46. Doughnuts
Who knew you could make doughnuts at home?? WITH OR WITHOUT A DEEP FAT FRYER!
This week I made doughnuts for the very first time and they were delicious. I would HIGHLY recommend giving them a go yourself. They are delicious as they are, rolled in a bit of sugar, or extremely messily filled with jam (shout out to Eszter (Instagram: @eszterpinter98) for the lovely jar of jam she sent me).
I was inspired by the recipe book ‘Made in London’ by Leah Hyslop. I read this cookbook cover to cover, as it wasn’t just DELICIOUS recipes, but also has so much about the history of food in London and how it shaped London. It was genuinely a really good read, full of great recipes to try yourself, so I would highly recommend it as a gift for the London foodie in your life.
Have to say they are best eaten quickly, as stale doughnuts are OK, but no one would choose one. So eat them while they’re hot!!
Makes about 35 - 40 small doughnuts
Ingredients
100g butter
170ml milk
500g plain white flour
7g sachet of fast action dried yeast
50g caster sugar, plus more for rolling the doughnuts in
1 tsp salt
2 eggs + 2 egg yolks
zest of 1 lemon
sunflower oil for frying and greasing (I used 1.5 litres, it will depend on the size of your pan/fryer)
Method
Gently melt the butter in a saucepan with the milk until all melted and the mixture is warm, NOT boiling.
Mix together the flour, yeast, sugar and salt, then add in the butter and milk, eggs, yolks and lemon zest. Stir until it forms one dough.
Knead the dough for 10-12 minutes by hand, or for 8-10 minutes on a low speed in a stand mixer with dough hook attachment. You want to achieve a glossy and smooth dough.
Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with clingfilm or a damp tea towel, and leave for an hour until doubled in size.
Grease two baking trays with oil.
Roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface, to about 1cm thickness. Cut out rounds using a 5cm straight edged cookie cutter and transfer the rounds to the baking trays. Gather the scraps and roll out again until the majority of your dough is used.
Cover the baking trays and leave your rounds to rise for about 45 minutes, so they have puffed up a bit.
Fill a deep pan with oil and heat to 165C. A cube of bread will sizzle and turn golden in about 60 seconds if you don’t have a thermometer to hand.
Cook your doughnuts in batches, not overcrowding the pan, for about 2/2.5 minutes on each side. Drain for a minute or two on kitchen paper and then roll in a shallow dish of sugar.
Enjoy while hot!
