My Dash Mini Donut Maker arrived and I’ve used it once.
I think the machine is a very good thing. It’s easy to clean. It heats up fairly fast. You have to open it and flip the donuts after about a minute and a half, but there’s not a lot of steam or a blast of heat. It’s not intended for children or clumsy people to use, but if you’re careful it won’t burn you. It works well.
The recipe directions… eh. The plain donut recipe made a super dense donut. And the chocolate donut recipe has a printing problem and doesn’t tell how many cups of cocoa should be used. So the included recipes are not to be relied upon.
Tomorrow I’m going to make boxed cake mix donuts. From all the reviews, the donut maker is great for cooking cake mix. And later (after buying groceries) I’m going to try a fudge brownie mix, Jiffy muffin mix, cornbread mix, banana bread mix, etc. I’ve even considered how I could make mini-bagels in it.
So yeah. I like the mini donut maker. I’m glad to add it to my larger collection of Dash mini-maker appliances. The only problem with it is the included recipes, which means having to search the Internet for a recipe I like.
Ideas I’ve had:
- "Strawberry shortcake" — The center "holes" don’t cut all the way through. There’s a thin middle section that remains. So I can make a yellow cake or angel food cake donut and use it as the base for a strawberry shortcake-type desert.
- Ice Cream Cake — I can make a bunch of cake donuts and use them to line the bottom of a pan, then drizzle with that ice cream sauce that makes a "hard" shell, then layer ice cream, whipped cream, and cut fruit. Or just make multiple layers of cake donuts, ice cream shell sauce, ice cream, donuts, and sauce. I like ice cream cake, so being able to make an "ice cream donut cake" could be delicious fun.
- "Cheesy Bread" — Probably make a bread or biscuit dough that I form into a strip that I can fold around some cheese and maybe some cooked sausage or cooked bits of bacon. Then I can take the roll of filled dough and cut off pieces to fit in the maker’s donut holes, pinching the ends together. It should make a bread ring that can then be dipped in butter or a butter-garlic sauce.
- "Pizza Dippers" — The same idea as the Cheesy Bread, but putting pizza cheese and pepperoni or other pizza toppings inside. Then after they’re cooked the pizza dippers can be dipped into marinara sauce (I just use spaghetti sauce) with or without being brushed with melted butter and sprinkled with a mixture of parmesan, garlic, and salt first.
- "Crab Cakes" — I don’t know what donut shaped crab cakes or tuna fish cakes will be like, but it’s fun to experiment. And since I’d be using canned crab or tuna fish, there’s no worry that they would be undercooked, Like, I don’t know if I would use the donut maker to make donut-shaped meatballs/meat loaf bites. But I know that some people make crab cakes in their waffle makers.
I look at the donut maker and there’s a lot of possibility.
I’ve been going a bit hard at the Amazon Vine requests, but it’s mostly been things I have always wanted or that I need. And yeah, a few things just for myself, like the diamond art kits I got. But mostly not a bunch of junk that’s going to clutter the house.
(Amazon list: "I got that" https://www.amazon.com/shop/harperkingsley0/list/2N4YMQNTQSBKN)
One thing I got that I’ve always been curious about is a candle making kit. But it’s never been a priority item, so I’ve never gotten one.
Until now.
I got a candle making kit to review, and though I haven’t used it yet, I opened the box and saw that there’s everything I need to start out. A wax melter, 8 bags of wax beads, 8 jars, wicks and their little stickers, wax dye cubes, essential oils, and dried flowers.
The included directions aren’t the best, but the kit comes everything I think I need to start out with. At this point, I just want to know if candle making is something I’ll like doing. Like, I’ve always liked the idea of the little fondue pots that are heated with tealight candles. And if I have my own electric wax melter, I can refill metal tealight candle tins and it’s not a waste.
The kit includes essential oils, which I’m not sure about. There are so many essential oils that are a hazard toward a cat’s health. So any candles I make for my own use are likely going to be unscented. But maybe I’ll get into making and gifting candles to other people.
I think the big candles that are different scents as they burn down are a lot of fun. It’s just I don’t want to make a candle that becomes stinky as the melted wax of one scent mixes with another.
~Harper Kingsley
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