Oh So Sinfully Delicious...

[Updated: We forgot to add 1/2 stick of butter to the recipe, sorry! It's already been corrected.]
This entry from Oh So Sinfully Delicious is super, extra, sweet! Why? Because we've made the next recipe in Brazil! All week long under the hot, hot Brazilian sun, we thought long and hard about what recipe we should do next. We wanted to do something that was totally different, so what did we come up with? Doughnuts! Okay, so they aren't Brazilian, but a) we've never made doughnuts on this blog before and b) we wanted to make doughnuts with a South American twist. The recipe is taken from the blog Joy the Baker, who retrieved this recipe from Gourmet magazine December '06. We made two batches of doughnuts, the first was a variety of regular doughnuts such as chocolate dip, and chocolate dip with rainbow and chocolate sprinkles (that's probably the first time we've typed "chocolate" so many times in one sentence!) The second batch were jelly filled doughnuts but instead of jelly we used dulce de leche (that's the South American twist). If you can't find dulce de leche, refer to this entry to make your own stash.

Doughnuts

Ingredients

1 (1/4oz) package active dry yeast (2 1/2 teaspoons) or 30g of fresh yeast

2 tablespoons warm water (105-115f)

3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour plus additional for sprinkling and rolling out dough

1 cup whole milk at room temperature
1/2 stick (1/4 cup) unsalted butter, softened

3 large egg yolks

2 tablespoons sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 cup Chocolate dip

1/2 cup dulce de leche

1/4 cup of rainbow/chocolate sprinkles (optional)

About 10 cups vegetable oil for deep frying

1. Stir together yeast and warm water in a small bowl until yeast is dissolved. Let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes. (This is an absolute must. If this does not happen discard and start a new batch.)

2. Mix together flour, milk, butter, yolks, sugar, salt, cinnamon, and yeast mixture in a mixer at low speed until a soft dough forms. Increase speed to medium-high and beat 3 minutes more. (This step can be done with a spoon and bowl)

3. Scrape dough down side of bowl (all around) into center, then sprinkle lightly with flour (to keep a crust from forming). Cover bowl with a clean kitchen towel (not terry cloth) and let dough rise in a draft-free place at warm room temperature until doubled in bulk, 1 1/2 to 2 hours. (Alternatively, let dough rise in bowl in refrigerator 8 to 12 hours)

4. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and roll out with a lightly floured rolling pin into a 12-inch round (1/2 inch think). Cut out as many rounds as possible with 3-inch cutter, then cut a hole in center of each round with 1-inch cutter and transfer doughnuts to a lightly floured large baking sheet. Cover doughnuts with a clean kitchen towel and let rise in a draft-free place at warm room temperature until slightly puffed, about 30 minutes (45 minutes if dough was cold when cutting out doughnuts). Do not re roll scraps.

Now we must confess that after cutting the doughnuts we did not wait for another 30 mins for them to rise (they were already super puffy), and we did re roll the scraps, and in our opinion they came out perfectly fine. That could be because we used fresh yeast.

5. Heat 2 1/2 inches oil in a deep 4-quart heavy pot until it registers 350F on the thermometer. Fry doughnuts, 2 at a time, turning occasionally with a wire or mesh skimmer or a slotted spoon, until puffed and golden brown, about 2 minutes per batch. Transfer to paper towels to drain (Return oil to 350F between batches). 

Chocolate Dip

7 tbsp sugar

2 tbsp chocolate powder, such as Nesquick

1 tbsp margerine

2 tbsp milk

Put all the ingredients in a small saucepan at medium heat. Stir constantly until it  comes to a boil. Keep stiring until it thickens slightly - aprox. 1-2 min. Do not overcook or it will become very hard and impossible to dip the doughnuts in.

Start dipping the doughnuts imediately. If it starts to harden,  reheat it until it softens.

Dulce de Leche Filled Doughnuts

1. Repeat steps 1-4, however in step four do not cut a 1-inch hole in the center.

2. Put the dulce de leche in a pipping bag attacched with a small round tip.

3. Plunge the tip into the side of the doughnut, less than 1 inch deep. Squeeze the bag gently  and start withdrawing the tip slowly.

4. Sprinkle with icing sugar.

Ann's Thoughts:

First of all I want to say that Brazil was amazing!!!! I tried so many different Brazilian foods and baked goods, I was in heaven. It's funny that in Brazil we ended up making doughnuts which is so American but I've never made homemade doughnuts and before going back home Ana had purchased a doughnut book, which inspired us to make them. The only draw back to making doughnuts is that they are time consuming. It needs yeast to rise and that could take up to one and a half to two hours to rise. What was great about these doughnuts is that without the extra ingredients (the chocolate dip or dulce de leche) they are not sweet at all, which is a plus for those who cannot or not a fan of super sweet things. Out of the two batches that we made, my favourite was the dulce de leche, they were irresistible, it was hard to control myself not to eat more than just one!

Ana's Thoughts:

First post of the year! What a better way to start than by baking homemade doughnuts. Super yummy, soft, delicious doughnuts. My mouth is watering just thinking about it...I think I need another batch. =p

I've had this doughnuts before but this was the first time I've actually made them myself. First time I've made any kind of dough, actually. And it was so easy! So far, this is one of the best doughnut recipe, in my opinion. But I still have to try my doughnut book. I'll keep you posted. ;)

Go (dough)nuts and make some right now.