Doughnuts
I think this is hands-down one of the best culinary discoveries I’ve made in my life. As unbelievable as it sounds, the flavor is really close to the store-bought ones — the dough is super fluffy, it doesn’t feel greasy like some bakery doughnuts, and the chocolate glaze is simply magnificent. The only problem is that they’re highly addictive… I’m warning you: once you try them, you’ll want to make them again and again. But hey, I think it’s worth it.
What do we need?
300 g (2.5 cups) bread flour
200 g (1.5 cups) all-purpose flour
80 g (1/3 cup + 1 tbsp) sugar
5 g (1 tsp) salt
20 g (3 tbsp) powdered milk
2 packets of active dry yeast
230 g (1 cup) warm water
1 medium egg
40 g (3 tbsp) shortening or margarine (we use Crisco, which is an odorless and tasteless vegetable fat)
2 teaspoons orange extract
For the sugar glaze:
200 g (1.75 cups) confectioners’ sugar
1 teaspoon butter
A splash of lemon juice
Water
For the chocolate glaze:
200 g (1.75 cups) confectioners’ sugar
1 teaspoon butter
150 g (5.3 oz) baking chocolate
Water
How do we make them?
Mix the dry ingredients well: flours, sugar, salt, powdered milk and yeast.
Add the water — neither hot nor too cold, at room temperature — along with the beaten egg and the orange extract. Remember: if the water is hot it will “kill the yeast,” and if it’s too cold the dough will take longer to rise. Knead for about 8 minutes.
Add the fat and keep kneading until the dough no longer sticks to your hands. You might need to add more flour, but you won’t know until the shortening is fully incorporated. The resulting texture should be smooth and elastic.
Form a ball and let it rest for about 45 minutes. It’s fine to let it go longer.
After that time, knead it a bit and roll it out to about 1 cm (3/8 inch) thick. If you have a doughnut cutter, perfect. If not, use a round cutter (or a glass) to make the circles, and a smaller one for the inner circle. For the center hole, we just made it with our finger and stretched it a little (the dough is very elastic, so any irregularity won’t show).
Let them rest on a tray lined with parchment paper for at least 1 hour so they can rise again.
Fry in sunflower oil (if you use olive oil it’ll give them too much flavor). The oil shouldn’t be too hot or they’ll burn right away. As soon as you drop them in the pan they’ll start puffing up. Leave them for a few seconds and flip them so they brown on the other side.
Take them out and drain on paper towels, and while they’re still warm, dip them in the sugar glaze. If you’re using the chocolate glaze, they don’t need to be warm.
To make the sugar glaze, melt the butter a bit in the microwave and mix it well with the confectioners’ sugar and a splash of lemon. Add a few tablespoons of water until you get a light, whitish slurry.
For the chocolate glaze, mix the confectioners’ sugar with a few tablespoons of water (again, you want a light slurry). Melt the chocolate with the butter in the microwave and once melted, add it to the sugar-and-water mixture. If it’s too thick, add a bit more water. If on the other hand it’s too runny, let it cool down.
To coat the doughnuts in the sugar glaze, dip them into the bowl so the glaze sticks all over. For the chocolate glaze, only dip one side.
Tips:
It looks complicated but it isn’t. You just need time, because respecting the dough’s rising times is really important.
It’s important that the yeast is bread yeast (not baking powder) and that the milk is powdered — otherwise your dry ingredient ratios will change and you won’t get the same result.
When frying the doughnuts, do them one at a time, or if you have a large pan, 2 or 3 at most. Otherwise you risk burning them.
