Belle's Classic Doughnuts With Custard Stuffing Two Ways

My Great Auntie Eva was famous for her cakes and baking. I have very fond memories as a child of this delicious chocolate and walnut cake that greeted us every time we went to visit. The recipe had about 12 eggs, 1 tablespoon of flour and only god knows how much chocolate.

Another recipe she was famous for, which she stopped making years before I was born, were her doughnuts.

Back in 2001 my mother, who also had never had the privilege of tasting these doughnuts, sat down with my Auntie Eva and asked her for the recipe. From memory, Eva told my mother each and every ingredient, as well as their importance, and most of the instructions.

It wasn’t until 18 years later I woke up with a craving for doughnuts. Not really wanting to get out of my pyjamas, I thought I’d make them. After a bit of digging, me and mum found the recipe, scribbled down so many years ago.

Now, while this recipe is mostly my auntie’s, I have made a few changes, firstly, substituting the butter for olive oil. While the doughnuts were amazing fresh out of the deep fryer, they quickly became stodgy as they cooled. My cousin, who just so happens to be a chef, suggested swapping the butter out for olive oil. She said since olive oil was a liquid at room temperature, opposed to butter which is solid, it made baking lighter as well as stopping it from drying out as quickly.

The second, and probably most important change, was the time given to let the doughnuts rise. With my auntie’s recipe, she allowed 2 hours for the dough to rise but I opt to let the dough rise overnight in the fridge. If you’re feeling impatient, you can leave them for 2 hours in a sunny spot opposed to overnight, but I personally find leaving them overnight creates a lighter, fluffier doughnut. Letting the dough rise overnight also means less prep work in the morning – doughnuts for breakfast has never been easier!

Makes 24 Doughnuts
Prep time: 12 hours
Cook time: 20 minutes

Doughnuts
200ml milk
500gms and 1 tablespoon flour, plus extra for dusting
15gms Active yeast
50gms and 1 tablespoon white sugar
50mls olive oil
3 eggs

For deep frying
Oil (I use sunflower)

For dusting
1 cup caster sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Start by placing the milk in a medium-sized bowl and heat for 1 minute in the microwave. Once warmed, remove and add the yeast, 1 tablespoon of flour and 1 tablespoon of sugar. Quickly stir all the ingredients together and set aside for 10 minutes in a sunny or warm spot – cover with a tea towel. The warmth, milk, sugar and flour should work together to activate the yeast, allowing the milk and yeast mixture to double in size.

Next, while the milk and yeast mixture is doubling in size, take the bowl of your electric mixer and add the remaining sugar, eggs and olive oil. While you can replace the olive oil with butter, I find cooking with oil keeps the doughnuts light and fluffy once they cool down. After all, butter is a solid at room temperature while olive oil stays a liquid.

Using the paddle attachment, combine the sugar, eggs and olive oil in the electric mixer.

Once fully combined, add the remaining flour in two batches, making sure the first batch is fully combined before adding the second. When all the flour has come together, turn off the mixer and slowly pour in the milk and yeast mixture.

Once all the ingredients have been added, mix on medium speed (still using the paddle attachment, not a dough hook) until the dough forms a ball and becomes slightly glossy on the outside. This can easily take anywhere from 7 to 10 minutes. If the mixture starts to form a ball but isn’t glossy, keep mixing until the dough starts to shine.

Once the dough has formed a ball and becomes slightly glossy, lightly coat a large bowl with olive oil. The bowl should be large enough for the dough to triple in size. Turn the dough out into the bowl and cover with either a tea towel, beeswax cloth or tinfoil. Place the dough in the fridge and allow to rise overnight. While you can also place the dough in a warm, sunny spot for 2 hours – allowing to triple in size – the doughnuts are much lighter and fluffier when the dough is given the time to rise overnight.

Once the dough has risen, lightly flour either a large chopping board or the benchtop. Turn the dough out onto your chosen surface. Using a rolling pin, lightly floured as well, so as not to stick to the dough, roll the dough out until it is 2cm thick.

Using a glass or round cookie cutter, cut the dough into rounds - your doughnuts. Place the cut-out doughnuts onto a lightly floured baking tray – leaving room for them to rise. With the leftover dough, just roll back together and repeat. You should be able to get 12 doughnuts out of this recipe. Do not throw out any remaining dough that isn’t able to be made into a doughnut – this can be used to test the oil for frying. I normally roll the last remaining bits of dough that won’t quite make another doughnut together. Even it doesn’t look like a doughnut, it still tastes great fried and tossed through cinnamon sugar.

Leave the freshly cut out doughnuts in a warm, preferably sunny place, to rise until they have nearly doubled in size. In the summer, this may only take 45 minutes to an hour, but in winter or on a cool morning it may take closer to two hours. If in doubt, they are ready when you gently press them and the dough bounces back.

While the doughnuts are rising, prepare the frying station. For the frying station; you will need either a deep fat fryer or a deep pan, a plate lined with paper towels to drain excess oil off the cooked doughnuts and a large bowl to toss the doughnuts in cinnamon sugar. (Add the ground cinnamon and sugar to this bowl and combine to make cinnamon sugar).

If using a deep fat fryer, fill the fryer to the fryer’s instructions and set to 180°C. If using a deep saucepan/dish, fill to approximately 1/4 the pan’s depth. When frying on the stove, I use a standard casserole dish which takes 1L of oil. If you have a cooking thermometer, use this to measure the temperature. Alternatively, place the pan on medium heat and after 5 minutes press the handle of a wooden spoon onto the bottom of the pan. If bubbles quickly form around the wooden spoon, the oil is ready.

Once the doughnuts have risen and the oil is ready for frying, start cooking in batches of 2-3 doughnuts for 1 minute and 30 seconds per side. I usually start with the ugly one (or ones) to test the oil. When it comes time to flip the doughnuts, gently turn with a wooden spoon.

Once cooked on both sides, remove from the oil and place onto the plate lined with paper towels. Allow to drain for around 30 seconds before tossing through the cinnamon sugar. Set aside the finished doughnuts and repeat until all the doughnuts are cooked.

While these are delicious as is, they’re also great cut in half and treated like a scone with lashings of cream and jam (or a scoop of ice cream...). Alternatively, you can also pipe them full of custard (keep reading!). Whichever way you decide to serve them, just remember they’re best eaten within 12 hours of cooking. If making in the morning but serving in the afternoon, I’d also recommend microwaving for 20 – 30 seconds before serving. This little trick makes them taste like they're fresh out of the fryer. If for some reason you don’t eat them all and they go stale, they also make for a great bread and butter pudding.

Vanilla Custard
250mls whole milk
75gms caster sugar
1 egg
2 egg yolks
15gms cornflour
1 vanilla bean

Chocolate Custard
250mls whole milk
75gms caster sugar
1 egg
2 egg yolks
15gms cocoa powder
50gms dark chocolate

Place the milk in a saucepan over a low to medium heat and bring to a simmer. If making the Vanilla Custard, split the vanilla bean down the middle and add to the milk. Remove from the heat and allow the vanilla bean to infuse for an hour. (If making Chocolate Custard, you do not need to set aside for an hour.)

In a separate bowl, combine the sugar, eggs and either cocoa or cornflour. Place the milk back on the heat and bring to a low simmer. With a whisk at hand, pour the egg mixture into the milk. Whisk the mixture continuously over a low heat until it becomes thick – this could take 5 minutes of solid whisking. When whisking, remember to scrape the bottom and sides of the saucepan so the mixture does not stick and burn.

Once thick, remove from the heat. If making chocolate, break the dark chocolate into bits and mix through while the custard is still hot.

Chill the custard in the fridge until ready to pipe into the doughnuts – it should keep 2-3 days in the fridge.

To pipe the doughnuts, either poke or cut a hole in the middle of each doughnut, making sure not to accidentally puncture all the way through.

Next, fill a piping bag full of your custard and dig the nozzle deep into the hole you’ve made in the doughnut. Stuff until the nozzle is forced out or the custard starts to overflow out.

For a lighter custard, whip the cooled custard into 250mls of cream to make a creme patissiere.

Other custard flavour ideas
- Earl Grey and Dark Chocolate Custard – infuse for 1 hour two bags of Earl Grey tea with the milk.
- Chai Latte -  Infuse for 1 hour 2 cinnamon sticks, 1 vanilla bean (split open), 10 cloves, 8 cardamom pods and 1 star anise into the milk.