A few weeks ago I started teaching a baking class to a group of 7th and 8th grade girls. It has been a great experience so far. The week before spring break, we made bread. During some of the down time (waiting for the dough to rise) the girls were looking through lots of cookbooks, and I issued a challenge: make something with yeast and bring samples and a recipe if possible. All of them wanted to make cinnamon rolls, and thankfully they didn't all bring in samples (I don't think I could have spent enough time at the gym burning off the cinnamon rolls). I decided I should take on the challenge myself and found a recipe for doughnuts.
Now let me start, I've never fried anything before in my life, so I decided to make fried doughnuts, not cake ones - why not challenge myself on two fronts? So, doughnut dough... this was a sour cream based dough, and even though the recipe said it would be sticky, I had never worked with a wet dough before, and was not prepared for how sticky it really was! The first time I made the dough, I only mixed part of it with a stand mixer, and then did the rest on a board. I made a simple mistake the first time I made it, I added too much flour, and overworked the dough, thinking it shouldn't be this sticky. The doughnuts turned out great, but nothing compared to the second batch, made entirely in the stand mixer.
This dough only needed one rise before shaping, so after an hour, I pulled out my still sticky dough, and started to cut. I choose to make doughnut holes instead of the traditional doughnut shape just so I could eat a few instead of just one! After making small little rounds of dough, I rolled them into a ball, and put them on a sheet pan for a final rise. During this time I filled my dutch oven with oil (use canola or peanut oil, it can get to higher temperatures, and therefore the dough will absorb less oil), and let it come up to temperature. The temperature of the oil is an important thing to note in making doughnuts, and really frying anything. If the oil is at the correct temperature, the food will absorb the least amount of oil, and remain blissfully crisp.
So, the oil finally came up to 375* according to the fry thermometer I had attached. I gently placed about 5 doughnut holes in the oil. The amount you can fry at one time depends on the size of your pot. You don't want to overcrowd the pot which would lower the temperature, make the doughnuts take longer to cook, and therefore, absorb more oil. Once the doughnut holes browned on one side, I flipped them over and allowed them to continue frying. After about 2 minutes I removed them from the oil, and placed them on a paper towel to absorb any excess oil. Once the doughnuts were cool enough to handle I rolled them in an assortment of toppings. There was a powdered sugar glaze, melted chocolate, flake coconut and cinnamon sugar. My favorite was the simple powered sugar glaze made with imported Mexican vanilla (if you've never tried Mexican vanilla I recommend finding yourself some, there is no comparison).
Will I try doughnuts again? Probably. It is always nice to have something impressive to make on special occasions, like birthdays and holidays. I'll let you know what I come up with for Easter this weekend!
Now let me start, I've never fried anything before in my life, so I decided to make fried doughnuts, not cake ones - why not challenge myself on two fronts? So, doughnut dough... this was a sour cream based dough, and even though the recipe said it would be sticky, I had never worked with a wet dough before, and was not prepared for how sticky it really was! The first time I made the dough, I only mixed part of it with a stand mixer, and then did the rest on a board. I made a simple mistake the first time I made it, I added too much flour, and overworked the dough, thinking it shouldn't be this sticky. The doughnuts turned out great, but nothing compared to the second batch, made entirely in the stand mixer.
This dough only needed one rise before shaping, so after an hour, I pulled out my still sticky dough, and started to cut. I choose to make doughnut holes instead of the traditional doughnut shape just so I could eat a few instead of just one! After making small little rounds of dough, I rolled them into a ball, and put them on a sheet pan for a final rise. During this time I filled my dutch oven with oil (use canola or peanut oil, it can get to higher temperatures, and therefore the dough will absorb less oil), and let it come up to temperature. The temperature of the oil is an important thing to note in making doughnuts, and really frying anything. If the oil is at the correct temperature, the food will absorb the least amount of oil, and remain blissfully crisp.
So, the oil finally came up to 375* according to the fry thermometer I had attached. I gently placed about 5 doughnut holes in the oil. The amount you can fry at one time depends on the size of your pot. You don't want to overcrowd the pot which would lower the temperature, make the doughnuts take longer to cook, and therefore, absorb more oil. Once the doughnut holes browned on one side, I flipped them over and allowed them to continue frying. After about 2 minutes I removed them from the oil, and placed them on a paper towel to absorb any excess oil. Once the doughnuts were cool enough to handle I rolled them in an assortment of toppings. There was a powdered sugar glaze, melted chocolate, flake coconut and cinnamon sugar. My favorite was the simple powered sugar glaze made with imported Mexican vanilla (if you've never tried Mexican vanilla I recommend finding yourself some, there is no comparison).
Will I try doughnuts again? Probably. It is always nice to have something impressive to make on special occasions, like birthdays and holidays. I'll let you know what I come up with for Easter this weekend!
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