Doughnuts

Doughnuts, anyone? This is not one of those doughnuts with all sorts of topping or filling that you can find these days, but just an old-fashioned doughnut coated with plain caster sugar. And this is still my favourite type of doughnut, it wins hands down over all those fancy doughnuts with chocolates, nuts, fruits, jam and whatever topping or filling that  are so popular these days (and expensive too!).

These plain doughnuts are still my favourites, over those fancy ones!

Make the dough as per the instructions in the recipe below. After the first rising, the dough is then rolled out to about 1/2 inch thickness, and use a doughnut cutter to cut out the doughnut shapes. The scraps can be kneaded gently into a ball, roll them out again and repeat with the cut-outs. This single recipe yields 24 doughnuts.

Place the cut-out dough on lightly floured baking trays, cover with greased cling wrap and leave to proof for 35 minutes. Heat up oil, and turn down heat to low, deep fry doughnut dough in hot oil until golden brown on both sides. It takes about 2 minutes for each doughnut to brown and fully cooked over a low heat. Remove and drain on kitchen paper towel, and while still hot, roll the doughnuts in caster sugar. 

 

I made this over the weekend on a Saturday, for our tea-time treat with cups of warm tea, and it was so good!

Of course 24 doughnuts are just too much for us, so I gave some to our neighbour.

Look at the texture inside, can you see how soft and fluffy these doughnuts are?

I have 8 of Alex Goh's books and have tried many of his recipes, long before I've started my blog. The first book I bought was The World of Bread, then, Creative Making of Cakes and added on the rest over the years.  So far all of his recipes works out great, but my favourite are his yeasted breads. The World of Bread and Magic Bread are two of my most favourite books out of these 8 books.

Doughnuts
(adapted from "The World of Bread", Alex Goh)
(A)
300gm bread flour
200gm plain flour
10gm salt
60gm sugar
20gm milk powder
1/2 tbsp baking powder
3-1/2 tsps instant yeast

(B)
2 egg yolks
280ml cold water

(C)
50gm shortening (I use butter)

Method :

1. Mix (A) in the bowl of a stand mixer till well blended. Add in (B) and using the dough hook, knead to form a rough dough. Add (C) and knead to form a smooth dough. It took me about 25 minutes. Dough is soft but not sticky.
2. Shape dough into a ball and place in a large bowl which has been sprayed with some oil, turning dough over so that the top is coated with oil, cover bowl loosely with cling wrap, and leave to proof for 45 minutes, or till it doubles in size. It took mine only 30 minutes (the weather was really scorching hot that day!).
3. Remove dough, mould it into a ball, cover with cling wrap and let rest for 15 minutes.
4. Roll it out to about 10mm thick. Using a doughnut cutter, cut out dough and place the cut-out doughnut onto a lightly floured baking tray. Cover with a wet cloth, but I prefer to use greased cling wrap, and leave to proof for 35 minutes.
5. Have ready a bowl with caster sugar to coat the doughnuts later on.
6. Heat oil, about 3in depth in  a wok or saucepan. Once the oil is hot, turn heat down to low, and carefully place one doughnut dough into the hot oil. Fry both sides till golden brown, turning them over frequently, as it takes only about 2 minutes to cook each doughnut.
7. Remove doughnut to a kitchen paper towel to drain excess oil on both sides for a minute. While doughnut is still hot, roll it in the caster sugar to coat all around. Place on wire rack to cool. Extremely yummy when eaten while still warm! Enjoy!

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I'm linking this post with :

"My Treasured Recipes - Alex Goh (Jun/July 2014)" hosted by Miss B of Everybody Eats Well in Flanders and co-hosted by Charmaine of Mimi Bakery House.

Cook-Your-Books #14 @ Kitchen Flavours