Cinnamon sugar doughnuts

I have always been a bit afraid of deep frying. I'm sure it's from watching those videos at school of a fireman dropping water on a pan of burning oil, making the whole fake kitchen explode.

Nevertheless, I wanted to try doughnuts for Sweet Bread Dough Month so I had to face my fears, and as is usually the case, it wasn't nearly as frightening as I thought it was going to be. Even without a fancy deep fryer, thermometer or even a gas hob, it worked fine. The doughnuts are perhaps a little darker than would be ideal, as it's harder to keep it a constant temperature on an electric hob, but it was so nice to have fresh doughnuts straight from the pan that it didn't really matter. The dough isn't as buttery as brioche dough, which makes it less sticky and much easier to work with, much lore like a plain white bread dough.
 

Things I have learnt from making doughnuts...

Deep frying is not to be feared! You won't get burnt unless you drop things into it from a height so make sure you lay the dough onto the oil rather than throw it in.

To check that the oil is hot enough you can drop in little scraps of dough. If they sink to the bottom the oil is not hot enough, but if they float and begin to sizzle straight away, it is.

Doughnut holes can be tricky to turn over if you allow them to develop air bubbles, to prevent this, prick any bubbles you see appearing with a cocktail stick to deflate them.

 

I was surprised that it takes such a short amount of time to cook the dough all the way through, which meant I left them in for a bit too long. I would turn them over much more quickly next time and go by the colour rather than a clock.

 

Doughnuts are best hot so if you don't want to eat the whole batch you can put the cut out bits of dough on a tray in the freezer, then once solid they can be transferred to a freezer bag until required. Defrost fully at room temperature before frying.

Doughnuts:

(adapted from this recipe, which also has a helpful video demonstration)
 

300g flour

35g caster sugar

¼ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon yeast (half a 7g sachet)

40g butter, at room temperature

120ml milk

1 free range egg, beaten

 

1 cup caster sugar mixed with 2 tablespoons of cinnamon, to coat
 

• Mix together the flour, sugar, salt and yeast and then rub the butter
• Pour in the milk and beaten egg and knead to form a smooth dough (about 5-10 minutes)
• Leave to prove in the mixing bowl, covered with clingfilm, until doubled in size
• Roll out the dough to 1cm thick and cut out circles to form the doughnuts
• Leave to rest on the worktop whilst you heat the oil to 190°C
• Gently lower the doughnuts and doughnut holes into the oil using two forks, putting only a few in at once, so you can keep an eye on them
• Turn over after 30-45 seconds, or once the base reaches a nice golden brown colour
• Transfer to a sheet of kitchen towel to drain briefly before rolling in the cinnamon sugar and devouring immediately