A Nun's Sigh (Beignet Soufflés) recipe

From New Orleans. So called as they are light as a nun's sigh, being made of chou paste, which is the base for cream puffs and éclairs.

• 1 cup sifted all-purpose flour
  Pinch of salt
  1 tablespoon granulated sugar
  1 cup water
  1/3 cup butter
  4 eggs
  1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  Fat (for deep-fat frying)
  Confectioners’ sugar

Sift together flour, salt and sugar and set aside. Heat water and butter together until butter melts. Add flour combination all at once, and stir rapidly with a wooden spoon until dough leaves sides of pan and forms a lump. Remove from heat and beat in eggs, one at a time, beating hard after each addition. When dough is no longer slippery-looking, stir in vanilla extract. Scoop up a heaping teaspoon of the dough and, with a second teaspoon, push it off into preheated fat (350 degrees F on deep-fat thermometer, or until a 1-inch cube of bread browns in 60 seconds). When puffed and golden brown, drain on paper towels. Sprinkle with confectioners sugar and serve hot. Makes several dozen.