yeast doughnuts

The October 2010 Daring Bakers challenge was hosted by Lori of Butter Me Up. Lori chose to challenge DBers to make doughnuts. She used several sources for her recipes including Alton Brown, Nancy Silverton, Kate Neumann and Epicurious.


This is my first time attempting a DB's challenge, and I was very excited! There were a few types of doughnuts that we could choose to make. I chose to make yeast doughnuts. 

Final cinnamon coated doughnuts: O-shaped, round ones and heart shaped

The doughnuts were soft and fluffy inside, and slightly crispy outside. I coated them with  cinnamon sugar, even though they're fabulous just plain. The doughnuts were the best when eaten early. But they can be re-heated up in the oven and made soft again. I used heart shaped cutters to get the heart shaped doughnuts.


Ingredients
360ml  Milk
70g  Vegetable shortening
14g  Dry yeast
80ml  Warm water
2  Large eggs (beaten)
55g  White granulated sugar
1.5tsp  Salt
1 tsp  Ground nutmeg
650g  Plain flour + extra for dusting
3 inches of oil in the pot/pan for frying



Steps

1. Place the milk in a medium saucepan and heat over medium heat just until warm enough to melt the shortening (make sure the shortening is melted so that it incorporates well into the batter).
2. Place the shortening in a bowl and pour warmed milk over. Set aside.
3. In a small bowl, sprinkle the yeast over the warm water and let dissolve for 5 minutes. It should get foamy. After 5 minutes, pour the yeast mixture into the large bowl of a stand mixer and add the milk and shortening mixture, first making sure the milk and shortening mixture has cooled to lukewarm (If not, the heat will kill the yeast).
4. Add the eggs, sugar, salt, nutmeg, and half of the flour. Using the paddle attachment of your mixer (if you have one), combine the ingredients on low speed until flour is incorporated and then turn the speed up to medium and beat until well combined.
5. Add the remaining flour, combining on low speed at first, and then increase the speed to medium and beat well.
6. Change to the dough hook attachment of the mixer and beat on medium speed until the dough pulls away from the bowl and becomes smooth, approximately 3 to 4 minutes (for me this only took about two minutes). If you do not have a dough hook/stand mixer – knead until the dough is smooth and not sticky.
7. Transfer to a well-oiled bowl, cover, and let rise for 1 hour or until doubled in size.
8. On a well-floured surface, roll out dough to 3/8-inch (9 mm)thick. (Make sure the surface really is well-floured otherwise your doughnuts will stick to the counter).
9. Cut out dough using a 2 1/2-inch (65 mm) doughnut cutter or pastry ring or drinking glass and using a 7/8-inch (22 mm) ring for the center whole. Set on floured baking sheet, cover lightly with a tea towel, and let rise for 30 minutes.
10. Preheat the oil in a deep fryer or Dutch oven to 365 °F/185°C.
11. Gently place the doughnuts into the oil, 3 to 4 at a time. Cook for 1 minute per side or until golden brown (my doughnuts only took about 30 seconds on each side at this temperature).
12. Transfer to a cooling rack placed in baking pan. Allow to cool for 15 to 20 minutes prior to glazing, if desired.

Doughnut cut outs before second proofing

Doughnut cut outs after second proofing

Cross-section of doughnut, showing the fluffy interior

Patience is key when making the dough. I don't have a stand mixer, so I used my hands to knead. It was very sticky when I first mixed everything together, but it came together eventually. I was very tempted to add more flour, but I didn't. I stopped kneading about two or three times and used a bowl scraper to gather the dough from the sides of the bowl and my hands, before continuing. After a while, the dough just came together and wasn't sticky. At this point, the dough felt very soft in my hands. After that, it was proofing time. I was quite amazed at how much this dough rose, it nearly doubled its size in about 30 minutes. Rolling it out was quite easy. The dough was still very soft at this stage, so I tried to be light handed and not spoil the shapes. The round cutters were used at first to cut out the standard doughnut shapes. I lumped all the excess dough together again and tried to cut out a few more circles, before using the heart shaped cutter. And then, it was time for the second proofing. Frying the doughnuts and the little round circular centres didn't take long (about 30 seconds to a minute on each side). They tasted so yummy. I especially liked the little hint of nutmeg in it. Overall, my first ever DB challenge was fun and I really enjoyed the experience of making the doughnuts. My tummy and I were satisfied with my hard work!