Bride | Cranberry-Orange “Vampyre” Jelly Donuts
Ali Hazelwood is one of those authors that I’ve been nervous to try because I’ve heard such mixed reviews. But, she’s become so prolific that it also had me curious. As romance is not my go-to genre, I decided to dip my toe into Hazelwood waters with a romantasy. And I’m so glad I did!
I enjoyed this book so much more than I thought I would. While at first I had to wrap my head around the technological setting, as I’m naturally drawn to fantasy that has more of an old world feel, I ended up eating this up.
Misery, a Vampyre who grew up among humans, must marry the Alpha of the Werewolves into order to broker peace between the two clans. Against her better judgement, she agrees, as the Alpha is her only lead to discovering what happened to her missing best friend from the human world.
I absolutely loved Misery and her self deprecating, snarky comments and deeply caring nature. Her whole life, she has never belonged, with the humans nor the vampyres. But as her search for her friend continues she begins to find a family.
Did this book take a little too much of a detour into spicy scenes for my liking? Yes, it did. I feel like this is par for the course in romantasy, as soon as the spice hits, the plot takes a back seat for the remainder of the book. I wish this wasn’t the case as I tend to like the first half of romantasies more than the second for this reason. Couldn’t we get a bit more plot and just a sprinkling of spice to break up the tension? Am I the only one that feels this way?
My only other issue with this book was that I found the ending twist to be a little juvenile with the monologue of the villain explaining everything, including other people’s choices. This type of ending is where I can tell that she writes a lot of books in a short span, as it takes time to come up with a more nuanced ending that ties up all the loose ends without a monologue.
All that being said. I really did enjoy this book and I absolutely loved the characters. And I would be happy to try another Ali Hazelwood.
These Cranberry-Orange Jelly Donuts are inspired by Misery. Filled with a cranberry-orange jelly and dusted with orange infused sugar, they are a delicious fall treat. I decided to fill them from the top, rather than the side so that the spilled over filling looks like vampyre bites. The perfect addition to a Halloween reading party!
Cranberry-Orange “Vampyre” Jelly Donuts
Makes: 14
Donuts
I used this recipe for baked yeasted donuts, but you could easily swap with a fried donut recipe.
Cranberry-Orange Jelly
4 cups washed cranberries (340g bag)
2.5 cups orange juice
1.5 cups sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch + 2 tablespoons cold water
Place the cranberries, orange juice, and sugar in a large, shallow saucepan (a deep, smaller saucepan will work but you may have to boil for longer). Bring to a boil then lower to a simmer and let cook 20-30 minutes, or until cranberries have popped and mixture has thickened slightly.
Let cool a bit, then pour into a blender or food processor and blend until smooth. Pour through a fine mesh sieve back into the pot, stirring to allow the liquid to pass through. Give it a taste - I prefer my jelly a bit tart, but feel free to add more sugar if that’s your preference! Stir together cornstarch and water until dissolved, then whisk into cranberry mixture. Put back over heat and bring to a boil, stirring constantly. It should be thick and smooth.
Let cool, then cover and place in the fridge until chilled through.
Orange Sugar
1 cup sugar
1 organic orange, zested
1/2 cup butter, optional
Add orange zest to sugar and rub together with your fingers to infuse the orange flavour into the sugar.
If you made baked donuts, melt the butter in a separate bowl and set aside.
Instructions
Make donuts according to recipe. For the baked donuts, roll out to 1/2 inch thick then cut into circles. You can re-roll the scraps of dough once, to make about 14 donuts total. I let them rise for about an hour. You want them to be nice and puffy before going in the oven, so leave them longer if need be!
If you are making fried donuts, coat immediately in orange sugar. If you are making baked donuts, let them cool a bit and then dip in melted butter before coating in orange sugar.
Scoop the prepared jelly into a large piping bag fitted with a round pastry tip. For a classic filled donut, insert the tip into the side of the donut and squeeze until the filling starts to ooze out a bit, then you know it’s full. To make it look like vampire bites: insert the tip on the top, near the edge. Squeeze until it starts to come out and guide the jelly down the side of the donut. Make a second hole beside the other and just squeeze enough jelly to guide down the side as well.
Best served warm or at room temperature.
Hi I’m Cheri, I’ve been staying up too late reading since I was a kid hiding under the covers with a flashlight.