Birthday Beignets
March is a busy Birthday month in our house. My youngest daughter and I both have March birthdays, just 10 days apart. Even though mine falls before hers, it often gets overlooked in conversation from the excitement and anticipation of a new year seen through young eyes. Such is the life of a mother!
My girls have celebrated their birthdays in a variety of fashions, but the one thing that remains consistent is the Birthday Beignet. My mother, pulling from her Mississippi Gulf Coast roots, made beignets for us every morning on our birthdays, and it was a tradition I was excited to pass down to my children. I mean, who doesn’t want to start their big day with powdered sugar and fried dough?
My mother would fry them up, drain them on paper towels, then place them on the same aluminum platter every year. Always generous with the powdered sugar, and always strawberries to accompany. I selected a similar platter from my stash, doing my best to recreate those sweet memories.
I thought my mom was the best beignet maker around, but what she didn’t tell me is that it would take years (almost 10 for me) to perfect beignets. I would by no means say I have perfected the process, but every birthday they get a little bit fluffier, and the color gets closer to “just-right.” And my girls are quick to judge.
Perhaps better than the beignet itself, was a tradition that emerged from the tradition of the beignets. As I got older, middle school and high-school aged, friends who knew that my mom fried up beignets for my birthday would come by in the morning (even before school) to celebrate and partake with me - making my birthdays all the more memorable. I can’t wait to see what might come of my daughters’ birthday beignet mornings, but I’m hopeful that they’ll look back as fondly as I did on this simple, but meaningful way to mark their special day.
Want to know how to make Birthday Beignets?
Buy yourself a box of Cafe du Monde beignet mix, and follow instructions on the box. If you live in Atlanta, like me, the only place I can find it locally is World Market. Depending on where you’re located geographically in the South, you can generally find it at your local grocery store.
I like to use my dutch oven for frying, and I always use peanut oil. Whatever you do, don’t forget the powdered sugar and strawberries!
If you feel like your beignets are too hard, too dark, or too thin, just keep trying. I promise you’ll get the feel of it and get there!
