One of my favourite things in the world is a freshly made and heavily sugared doughnut, full to the brim with wonderfully sharp raspberry jam. Learning how to make them was a dangerous step for me: I was genuinely concerned I would never stop, such is my intense love for them!
This recipe is not difficult to make, but it does take a little time – you need to allow for the dough to rise twice. You can also experiment with fillings – I have added lemon curd or nutella in place of the jam before, and they work well with any kind of jam or curd. I even made them with coffee jam once!
I recently discovered From Dorset with Love’s peach jam which is a delight and would be wonderful as a doughnut filling. Heather x
Ingredients
- 480g strong bread flour
- 14g quick action yeast
- 1 tsp salt
- 40g butter
- 30g caster sugar
- 220ml milk
- 2 eggs
- 1litre vegetable oil • raspberry jam
- extra caster sugar
Heather Brown is on the committee of the Guild of Food Writers; a home economist with a passion for Dorset’s brilliant foodie scene. Heather runs Dorset Foodie Feed, championing Dorset’s food and drink businesses, as well as working with her food industry clients.
Directions
- In a measuring jug, measure out the milk and then • heat up gently (either in a microwave or on a hob
in a saucepan) until warm. Once the milk is warm
(not boiling), add in the butter and stir so that it melts into the warm milk. Add the yeast to the warm milk and stir well so it dissolves. • - In a large mixing bowl (or stand mixer bowl), add together the flour, salt and sugar and stir to combine.
- Add the milk mixture and the eggs to the flour mixture and beat together to form a soft, slightly sticky dough.
Knead the dough so it becomes very smooth (3-4 • minutes in a stand mixer or 5-6 minutes on a floured surface by hand). - Lightly oil the inside of a bowl and place the dough • inside. Cover with cling film and leave somewhere warm to double in size – about an hour.
- Meanwhile, line two baking sheets with • greaseproof paper. Then cut out 12 squares of greaseproof paper and place onto the lined baking sheets (about 10cm x 10cm). Oil these lightly.
These paper squares are for the doughnuts to rest • on and make picking them up later to pop into the oil a lot easier. By oiling the paper the dough balls
will slip easily into the hot oil and you won’t lose • any of the rise in this process. - Once the dough is risen, lightly oil both your
kitchen work surface and your hands and take
out the dough (the oil on your hands will stop the sticky dough from sticking to you). • - Cut the dough into 12 pieces and shape each into
a ball. Place each ball onto its own little square of oiled paper on the baking sheets. Cover loosely • with cling film and leave to prove again for 45 minutes. - As you are getting close to the end of the 45 minutes, pour the oil into a large saucepan and leave to heat up. The oil needs to reach between 160o and 180oC and I recommend using a thermometer to track this temperature. While you are waiting, cover a wire rack with a couple of layers of kitchen towel.
- Once the oil is hot enough, gently pick up the doughnuts by the paper and drop them into the oil (careful the oil doesn’t splash you – it is hot!). You may need to cook your doughnuts in batches, it depends on how large your saucepan is. You want just enough to cover the surface with space to bob about (they will float).
- The doughnuts will need around 2 minutes on each side; carefully flip them over in the oil to make sure they are nicely browned on both sides. Once browned, remove from the oil with a spatula and leave to cool on the paper towels (this helps to soak up some of the excess oil).
- Once all of the doughnuts have been cooked, turn off the oil and leave it to cool down somewhere safe. NB. Hot oil on the stove should never be left unattended.
- Add some caster sugar to a bowl and roll each cooked doughnut around in the sugar, coating each side generously.
- Place your jam into a piping bag. Make a small hole in the side of each doughnut with a sharp knife and then pipe jam into the doughnut.
Heather’s Tips:
I find it is best to store the doughnuts on their sides with the jam hole facing upwards (see picture) to avoid the jam escaping!
Doughnuts are best eaten the day they are made but if you do keep yours for a day, then 10-20 seconds in the microwave and a little extra sugar will revive them (the jam does get hot doing this so be careful!).
by Heather Brown
