Ring Doughnuts

I wanted to make some doughnuts.  So the other day I made up a small batch of dough I made two jam doughnuts.  That worked very well, though I overfilled them.  Today I thought I would make some doughnuts for the blog, but ring doughnuts, rather than filled ones, as a first attempt, so to speak.

The recipe will actually make about 16 ring doughnuts, depending on the size you cut out.  I used an 8cm/3 inch cutter and then about 2.5cm/just over 1 inch, to cut out the middle to make the hole.  The dough is a fairly basic enriched dough and works very well for these.  

After making the dough and proving, the next step is to roll out and cut out the shapes.  Then they prove again before frying in hot oil for one minute on each side.

Then having drained them I coated half of the doughnuts in sugar and the remainder in a chocolate ganache.  

It all worked very well and I really enjoyed the results,  having fried the middle bits and coated them in sugar I ate them all.

These doughnuts are best eaten on the day they are made, so if you don’t need 16 you could halve the recipe.

Ring Doughnuts – Video

Ingredients:

• 500g(4 cups) strong white bread flour(plain flour would be ok)
• 50g(1/4 cup) caster sugar
• 40g unsalted butter, melted
• 2 medium eggs(large in USA)
• 150 ml (1/2 cup + 2 tbsp) whole milk – luke warm
• 130 ml (1/2 cup + 2 tsp) water – luke warm
• 10g (1 1/2 sachets) instant yeast
• 1 tsp salt.
• Unflavoured oil, such as vegetable, sunflower, etc, for frying. (I used a large pan with 1 1/2 litres of oil which was about 1 3/4 inches deep)

For the top or coating:

• caster sugar on a baking tray, to roll some of the doughnuts in)
• 100g dark chocolate chopped into small pieces
• 60ml(1/4 cup) double cream, or heavy cream
• 28g(2 tbsp) butter

Method:

1. Place the flour, yeast and caster sugar into the bowl of a stand mixer and mix to combine(this can all be done by hand, but a mixer makes the whole process easier)
2. Add the eggs, milk, water butter and salt.
3. Fit the dough hook to the mixer.
4. Mix together on a low speed for two minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary to get all the flour combined.
5. Increase the speed to medium and knead for 10 minutes until the dough is smooth, elastic and only slightly tacky.
6. Tip the dough out onto a floured work surface and knead briefly, ensuring it doesn’t stick to the surface. 
7. Form into a ball, continuing to turn in the hands to create some tension.
8. Place the dough into a greased bowl, coating all the surface of the dough, and cover with plastic wrap and allow to prove for 1 to 2 hours, until it has doubled in size.
9. Flour the work surface and tip the dough out.
10. Knock it back to release the gases.
11. Roll the dough out to a thickness of 1 cm(1/2 inch).
12. Cut out circles of dough about 8cm/3 inches in size, flouring the cutter each time.
13. Cut out the centre of each circle with a cutter about 2.5 cm/ just over 1 inch in diameter.  I used an upturned piping nozzle. Make sure you flour the nozzle each time.
14. Place the doughnut shapes onto a baking tray lined with parchment paper to prevent sticking. For this I very lightly sprinkled flour on the paper too.
15. Cover loosely and with plastic wrap or a damp towel and allow to prove for about 30 minutes.
16. As the doughnut shapes prove heat the oil in a large, deep, pan to 180C/350F.  You can test the temperature by dipping the handle of a wooden spoon into the oil. If the oil bubbles slightly around the spoon as it is dipped then it is hot enough.
17. Carefully place 3 or 4 doughnuts into the oil and allow to cook for one minute, then turn them over and allow to cook for another minute.
18. Remove from the oil onto a wire rack.
19. Repeat the process with the remainder.
20. As the other cook you can coat the cooked ones with caster sugar, while they are still hot.
21. If you wish to cover some in chocolater ganache you will need to all those to cool completely.
22. Place the chocolate and double cream into a heatproof bowl and place over a pan of simmering water.
23. Stir until the chocolate has melted into the cream and it is all smooth and combined.
24. Remove from the heat and add the butter, stirring until it has all combined and is a nice glossy liquid.
25. Allow the ganache to cool, so that it thickens somewhat.  
26. When cool carefully dip each of the doughnuts into the ganache, so that the top half is coated and place on a rack to set, covering with some sprinkles if you wish.