It’s Harry Potter and J K Rowling’s Birthday today!! So, I had to post a treat, DUH!
I am on a Harry Potter reading marathon and have reached Halfway through The Order of Phoenix. I cannot express how much I love Potter verse. If I start talking about this then I might not end up finishing this post so I’ll make a separate blog post some day dedicated specially to Hogwarts.
Let’s talk about these doughnuts. Who doesn’t love fried food? I mean. I know I do. Of course, I am all in for healthy eating, low fat, low sugar etc. But I also believe in deep fried, buttery, sugary, creamy goodness. Who’s with me?
These bad boys are our classic doughnuts that I decided to fill with Coffee Pastry Cream. Of course, you may use any filling of your liking, the world is your oyster my friend. You can even fry these like the regular classic doughnuts without any filling. Dust them with some powdered sugar or coat them with a glaze the options are endless.
Some key things to remember in this recipe:
- Make sure you knead the dough enough; it needs to be smooth and elastic. And do not underproof or over proof your dough.
- Make the pastry cream ahead so you can use it straight away once your doughnuts are ready.
- The size of the cookie cutter you use determines the number of doughnuts you can get out of this dough.
- Do make sure your oil is up to temperature or else your doughnuts will not cook properly and will end up being oily.
Classic Donuts with Coffee Pastry Cream
Ingredients
Doughnuts:
- 525 g All-purpose flour
- 14 g Active dry yeast
- 60 g Caster sugar
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 1/4 tsp Vanilla extract
- 180 ml Milk (Add more if your dough seems too dry)
- 100 g Melted butter
- 2 large Eggs
Coating:
- 150 g Castor sugar
- 1 tsp Ground Cinnamon
- 150 ml Milk (I used full fat)
- 20 ml Strongly brewed coffee
- 60 g Sugar (Add more if you prefer more sweetness)
- 1/4 tsp Salt
- 2 Large Eggs
- 1 tbsp Cornstarch/Cornflour
Frying:
- Sunflower oil
Instructions
Make the doughnuts:
- In a small bowl add warm milk (make sure it is not hot) and sprinkle over 1 tsp of sugar, stir. Now add the yeast. Allow the yeast to proof for about 5 minutes or until it starts to foam. (If this doesn’t happen, your yeast is dead and you need to buy a new pack.)
- Now in a large bowl add the flour, the remaining sugar, eggs, salt, melted butter, the yeast mixture, and mix by hand or you may use a wooden spoon.
- Knead this mixture by hand for 8-10 minutes or until nice and smooth. If you use a stand mixer then use the dough hook attachment and knead for approximately 5 minutes.
- I use the same bowl that I mixed the dough in, to proof for approximately 60-120 minutes by covering the bowl with a clean cloth and placing it in a clean, warm place. Until the dough has doubled in volume.
- Once the dough is proofed, dump it to a clean, floured surface and roll it out to about 3/4 inch thickness.
- I used a 3.5 inch round cookie cutter to cut out 9 large doughnuts. Transfer the cut doughnuts to a large lined and floured baking tray.
- You may use the leftover dough to make little doughnut balls.
- Cover them with a moist cloth/loosely with cling wrap and let them proof for another 30 minutes or so.
Fry the doughnuts:
- In a heavy-bottomed (large) saucepan/dutch oven add enough oil so it comes halfway up the sides of the pot approximately 3 inches, allow it to come up to 175 degrees. I used sunflower oil. You can use any flavorless oil.
- Very carefully take one doughnut at a time and lower them into the hot oil and fry them for about 2-3 minutes on each side or until puffed and golden brown. Take them out of the hot oil and place them on a paper towel-lined baking sheet to drain the excess oil.
- Coat the warm doughnuts in the sugar-cinnamon mixture and set aside.
- Fill a piping bag with the coffee pastry cream, poke into the donuts (gently) and squeeze in the filling. Repeat for all the doughnuts. Enjoy.
Notes
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