Delightful Doughnuts from home

I really am not a doughnut gal. I would never go out and get myself a doughnut to eat. When Krispy Kreme came to Malaysia a couple of years ago and the kind folk at the doughnut franchise brought boxes and boxes of the glazed doughnuts to the office to tempt us, I was unmoved and didn't even take one for myself.

So why in heavens name did I make some? Well, I was seduced by the recipe and challenged to see if I could make some myself.  Since mostly everyone I know likes doughnuts I wasn't concerned about how I was going to "dispose" of them once they were done: as long as they turned out, I was certain they'd be polished off in a split second.

Now, the recipe that got me was on  joepastry.com, a site that's full of great pastries to try. And they're almost always fool proof. So one Sunday afternoon, this fool decided to test her skills with  the doughnuts.

Making the doughnuts isn't difficult and if you follow the recipe well, you're bound to succeed. It's that good. What you do need is planning ahead and plenty of time.



Why planning? Well the first step in making lovely spongy doughtnuts is making a sponge. How cool does that sound? The  sponge gives the doughnuts its bounce. It  is made the day before so that it can rest overnight in the fridge for the  flavour to  develop.

Making the Sponge

120gm all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoons instant yeast
100  ml lukewarm water
1 large egg

Combine all ingredients and mix gently with a fork till well mixed. Let the sponge ferment: keep it out at room temperature for 30 mins then in the fridge overnight.

Making the doughnuts

165 gms all-purpose flour
2.5 tsp instant yeast
17 gms  dry milk
1/4 tsp salt
14 gms  sugar
1 large egg, cold
2 tsp vanilla extract
80 gms butter at room temperature

Remove sponge from fridge and transfer to  the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook. Add all ingredients except the butter. Knead for 10 minutes (medium speed) stopping a couple of times to scrape down dough if necessary. Add butter slowly and knead till well combined.

Transfer  dough into a lightly oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap and leave to double in size (warm place) for roughly 1 hour.

Move dough to a lightly floured surface and shape it into a rectangle. Put it on a lined baking sheet and refrigerate for about 30 minutes.

Once chilled, transfer dough to a lightly floured surface and roll to about 1/3 cm. Cut into circles with a cookie cutter. Cover the  circles with plastic/damp cloth and let it rest till it puffs slightly (about 45 mins to an hour).

Heat oil to 190 F and fry the circles for just about 40 to 50 seconds per side or till light gold. Drain on paper towel and while warm roll in superfine sugar. For jelly doughnuts, poke a small hole on one side and using an icing nozzle, fill with jam (about a tbsp worth each.

For lovely pic of the whole process, go to http://joepastry.com/index.php?cat=161