Gingerbread Brioche Doughnuts with Eggnog Pastry Cream

By Monique McLeod-Polanco, Peaches2Peaches Blog and author of Sweet Soulful Baking

If you’ve ever fallen down a late-night TikTok or Instagram baking rabbit hole, you know just how mesmerizing it can be. You get caught up in the gooey but crispy-edged cookies, the perfectly piped frosting, and the cozy kitchens they’re baked in. Before you know it, two hours have gone by in a blink, and you’re drooling. Oh, how the times have changed, to where social media has become the new cookbook! In this fall and holiday season-inspired baking roundup, we’re highlighting some of the most talented bakers who have taken over our feeds (and even our kitchens) with their irresistible creations, like these Gingerbread Brioche Doughnuts with Eggnog Pastry Cream by Peaches2Peaches!

“My love for baking started long before I started my blog, Peaches2Peaches,” shares Monique McLeod-Polanco. “I remember being in the kitchen with my grandmother at a young age while she baked for our family holidays. I watched her make her desserts from scratch and eventually started helping her make them.

“I am a New Yorker, born in Manhattan and raised in the Bronx. But my family is from St. Augustine, Florida, the oldest city in America, where I spent each and every summer. My family dessert recipes come from the South. Every holiday, we had peach cobbler, Southern butter pound cakes, apple pie, sweet potato pies, and more! I have a Master’s degree in Social Work and worked as a school social worker for many years, but I never let go of my passion for baking. I always baked for job potlucks, events, and celebrations.

“When I had my second child, my daughter, I decided to start posting foods and desserts I made on social media, and eventually created a blog. This led to working with a publishing company and releasing my cookbook, Sweet Soulful Baking! This was definitely a longtime goal and a dream come true for me. Although I have my full-time job working in schools, I continue to bake, sell my baked goods, and do food photography for brands and magazines. I wouldn’t have it any other way!”

VIE: What makes the holiday time special for you?

Monique: The holidays are a special time because we get to spend time with family and friends, and it is definitely centered around food. I love to bake holiday cookies and other desserts with my children, which they absolutely love. This year, we might try tackling gingerbread houses!

VIE: What makes baking around the holidays important to you?

Baking around the holidays is very special because we make our family’s traditional desserts that we only have once a year, like sweet potato pie, pound cake, and bourbon bread pudding. Making homemade desserts with my family brings everyone together and continues our family traditions.

VIE: Are you the baker in the family, or are there others in the kitchen during the festivities?

I am the main family baker. My children like to help, but I take on the lead baker role.

VIE: What’s a holiday tradition you did as a child that you still do or try to do today?

One tradition that I did with my family as a child and still do now is baking all of the holiday desserts the night before Christmas while watching the Albert Finney 1970 version of Scrooge on TV. It has to be that version of A Christmas Carol—LOL. It just puts us in the holiday mood!

VIE: What’s a holiday baking staple that you will always bake, year after year?

Definitely my grandmother’s Southern pound cake.

VIE: If you could bake with ANY person, who would it be?

Carla Hall! I love her desserts, and our families both have Southern backgrounds, so we bake similar desserts. I connected with her when my cookbook came out two years ago. We remained in touch, and now I’m going to be mentioned in her upcoming new cookbook!

VIE: What’s a baking tool or staple that you could not live without?

One baking tool I can’t do without is a pastry cutter. I use it for making biscuits, pie crusts, and more. It helps to combine butter with flour and other dry ingredients without overworking them in a food processor. I don’t think I could bake any type of pastry dough without it!

Gingerbread Brioche Doughnuts with Eggnog Pastry Cream

Ingredients

For the Doughnuts

1 Tbsp yeast

1 3/4 cups milk

1 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 1/2 cups bread flour

3 eggs, large

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup butter, softened

For the Pastry Cream

3/4 cup eggnog

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup flour

2 tsp cornstarch

1/4 tsp salt

4 large egg yolks

For the Filling

Pastry cream

1/2 cup heavy cream

1 tsp granulated sugar

Garnish

1 cup granulated sugar

2 tsp cinnamon

1 can vanilla Frosting

Directions

For the Doughnuts

1. Warm milk in the microwave to about 110 degrees Fahrenheit. Add milk, 1/4 cup sugar, and yeast to a standing mixer bowl and let it sit for 10 minutes. Add eggs, vanilla, salt, and flour. Put on the dough hook attachment and let the dough mix until blended. Add butter one tablespoon at a time until it is fully incorporated. Continue to allow the dough to knead for 2 minutes. Remove bowl from standing mixer. Cover with a towel and let dough proof for 1.5 to 2 hours. Transfer dough to a smaller bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate overnight.

2. The next day, divide the dough in half. Roll each piece of dough into a rectangle, until it’s about 3/4 to 1 inch thick. Use a 3 1/2- to 4-inch gingerbread cookie cutter to cut out gingerbread people. Gather the scraps, re-roll the dough, and cut out more gingerbread men. Repeat with the other half of the dough.
3. Cut out parchment paper squares for each doughnut, sprinkle them with flour, and place the doughnuts on top. This will make it easier to place them into the oil. Allow the doughnuts to rise until almost doubled, about 1 hour.
4. Heat a large pot of oil to about 360-375 degrees. Use a candy thermometer to get the exact temperature. Gently place each doughnut into the oil using the parchment squares. Fry until golden brown, turning once. Place on a baking rack with a baking pan underneath when done. Completely cover each doughnut with cinnamon and sugar.
5. Place sugared doughnuts on a baking sheet. Place pastry cream in a piping bag with a piping tip attached. Pipe pastry cream into the back of each doughnut until filled.
6. Place canned vanilla frosting in a piping bag with a medium-sized round tip. Pipe 2 button-sized dots on the front of each gingerbread man.

For the Pastry Cream

1. Warm the eggnog in a saucepan until you start to see wisps of steam. In a medium bowl, whisk together the sugar, flour, cornstarch, and salt.
2. Add the egg yolks and whisk them into the dry ingredients. Pour a little of the hot liquid into the eggs and whisk to combine. Continue pouring the liquid slowly into the eggs, whisking continuously.
3. When all the liquid has been added to the eggs, pour everything back into the saucepan. Set the pan back over medium heat. Whisk constantly. When it has thickened to a pudding-like consistency, remove the pan from the heat but keep stirring until the mixture is smooth.
4. Pour into a bowl and cover, or pour into an airtight container. Place into the refrigerator overnight or for 2 hours.

For the Filling

1. Beat heavy cream and sugar in a bowl until stiff. Fold the whipped cream into the pastry cream. Place into a piping bag with a Bismark Metal Piping Tip.

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For more recipes, visit PeachestoPeaches.com and follow @moniquepolanco_ on Instagram.