mmmm donut
Ann says
The last few weeks have been unexpectedly complicated. Most of my time has been spent indoors despite the good weather worrying over my grandparents. Since my grandfather has passed on a large series of family members has come through my parents’ house, and with them has come and go a lot of food. Large Latvian klingeris, a cardamom saffron sweet bread made for birthdays and other events. Dozens of piragi…Latvian little buttery rolls filled with bacon and onion. White wine and blood orange juice. Spice rubbed barbecued chicken. A myriad of fresh fruits…
But these are all home foods that I may write about later. Not now though. No. My escape has been my apartment in Seattle and has been cooking with Abe. It is one of the few times I can forget about everything and focus on him and on the food we are making. How can you not focus on fresh mint ice cream, courtesy of Orangette, and fresh homemade yeast donuts.
I hate cake donuts in general. They’re so dense and heavy. There are a few exceptions in Seattle like Mighty-O donuts, a vegan bakery, and Top Pot. Both make surprisingly light and delicious cake donuts. I, however, am not inclined to make what I believe is the lesser of the two breakfast-desserts. Fried, yeast-risen donuts are so light and delicious. Homemade they are not nearly as unhealthy as a Krispy Kreme, but taste as good if not better. Certainly different.
Abe had decided that yeast risen doughs were black magic and avoided them for fear of disaster, but truly as long as you don’t kill the yeast you have almost guaranteed success… Crusty breads are one thing that takes a lot of practice and I still don’t have down yet, but all other low to no knead doughs are as easy as any other baked good.
So, while I sit here with my grandma, I thought I’d give you the recipe to some delicious yeast donuts, adapted from the recipe given in Joy of Cooking.
Abe says
Apparently, I learn here, risen yeast doughs are not black magic, no, but keeping yeast alive is.
These doughnuts are not nearly as sweet as the average doughnut-chain doughnut. They’re good this way, but if a light sugar dusting doesn’t cut it for you, a glaze or doubling the sugar in the recipe will.
Yeast Donuts
Yields about a dozen 4 inch donuts
Ingredients
- 1 cup 105 to 115 degree F water (heat over the stovetop until it is warm. You should be able to hold your finger in the water and keep it there comfortably)
- 2 packages active dry yeast or 5 teaspoons
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1/2 cup soft butter (1 stick)
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3 and 1/4 cup flour (for the second addition of flour)
- sugar, cinnamon, and powedered sugar for the tops
- oil for frying
Combine the warm water and yeast and about a teaspoon of sugar in a medium bowl. Wait about 5 minutes for bubbles to form. Then mix in the 1 cup of flour. Let this sit somewhere warm for about 30 minutes…
Beat the butter until light and add the sugar in a large bowl. Beat until fluffy. Beat in the eggs and the salt. Pour the flour/water/yeast mixture into the butter and beat. it may look chunky but it will smooth out as you add the flour. Sift in the flour about 1 cup at a time. Mix gently. You may need to switch to a spoon or hand mixing as the dough gets quite stretchy after the second cup of flour. After all the flour is incorporated let it sit for about an hour or two in a very warm place. It is done when it is doubled in size.
Begin to warm a deep, wide pan with 3″ of a light frying oil to 350-370 degrees. As long as the oil is in this range they will fry up nicely. While the oil is heating plop your risen dough out onto a well floured board. Gently pat it out with floured hands as much as you can and then take a floured rolling pin to it to 1/2 inch thickness. Cut the dough into rings. If you don’t have cutters for this you can use a floured glass with a sharp edge and a shot glass for the middle hole. Allow all the holes and rings to rise for another 15 to 20 minutes. Some of them may be ready to fry by the time you finish cutting them out.
To fry them use a slotted metal spatula to put two rings in the oil at a time. You can add some holes as well if you like. A slotted spoon is good for getting them out. Fry for a minute on each side and remove to paper towels on a pan.
Dip them in sugar and enjoy!
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