Canadian Doughnuts & A Wild Mountain Music Festival Giveaway {Sponsored}
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Try my Canadian doughnuts – delicious pieces of cinnamon-sugared, deep-fried dough served with delicious toppings like peanut butter and raspberries. These doughnuts, shaped like a beaver’s tail, are a highly addictive guilty pleasure. A fun, homemade festival food to share with your loved ones! {Sponsored Post}
Disclaimer: This post is sponsored by The Wild Mountain Music Festival , meaning that I was compensated monetarily and provided with free passes, including a giveaway for my readers.
I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to amazon.com and affiliated sites.
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When I first arrived in Canada, we went on one road trip after another so that I could get a decent introduction to my new home. My husband went all out and even insisted on re-creating playlists of the music he would listen to in the car while his family would drive cross-country to visit relatives every summer in the 90’s. This was also my introduction to Tom Cochrane in general, and “Life is a Highway” in particular. So you can guess just how excited we were to find out that Mr. Cochrane is gonna make an appearance on this year’s Wild Mountain Music Festival!
What is the Wild Mountain Music Festival and why should I go?
Let’s talk about the setting first! I have been to a lot of music festivals but Wild Mountain is top of the list in terms of location and atmosphere! The festival is right outside the town of Hinton, in the scenic Alberta Northern Rockies. Everyone likes music with a view and here you get one of Alberta’s best: the mountains of Jasper National Park.
And what do I do with the kids? The answer is: You take them with you! Wild Mountain is incredibly family-friendly! There is a kids’ area where they can make crafts and interact in drop-in programming – all to the soundtrack of the ongoing festival.
This year’s line-up is incredible and there’ll be something for everyone: Tom Cochrane with Red Rider, Eric Burdon & the Animals, Matt Mays, William Prince, Fred Penner and many more ( click here for the line-up)! While we love to see all the famous acts live on stage, we also enjoy discovering new artists that so often turn into real favorites.
Wild Mountain Music Festival is clearly the perfect way to spend a sunny July weekend! Tickets are available here plus you can enter into my giveaway lottery and win a free weekend pass! Scroll down for more information!
Music Festivals: Peace, love….and doughnuts!
For us, another big reason to go to any outdoor festival is to enjoy some festival food! With food line-ups just as good as musical ones, the choices nowadays are endless. However, for nostalgic reasons, we tend to go for the classics: doughnuts. Outdoor festivals and doughnuts go hand-in-hand and while we normally opt for healthy snacks in our day-to-day, we really cannot imagine any outdoor music festival without our favorite festival food: the Canadian Doughnut! And while perhaps I can’t take Matt Mays home with me to re-live the experience, I can whip up a batch of these doughnuts at home to carry me back to this wonderful weekend in the Rockies.
What is a Canadian Doughnut?
Shaped like the tail of Canada’s official, unofficial mascot – the mighty beaver – the Canadian doughnut is a fried, sweet pastry dusted in cinnamon sugar and often served with decadent toppings. The beaver doughnut is a true Canadian institution and only shares the pedestal with other truly iconic Canadian foods such as poutine or the butter tart.
The beginnings of this beaver’s tail-shaped doughnut can be traced back to the early 19th century when aboriginals would cook beaver tails over an open fire until their skin cracked and would give way to the meat inside. Taking this traditional method as an inspiration, early settlers began to cook their bread in the same way. Word has it, that a German-Canadian granny came up with the sweet version a bit later. She would make the sweet bread for breakfast and top it with cinnamon sugar and breakfast-y stuff like butter, jam, and honey. Indeed, it really reminds me of the cinnamon sugar dusted Bavarian Doughnut, I grew up with. We call them “Ausgezogene”, meaning, the naked one (fem.). Naughty.
Canadian Doughnuts are easy to make and highly addictive!
Now, yeasted dough always sounds a bit complicated but really, it’s not! Your stand mixer is going to do all the work! Just make sure to :
- let the dough rest for long enough.
- not overheat the milk! It can kill the yeast. Aim at about 100 F!
- have your butter at room temperature.
- have your frying oil at the right temperature.
If you follow the recipe and keep in mind these four bullet points, your Canadian doughnuts will be delicious and just like the ones at the carnival!
Is this recipe for Canadian Doughnuts good for big crowds?
Yes, it is! Just prepare a big batch of doughnut dough and fry it up as needed. This is also a really fun recipe to prepare as a family and your kids can get creative choosing all their favorite toppings! Having a garden party? Why not prepare a little doughnut station, where each guest can choose their own toppings for the Canadian Doughnuts.
What are the best toppings for my Canadian Doughnuts?
When it comes to toppings for your Canadian doughnuts, your first have to choose a base. I recommend something thick, yet spreadable with not too much moisture in it! Your classic choices would be nut butter, melted chocolate, cookie butter or Nutella. But you can also go lighter by choosing whipped cream, sour cream, whipped coconut cream, or Greek yoghurt! Now you can get creative and sprinkle some fresh fruit on top of your base layer! I usually go for berries, cherries or apple slices.
Of course, you can always just have your Canadian Beaver Doughnuts dusted with cinnamon sugar – just like grandma used to make them! Want to go savory? Top them with cream cheese, salmon, and dill!
Now off to the kitchen….but wait! Didn’t you mention free tickets?!
Surprise Giveaway: Are you from Alberta? Enter to win your Wild Mountain Music Festival Weekend Pass!
You heard it! I am giving away a free weekend pass (value: 180 CAD) to this amazing music festival which will take place from July 13th to 15th in Hinton AB! All you need to do to enter is to tell me your favorite summer festival food! Note that only participants from Alberta can enter!
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Disclaimer: I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to amazon.com and affiliated sites.
Canadian Doughnuts {Beaver Doughnuts} with Toppings
Try my Canadian doughnuts - delicious pieces of cinnamon-sugared, deep-fried dough served with all kinds of delicious toppings like peanut butter and raspberries. These doughnuts, shaped like the tail of a beaver, are a guilty pleasure and highly addictive. A fun homemade festival food !
Ingredients
For the dough
- 180 ml whole milk
- 350 g flour up to about 50 g more if needed
- 10 g instant yeast
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 large egg at room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla essence
- 2 tbsp softened butter or bacon fat
Additional ingredients
- 1 l oil for frying
- cinnamon sugar mixture
Instructions
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Heat the milk in a little pot or in the microwave until its lukewarm.
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In the bowl of your stand mixer, mix flour with yeast and sugar and add salt. Stir together milk with egg and vanilla and add this wet mix to the dry ingredients.
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Knead everything with the hook attachment for about 2 minutes, then add butter or bacon fat and let the stand mixer knead the dough for about 10 minutes more, until a smooth and elastic dough forms. Add some more flour along the way if you feel the dough is too soft. It should be elastic and smooth but yet able to hold a shape.
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Shape dough into a ball. Line a bowl with a bit of oil and place the dough in it. Cover the bowl with a clean kitchen towel and let it rise for about an hour to 1 1/2 hours until it has doubled in size.
Alternatively, you can let the dough proof in the fridge overnight.
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Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Knead the dough shortly and cut it into 10 equal pieces. With a rolling pin, roll each piece into an oval. It should be about 7mm thick. Place the rolled out doughnuts on the baking sheet. If you like, you can score a criss-cross pattern with a sharp knife. Do not cut too deep! Cover the sheet with a kitchen towel and let rise another 1/2 hour
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Use the time to prepare any toppings.
Here are my favorites:
Kirsch whipped cream, grated chocolate, and cherries
Greek Yoghurt, fresh raspberries, and chia seeds
Peanut butter, apple slices and a sprinkle of cinnamon. (I like to heat the peanut butter up in a pot with a splash of vanilla, maple syrup, and some cinnamon, to make it more spreadable)
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Heat the oil on medium heat until it reaches 350 F. Prepare a shallow plate with cinnamon sugar. Fry the Canadian doughnuts without crowding the pan for two minutes per side, until golden. Transfer them to a paper towel-lined plate or baking sheet, then roll them in cinnamon sugar.
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Enjoy the Beaver Doughnuts with your prepared toppings while still slightly warm!
Like my recipe for my beaver tail-shaped Loaded Canadian Doughnuts with Cinnamon Sugar & Toppings? Pin it:
HAHAH….aw the famous Beaver Tails….as a fellow Canadian I know all about these. I try to have some when I visit Ottawa. These look delicious and I know my family would LOVE if I made these.
These look SO good! I’ve only ever made homemade baked donuts, but these are worth firing up the fryer for. That cinnamon sugar looks amazing!
I didn’t even realize Canadian donuts were a thing… but now i’m seriously craving one!! Great recipe 🙂
I am a foreigner in this country as well, and had to try an “Elephant Ear” (that is how they call them here) as soon as I saw one! I was stunned! This is the sweet that I always see at music festivals, fairs, Heritage Days. Great post|
My favourite food is made with love ☺️
I had never even heard of Canadian doughnuts, but my goodness do these look delicious! I mean, with a cinnamon sugar topping, can you really go wrong? 🙂 The music festival sounds like a wonderful time, too!
Well, I have never heard of Canadian donuts before but they sure look tasty. Need to give them a try!
I’m visiting my family back home in Wisconsin for the summer and my mom’s raspberry and blackberry bushes are in full bloom. I’ve been trying to think of a new recipe to try and these are even better than the Finnish Ribbon Cookies I thought about making!
You learn something new every day! I’m a donut connoisseur so you know I have to try this! And make travel plans!
How have I not had these yet?!? They sound so good, and yes, I’m off to give these a go!
I have never heard of a Candian Doughnut! This looks very interesting and delicious!
My favourite festival food is mini donuts!
These look sooo delicious!
Thanks For Sharing this Amazing Recipe. My Family Loved It. I will be sharing this Recipe with my Friends. Hope They will like it.