Bananas Foster Mochi Doughnuts

These pastries are all about the texture: the bounce and chew of Japanese mochi paired with a cinnamon-sugar doughnut’s crisp outer shell. Add a creamy peanut butter filling and flambéed caramelized bananas, and you have quite the indulgent treat on your hands.

Chi’s Bananas Foster Mochi Doughnuts wowed the judges during Fancy Dessert Week in Season 6 of The Great Canadian Baking Show.

Bananas Foster Mochi Doughnuts

By Chi Nguyễn

Ingredients

Doughnuts:

• ¾ cup (160 g) silken tofu
• 2 tbsp yogurt, 2% fat or higher
• 1 cup plus 2 tbsp (225 g) granulated sugar, divided
• 2 large eggs
• ¾ cup (120 g) mochiko (sweet/glutinous rice flour)
• ½ cup (57 g) tapioca flour
• 1⅔ cups (180 g) cake flour
• 4 tsp cinnamon, divided
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• Vegetable oil for frying

Filling:

• 1 cup (240 g) peanut butter
• ⅔ cup (150 g) mascarpone, room temperature
• ½ cup (114 g) cream cheese, room temperature

Topping:

• ¼ cup (57 g) unsalted butter
• 1 cup (200 g) brown sugar, lightly packed
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• ¼ tsp salt
• 4 ripe bananas
• ¼ cup rum

Preparation

Doughnuts:

Cut out ten 4-by-4-inch squares of parchment paper. Set a wire rack in a rimmed baking sheet.

Whisk the tofu in a large bowl until it becomes a uniform paste (it’s OK if it looks a bit mealy). Add the yogurt, ½ cup plus 2 tablespoons (125 g) sugar, and eggs and whisk until well combined. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flours, 2 teaspoons cinnamon, baking powder and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until well combined. Whisk together the remaining ½ cup (100 g) sugar and 2 teaspoons cinnamon in a medium bowl and set aside.

Add 1½ inches of oil to a large heavy-bottomed pot and heat to 350 F.

Transfer the batter to a piping bag fitted with a large round tip. Pipe 3½-inch-wide round doughnuts onto the parchment squares. Add the doughnuts along with the parchment to the oil in batches of two to four depending on the size of your pot. Remove the parchment with tongs and discard.

Fry the doughnuts until golden, about 3 minutes, carefully flipping halfway through. Remove them from the oil and toss them in the cinnamon sugar, coating all sides. Then transfer them to the wire rack to cool completely. Repeat with the remaining doughnuts.

Filling:

Combine the peanut butter, mascarpone and cream cheese in a large bowl and beat with a hand mixer on medium-high until light and fluffy. Transfer to a piping bag fitted with a medium star tip.

Topping:

Add the butter, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt to a medium skillet and cook over medium heat until melted, about 3 minutes. Add the bananas and cook until they begin to soften, about 3 to 5 minutes. To flambé, remove the pan from the heat, add the rum and use a barbecue lighter to set the bananas on fire (have a pot lid handy to smother the flames if they get out of control). Allow the flames to subside and set the bananas aside to cool. Alternatively, add the rum to the pan and continue to cook until the liquid has evaporated. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool.

Assembly:

Cut the doughnuts in half crosswise so you have two rounds. Pipe the peanut butter filling on one-half of each doughnut (this will be the bottom). Spoon the bananas Foster topping into the hole in the bottom half of the doughnut and on top of the peanut butter filling, then place the other doughnut half on top.

Makes 10 doughnuts