Papua New Guinea Lamari Mountain with chocolate strawberry donuts

Papua New Guinea Lamari Mountain

Papua New Guinea Lamari Mountain first appeared at the Roastery in April/May. I remember this very well, as I spent a few hours at the Roastery, left, and for whatever reason, went back later in the evening. Bags of this coffee were sitting on a shelf, and they were not there earlier! Absolutely delighted, I grabbed a bag and took it home. This coffee has since launched in select Starbucks Reserve stores across the country.

Papua New Guinea is one of the most remote and exotic places in the world. The rugged terrain and lack of infrastructure make it difficult to navigate but also presents an opportunity to discover great coffee. Coffee from Papua New Guinea have always been my favorites. They are generally very herbaceous, but the Lamari mountain is different. It has a bright acidity with strawberry notes and a smooth mouth feel. I wanted to celebrate the strawberry notes in this coffee with a chocolate and strawberry donut!

Where exactly is Papua New Guinea?  PNG is an Oceanian country, located in the southwest region of the Pacific Ocean, north of Australia and is one of the most diverse countries in the world! Over 800 languages are spoken here, and it’s known of as one of the least explored countries, with many undiscovered plants and animals thought to be in the interior. Papua New Guinea accounts for 1% of the world coffee production, and is the second largest agricultural export and employs around 2 million people. For a country about the size of California, coffee is a big deal here. Many farmers have small plots of land for their coffee “gardens”, with as few as 20 trees! I am so thankful that Starbucks continues to bring us stand out coffees and stories from this far away land.

The Lamari mountain is a coffee operation owned by Ameke Hongenare, a true coffee ambassador. He spreads knowledge about growing, harvesting and processing crops. He also supplies transportation to the mill, bringing financial stability to growers who rely on coffee for their income. He works closely with farmers, focusing on quality, which leads to a better price for their coffee. The proof is in the cup. This is a washed coffee, with a medium body, medium acidity with bright red currant and strawberry notes.

I am kind of obsessed with donuts right now. Ever since I bought  a donut pan, that is all I want to make. Baked donuts with different glazes and toppings. In a few weeks, I am baking for an organization I volunteer with, and I am going to be making a lot of donuts. A L O T. I decided I would try and see what would happen if I used cake mix to bake donuts. Not only is it substantially cheaper when you are baking hundreds of donuts, but I can easily switch from making strawberry, to chocolate, to lemon, to birthday cake.

So for this recipe I used a box of basic chocolate cake mix and dehydrated strawberries. You can buy the strawberries at most grocery stores, I got mine at Target!

Papua New Guinea Lamari Mountain with chocolate strawberry donuts

 

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Author: Jocelyn Freeman

Ingredients

• 1 box of chocolate cake mix, minus ¼ cup (or 2¾ cups total)
• ¾ cup buttermilk
• 2 eggs
• 2 T unsalted butter, melted
• 
  Chocolate Frosting
• ¾ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
• ¼ cup heavy whipping cream

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 425
2. Prepare donut pan with nonstick spray.
3. In a medium size bowl, mix the cake mix, buttermilk and eggs. Once combined, add melted butter. Mix until throughly combined.
4. Transfer batter to a ziplock bag. Cut off the corner, and fill each donut cavity about ⅔ of the way full. Bake for 8 minutes. Let the donuts cool in the pan for 5 minutes before removing them. Let cool completely before frosting.
5. To make the glaze, place chocolate chips in a medium sized bowl. Pour heavy cream into heat-proof measuring cup or bowl and heat up in the microwave in 20 second increments just until hot (not boiling) Pour hot cream over chocolate. Let sit for 5 minute - DO NOT STIR. Whisk the mixture until smooth.
6. Dip donuts in chocolate glaze and then top with strawberries.

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