Doughnuts, there's something so delicious about them and everyone has their personal preference; for me, personally, it has to be sugar cinnamon doughnuts or the classic vanilla glazed doughnut which I choose to make. And let me tell you that homemade doughnuts taste a thousand times better than shop bought. They smell fresh, once they've been fried they fill the whole house with the warming smell of doughnuts. And to make it even better I melted some chocolate to make as a chocolate dipping sauce to go with the doughnuts which I highly recommend you do to.
Making doughnuts is difficult? I wouldn't say so; in fact I find kneading the dough for a good 10 minutes quite therapeutic. And although you have to wait for the dough to rise a couple of times which makes it quite time consuming this is a good excuse to catch up on your favourite TV programs or read a book perhaps.
Vanilla Glazed Doughnuts: (Makes 14)
Ingredients:
3 tbsp dried active yeast
60g butter
335g strong white
bread flour
3 egg yolks
1tsp vanilla extract
2tbsp granulated sugar
240ml milk warmed
Oil for frying
Method:
1.Combine the yeast,
180ml of the milk and 67g of the flour and leave to rest for 30 minutes in a
warm place.
2.In a separate bowl
whisk the rest of the yeast and milk with the vanilla, sugar and egg yolks
until well combined.
3.Knead in the rest of
the flour a little at a time until the dough is smooth and elastic. Transfer to
a lightly oiled bowl-cover with cling film or a towel and leave to rest in a
warm place for an hour.
4.Put the dough onto a floured surface and roll until half an inch thick. Cut out circles using 3 inch
cutters (I used a mug of this length.) Cut a hole in the center of these
circles using a 1 inch cutter (I used the top of a water bottle.) Re-roll and repeat, if there are any leftover
scraps roll them into separate leftover balls.
5.Cover the doughnuts
with cling film and leave to rest for 20 minutes.
6.Heat a 3 inch depth
of oil in a deep heavy bottomed pan until it reaches 180 C. Use a metal spatula to transfer 3 to 4
doughnuts into the frying pan. Fry for 2 -3 minutes until golden brown, flip
over and fry the other side for a further 2-3 minutes.
7.Remove from the oil
using a slotted spoon and drain onto a paper towel. Repeat with the remaining
doughnuts and doughnut balls.
8.Leave to cool
slightly and then glaze.
Vanilla Glaze:
Ingredients:
510g icing sugar
10 tbsp milk
2 ¼ vanilla
extract
Method:
1.Stir all the
ingredients together in a shallow dish.
2.Dunk the doughnut
into the glaze, using a spoon to help. Remove the doughnut from the glaze using
a chopstick or the end of a spoon. Place onto a sheet of baking paper and leave
to dry. Repeat till all doughnuts are glazed.
If I could give you one piece of advise it would be to eat these doughnuts while warm and with melted chocolate. And be quick they wont last very long!
