Varri-Cakes From "The Legend of Korra"

          In "Night of a Thousand Stars" (TLoK, s.2, ep.11) a special Varrick Global Industries treat is served at the premier of the final installment of "The Adventures of Nuktuk: Hero of the South" (starring our favorite Bolin). The two mustachioed detectives Lu and Gang, who are usually seen being lazy and/or ragging on Mako, are chowing down on these tasty babies while they're supposed to be patrolling the area for signs of domestic terrorism, that is, until Chief Beifong catches them.

"Stop stuffing your mustaches with Varri-cakes and get to your posts!"

—Lin Beifong, "Night of a Thousand Stars", TLoK s.2, ep.11

          In a later scene (not that much later, reprimand sure doesn't stick with these guys) Lu & Gang are at it again, this time with closeups, telling us how they prefer to eat their Varri-cakes.

"Mm-ah, I like to eat the top off the Varri-cake first."

"I just try to shove the whole thing in my mouth at once."

*chuckle* "I love our job."

—Lu & Gang, "Night of a Thousand Stars", TLoK s.2, ep.11

          And then they get beaten up and shoved into a locker. But thanks to one of their half eaten Varri-cakes that fell on the floor and was stepped on by Bolin, Lu & Gang are rescued. And then demoted. Poor guys.

Note: Varri-cakes (Varrick cakes) could very well be made out of cakey-cake, but because of their red filling and the fact that it's two cops that are chowing down on them, my brain's first interpretation was jelly filled doughnuts. Rectangle jelly filled doughnuts. With frosting. So here we go.
          Also, just FYI, in the screen shots you can make out an image printed on each Varri-cake. On closer inspection I discovered that it's the Varrick Industries logo which is a two masted boat, like a Malaysian (Malay) junk. I've included an easy icing recipe below if you'd like to decorate your Varri-cakes with this logo.

Varri-Cakes from Varrick Global Industries

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Ingredients:
Cakes/Doughnuts
2 1/4 tsp. (1 pkg.) Active Dry Yeast
1/2 Cup Milk, warm (microwave ~1 min)
1 Tbsp. Granulated Sugar
2 Cups All-Purpose Flour
1/2 tsp. Salt
1 Large Egg, beaten
1 Tbsp. Butter, melted & cooled
Canola Oil (for deep frying)
1 Cup Raspberry or Strawberry Preserves
Powdered Sugar
White Buttercream Frosting (store bought OR homemade—recipe here, just half the ingredients)
Varrick Industries Logo
Blue Gel Icing (store bought)
Purple Gel Icing (store bought)
OR Royal Icing
1 Large Egg White
1 1/2 Cups Powdered Sugar
1/2 tsp. Lemon Juice
Blue Food Color Gel
Purple Food Color Gel

Important Items:
Parchment Paper
Deep Fryer or Large Pot
Paper Towels
Chop Stick
Small Frosting Tips
Plastic Baggies
Toothpicks

Directions:

1. Put the yeast & sugar in a small bowl, pour in the warm milk, & let sit for about 10 mins to get foamy. In a large mixing bowl whisk together the flour & salt & make a well in the center. Pour in the milk/yeast mixture & then add the beaten egg & cooled, melted butter. Mix with a dough hook until the dough is thoroughly combined, smooth, & elastic, but not really sticky. Pick up the dough & form it into a ball in your hands. Put a little bit of oil in the bowl & spread it around the bottom & sides with a paper towel. Put the dough back int he bowl (in ball form) & cover the bowl with a towel. Let the dough rise for about 2 hours to double in size.

2. Punch down the dough, place it on a lightly floured surface, & knead it for a couple of times. Using a lightly floured rolling pin, roll the dough to 1/2" thickness (letting the dough rest from time to time as you roll). Cut the dough into 1 1/2" x 3" rectangles using a pizza cutter. Place the cut pieces on a parchment paper lined tray about 1" apart. Gather up the extra dough & re-roll & cut rectangles again until all the dough is used up (you'll have about 12 rectangles). Cover the rectangles on the tray with the towel & let rise for another 20 mins.

3. Heat your deep fryer or large pot with about 3" of oil to approx. 325°F. Lower the rectangles into the hot oil, 2 at a time (at the most), & cook each side about 2-3 mins or until the whole doughnut is a nice golden brown. Place the cooked doughnuts onto a paper towel lined tray & let cool completely.

4. Roll each cooled doughnut in a large bowl of powdered sugar to coat & then place them on a clean parchment paper lined tray (you could probably do this after putting the filling in, but there's a chance it could get a little messy). Use a chopstick to poke into one end of each doughnut, making sure the stick does NOT come out the other end, & poke around inside to make space to put the filling. Heat the strawberry or raspberry spread in the microwave for about 30 seconds & then spoon it into a plastic baggie fitted with a small frosting tip (#2 or #3 tip). One by one, stick the tip into the little hole you created in each doughnut & gently squeeze in the filling until you can feel pressure pushing back against the tip. It's really just a matter of seconds & requires only about 2 tsp. of preserves. You'll get the hang of it after 1 or 2 doughnuts. Place the doughnuts back on the tray.

5. Make a half recipe of buttercream frosting & spread it on the top of each doughnut OR, if using store bought frosting, zap the frosting container in the microwave for a few seconds to get it pourable. Put the doughnuts on a wire rack over a tray with edges & then pour the melted frosting over the doughnuts (the excess frosting can then be scooped back into the container). Let cool completely. For the Varrick Industries logos, make royal icing by mixing the egg white, powdered sugar, & lemon juice with a whisk or whisk attachment until it becomes a thick icing. Separate the icing into 2 small bowls & make one a pale blue & the other a darker blue/purple by stirring in small amounts of appropriate colored food gels (you can make yours lighter & more purple-y than mine). Spoon the icings into 2 baggies with tiny frosting tips & carefully pipe on the little Varrick Industries boat logo (the image is in the note section above this recipe) OR simply use store bought blue & purple colored gel icings to draw on the logos. Use toothpicks for fine tuning.

* Make sure to check out my other "Avatar" & "Korra" recipes! *