutes. 2. Wrap dough with plastic and rest for 30 minutes. (Immediately after the dough is formed the gluten matrix remains very tough and difficult to work with, resting the dough allows the gluten strands to relax.) 3. After 30 minutes, divide dough into four. With the palm of your hand, flatten one piece of dough into ½ inch thickness or until it can pass through the pasta machine at the widest setting. 4. Pass dough 3 times through the machine at the widest setting. Adding more flour after each interval. Make sure to align only in one direction. 5. Continue passing the dough at gradually thinner settings until the desired thickness has been reached.

Cooking pasta

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a rolling boil. 2. Add pasta, stir gently with a wooden spoon, chopsticks, or a cooking fork, and cook until 3. noodles are just set with a definite bite, about 1 1/2 to 2 minutes. Drain, toss with sauce, and serve. 4. Return mixture to saucepan and cook on high heat until mixture has thickened and reaches 93C. 5. Add vanilla extract, allow custard to cool in mixing bowl until room temperature before storing in the fridge, cover the surface directly with plastic wrap to prevent skin formation on top.

Method

Making the choux pastry

1. Preheat the oven at 200C. 2. Bring butter, water, sugar and salt to boil in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring once or twice. When mixture reaches full boil (butter should be fully melted), immediately remove saucepan from heat and stir in flour with heat proof spatula or wooden spoon until combined and mixture clears sides of pan.

Return the saucepan to low heat and cook, stirring constantly, using smearing motion, for 3 minutes, until mixture is slightly shiny with wet-sand appearance and tiny beads of fat appear on the bottom of the saucepan. 3. Off heat, continue beating the mixture until it is no longer hot to the touch. Gradually incorporate beaten eggs, 1 tablespoon at a time, only continue incorporating when eggs have been fully absorbed. 4. Fill choux paste into a piping bag with round tip, pipe paste into 1 1/4- to 1 1/2-inch mounds on a lined baking sheet, spacing them about 1

Cooking the Bolognese Sauce

1. Heat butter in a large pot over medium heat; add onion, carrot, and garlic and saute until softened but not browned, about 6 minutes. 2. Add minced meat and ½ teaspoon salt. Crumble meat with the edge of a wooden spoon to break apart into tiny pieces. Cook to crumble meat until it loses its raw color but has not yet browned, about 3 minutes. 3. Add milk and bring to simmer until milk evaporates and only clear fat remains (10-15 minutes). 4. Add wine and bring to simmer until wine evaporates (10-15 minutes). 5. Add tomatoes and their juice and bring to a simmer; reduce heat to low, continues to simmer with an occasional bubble or two at the surface, until liquid has evaporated (about 3 hours). 6. Adjust seasonings with extra salt to taste and serve. (Can be refrigerated in an airtight container for several days or frozen for several months. Warm over low heat

before serving). to 1 1/4 inches apart. You should be able to fit about 24 mounds on the baking sheet. 5. Bake in a preheated oven for 15 minutes, then turn the oven down to 180°C and continue baking for approximately 10 minutes or until the puffs have fully risen. 6. Pull the tray out of the oven, when puffs are cool enough to handle, cut 3/4-inch slit into the side of each puff to release steam. Allow them to cool completely.

Selina Kong is the founder of The Big Things and The Big Things Kitchen, an indoor children’s playground and restaurant located at The Mills, Tsuen Wan. Kong is a huge advocate for healthy eating and loves cooking with her two daughters Scarlett and Kayla in her spare time. thebigthings.com &

thebigthingskitchen.com

Dining news Chill out at Treasure Island

Set on the picturesque Pui O beach, Treasure Island Beach Club is easily one of the most relaxing hangouts on South Lantau. The al fresco restaurant and bar offers family favourite dishes alongside a range of vegetarian and vegan choices. Open Friday afternoons, as well as weekends and

public holidays, guests can enjoy live DJ performances while watching the sun set over the beach. You can also rent out water sports equipment from the Beach Club or make it into a staycation at one of its cabana rooms or all-inclusive private camp rentals.

treasureislandhk.com

Cookie craze

Cookie Vission has announced the launch of its first pop-up shop at K11 Musea and fans of the gooey, lava-centred creation are in for a treat. This October and November, the dessert shop will bring five signature flavours and two exclusive flavours to the K11 Musea pop-up, including Portuguese Egg Tart, Funfetti Cheesecake and Hong Kong Milk Tea Creme Brulee. To celebrate the opening, Cookie Vission is giving away a free limited edition cookie to its first 25 customers on the first day of each month. The pop-up will be open daily from October 1 to November 30, 12pm to 9pm.

cookievission. com