Old-fashioned donuts are my favorite kind, hands down. Although it was my first time deep frying (and I was nervous as all hell) they turned out lovely. They were not that difficult to make but it was challenging to get the smell of oil out of the house.... Anyway, trying out this recipe is worthwhile, and adding a pinch of nutmeg or cinnamon to the batter may make them taste even more delicious. This recipe does contain sour cream but they don't end up tasting like sour cream, instead the sour cream makes them moist and extra delicious.
As I've mentioned before, it's best to weigh the ingredients to get consistent results!
The recipe is here and more pictures of the process are below:
Ingredients:
240 g Sugar, granulated (about 1 and ¼ cup)
90 g Egg yolks, beaten (about 5–6 large egg yolks)
36 g Butter (about 2.5 tablespoons)
380 g Sour cream (1 2/3 cup sour cream)
600 g Pastry flour, or all-purpose (4 cups flour)
15 g Baking powder (3 teaspoons baking powder)
10 g Kosher salt (1 teaspoon regular salt)
Pinch of nutmeg and/or cinnamon (optional)
Nonstick spray, as needed
Canola oil (preferably) or vegetable oil for frying
Glaze recipe:
Online there are wonderful resources for vanilla and chocolate glazes. The ones I tried on these donuts did not turn out well so I didn't include their recipes.
Directions:
Sift salt, flour, baking powder, and the cinnamon and/or nutmeg (if using) into a bowl.
Combine the sugar, yolks, and butter in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Set the mixer to high and mix until the color of the mixture lightens and its volume increases, about 5 minutes.
Then mix in sour cream on medium speed until smooth.
With the stand mixer set to low, add the dry ingredients one large spoonful at a time, waiting a few seconds between spoonfuls. Stop the mixer when the dry ingredients are completely incorporated. The dough will be sticky.
Wrap/cover dough in greased plastic wrap, place in a bowl, and chill for 1 hour.
Line 2-3 pans with parchment paper.
Lightly dust the dough and a work surface with flour. Roll the dough until ~1 cm thick. If necessary, use more flour to prevent sticking.
Dip ring molds in flour each time and cut out donuts and donut holes. Place them on the parchment paper. Re-roll excess dough and cut into holes/donuts until all is used up.
Cover the pans with plastic wrap, and chill for 30 minutes.
In a large pot over medium heat, bring 1-2 inches of canola oil to 340-350 °F. Clip a thermometer to the edge of the pot.
Set a timer to 3 minutes.
Start with donut holes until you get the hang of it. Place a donut hole in the fryer. Once it rises to the surface, start the timer and cook it for 40 seconds, then use a metal slotted spoon or two chopsticks to flip it and fry until the golden-brown, about 80 seconds. Flip it one more time and fry for another 60 seconds.
Continue frying the donut holes (6-10 at a time) and donuts (3-4 at a time).
Transfer to a rack over a metal tray or onto a paper towel-lined plate. To make glaze simply whisk glaze ingredients together in bowl that you can easily dip donuts into.
Let the donuts cool for 15-30 minutes before glazing. Use spoons or chopsticks to coat them with glaze. Place on a wire rack to drip and allow 10-15 minutes for the glaze to dry.
Store at room temperature in an airtight container up to three days.
Makes 16 donuts and 20 donut holes.
What the dough looked like. Kind of sticky.
Rolling out the dough. The scrap pieces that I didn't cut into doughnuts I simply rolled out again and made more donuts!
The scrap piece you see in the back was simply rolled out again and cut into more donuts!
Chilling the donuts before frying.
Frying the wee little donut holes!
Frying the donuts! In all honesty, this was my first time frying donuts and it was very nerve racking to control the temperature to prevent them from burning or becoming overdone. I'd suggest just trying to control the temperature as best you can and not adding too much into the oil at once to the temperature doesn't drop.
Cute little donut holes.
Just look at all those glorious donuts!
The original recipe is here: https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/old-fashioned-doughnuts
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