Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Michael Marcus Daisy Dukes and Pumpkin Donuts

Pin It


I wanted to get a little more in the Halloween spirit, so I decided to wear Michael Marcus Daisy Dukes with the orange loose glitter I received in my Julep Maven box this month. This was my first time working with loose glitter in a manicure. I can say that between sewing fairy wings for my daughter's costume and this manicure, my family room is sparkling. I've tried cleaning it, but there's no getting rid of all that glitter.


Anyways . . . Daisy Dukes looks almost duochrome in the bottle with an undertone of purple grey and flashes of blue in the light. On the nail, however, this is a dark denim blue with a lighter blue shimmer (very appropriate with a name like Daisy Dukes). The orange glitter made the blue a little more bold.

I don't have a post-mangling picture of this manicure, but it held up my usual amount. I had some early chipping, but I think that was related to the glitter. The chipping wasn't significant until four days in and during those four days, I made donuts, so lots of poking at dough with my fingers (I didn't discover any nail polish chips in my donuts though).

Anyways, that is all . . . oh, you want to hear about the donuts? Well, I converted this Baked Apple Doughnuts to pumpkin pie donuts.

Pumpkin Pie Donuts
makes 18-24 donuts


3/4 cup lukewarm water
2 teaspoons yeast
1 teaspoons salt
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup brown sugar (packed)
1 3/4 cups solid pack pumpkin
1 tablespoon cinnamon*
 3/4 teaspoon allspice*
1 teaspoon ginger*
1 teaspoon nutmeg*
4 3/4 cups All-Purpose Flour
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted
(*2 Tablespoons of pumpkin pie spice could replace the cinnamon, allspice, ginger, and nutmeg)
Cinnamon-Sugar:
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
Maple Glaze:
3/4 cup confectioners’ sugar
1 tablespoon milk
1 tablespoon maple syrup
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

To make the dough: mix together the water, yeast, salt, eggs, sugar, pumpkin, spices, flour, and butter, using a wooden spoon or in a 6-Quart Food-Storage Container with Lid.
Let the dough sit at room temperature, covered, for two hours. Refrigerate the dough to chill it for at least 3 hours. I let it sit in the refrigerator for 3 days, but I wouldn't recommend more than a week.
Line a couple of cookie sheets with parchment paper or silpat. Mix the cinnamon sugar in a bowl. Generously flour your hands and pull off a ball of dough a little bit larger than a plum. Form it into a smooth ball, then flour your thumb and stick it through the center of the donut, spreading the dough until the opening is about 3 inches across.
Dredge each donut in cinnamon sugar and place on the cookie sheet. Continue making donuts. Let the donuts rest on an oven for 30 minutes. While the donuts rest, preheat the oven to 350. Bake the donuts for 18-20 minutes or until golden brown.
Cool the donuts on a rack. Once they are cool, mix all the ingredients for the glaze, stirring with a spoon; if it is not thin enough, add a bit more milk about a teaspoon at a time.
Dip the tops of the donuts into the glaze and return to the cooling rack until the glaze is firm.
Enjoy now! They also freeze well. And as you can see, even vampires like them.

If you try out this recipe, I hope that you enjoy it as much as we did. Let me know!
So what do you think of this Michael Marcus polish? I had never heard of the brand until I got my Little Black Bag. What do you think of the brand in general?
Take care and I hope to post before, but if I don't have a spooky Halloween!
~Alexis