Secret Recipe Club: Margarita Donuts

So.
It's Reveal Day today for the Secret Recipe Club.  Once a month, I, along with the other people in my group, are assigned another blog of the group.  We stalk go through the assigned blog, choose a recipe, make it,  and all reveal at the same time.  Fun, right?
This month, I was assigned Searching for Dessert.  Shannon has a variety of desserts and meatless recipes to choose from.  I decided that ultimately this month I'd make a dessert to share.  I pinned a bunch of things for later, and made the Hot Fudge Cakes immediately (So.  Freaking.  Good.)  But when I saw this recipe, I was intrigued...and not just by the use of tequila.
Canada is the land of Tim Horton's - a donut shop and coffee temple that is every few blocks around these parts.  While my favourite donut is the Walnut Crunch, it's no longer available.  I've turned to the Canadian Maple for solace (although the last time I got anything but coffee at TImmy's is a little beyond me).  The Canadian Maple is much like a Boston Cream donut:  yeast donut with vanilla creme filling and maple icing.  I love filled donuts that don't leave a powdery remnant on my clothes, and the Canadian Maple is a winner.  I may have found a new favourite, though.  Margarita filling is darn tasty.
While I do enjoy a good margarita, my summer drink of choice is probably a G&T.  Gin would not make for a good tasting filling, even if you do boil the alcohol off as you make the lime curd.  But just a little tequila and a whole lot of lime?  In a word, YUM.  In a few words, even if you don't make the donuts, if you're looking for something amazing to drizzle over a cheesecake or eat off a spoon, might I recommend this margarita curd?  It is to.  Die.  For.
This recipe would have been awesome for last month...seeing as Reveal Day was May 5.  But you know, there's never a bad time for either donuts or margaritas!  So just a month late, I present to you now my Secret Recipe Club offering, Searching for Dessert's Margarita Donuts:

Ingredients:
For the Curd:
1/4 c lime juice
1 Tbsp tequila
1/4 c + 2 Tbsp white sugar
1 egg
6 Tbsp cold butter, cut into 1 Tbsp pieces
For the Donuts:
1 tsp (heaping) yeast
2 Tbsp + 1/2 tsp sugar, divided
1-1/4 c flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
1-1/2 Tbsp butter + 4 Tbsp butter, all melted and divided
1/2 c white sugar
Method:
For the Curd:
1.  In a small saucepan, combine lime juice, tequila, and half the sugar.  Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring frequently.  In a medium bowl, beat egg and remaining sugar until light.
2.  As the lime mixture comes to a boil, pour about half the boiling juice into the beaten egg, whisking constantly.  Return egg mixture to the juice in the saucepan, and continue to heat, stirring constantly.
3.  Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring, until juice mixture thickens.  Remove from heat and add butter, one tablespoon at a time, stirring after each addition until melted before adding more butter.
4.  Chill the curd in an ice bath, stirring until cool to the touch.  Cool completely in the refrigerator, covering the curd with plastic wrap on the surface to keep a skin from forming.
For the Donuts:
1.  In a measuring cup, combine 1/2 c warm water with the yeast and 1/2 tsp sugar.  Set aside until yeast is frothy.
2.  In a medium bowl, sift together 2 Tbsp sugar, flour, salt, and baking powder.  Add yeast and stir, followed by 1-1/2 Tbsp butter to form a soft dough.
3.  Turn dough onto a well-floured surface and knead for 6-8 minutes until dough is smooth and elastic.  Grease a medium bowl and return dough to it, turning to coat well.  Cover with a towel and let rise until doubled, about 1 hour.
4.  Punch down dough and roll out to a thickness of about 1/4" on a well floured surface.  Cut 12 rounds with a 3" cutter.  Place on a baking sheet and cover with plastic wrap, letting rest 15 minutes.
5.  Preheat oven to 350F.  Bake donuts for 13 minutes, or until golden.  Using a skewer, poke a hole in each donut before filling with lime curd, using a pastry bag, fitted with a small round tip (or I actually have almost a nozzle).
6.  Melt remaining butter in a small, shallow dish.  Place 1/2 c sugar in a shallow bowl.  Dip donuts, one at a time, first in the butter and then in the sugar to coat.

From Searching for Dessert

This is another for mise en place.  Everything with the curd seems to happen at once, and you're always supposed to be stirring.  I cut the butter into pieces so I was ready to go.

By the time I got all the butter in, the curd itself was fairly cool.  There was a lot of pucker to this, but enough sweet.

I tried to let the dough rest so that the rounds didn't get smaller when I lifted them onto the pan.  Cooking, these reminded me a bit of the pitas - some puffed up and deflated when I took them out of the oven.  That just meant more room for margarita curd!

I let the filled donuts cool on a wire rack over a baking sheet for when they dripped.  Then a quick roll in the butter and sugar, and they were done.

Delicious.  I took my dozen to Home Church so J and I wouldn't eat 6 of these each.  I mean, we would have had to.  They might have gone stale otherwise.  We can't have that now, can we?

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