Mini cinnamon doughnuts
Eaten warm, these sugary, fluffy buns are nothing short of sublime.
MAKES 24
PREPARATION TIME 30 minutes plus rising
COOKING TIME about 30 minutes
● 125ml milk
● 60g butter, diced
● 15g fresh yeast or 7g dried or fast-action dried yeast
● 40g caster sugar
● 375g strong white flour, plus extra to dust
● 1 medium egg, beaten Vegetable oil, to grease and fry TO FINISH
● 50g caster sugar
● ½tsp ground cinnamon
1 Put the milk and butter in a pan and heat very gently until the butter is melted. Cool the liquid until tepid. 2 Place the fresh or dried yeast and
1tsp sugar in a small bowl with 60ml hand-hot water. Stir to dissolve, then leave for 5-10min, until frothy.
3 Sift the flour into a large bowl and stir in the remaining caster sugar along with ½tsp salt. Stir in the fast-action dried yeast now, if using.
4 Make a well in the centre of the flour and pour in the egg, yeast mixture and milk. Stir together with a wooden spoon to make a soft but not sticky dough.
5 Turn out on to a lightly floured work surface and knead for 10min, until soft and elastic. Alternatively, use the dough hook on a food mixer for 2min on slow speed, then 7min on medium speed. Put in a clean, lightly oiled bowl, cover with a tea towel and leave to rise for 1hr, until doubled in size.
6 Knock back the dough and divide into 24 pieces – each one should be about 28-30g. It’s worth weighing the pieces
so that doughnuts cook evenly and are a uniform size. Roll into balls and arrange on a baking sheet lined with baking parchment; cover with a tea towel and leave to prove for 30-40min. 7 Heat a large pan of oil for deep-frying to a temperature of 160°C. Mix together the sugar and cinnamon in a shallow bowl and place a layer of scrunched-up kitchen paper on a large plate.
8 Fry the doughnuts in batches for 2½min each side, until deep golden brown. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on the kitchen paper. Make sure the oil comes back up to temperature in between batches – if the oil is too cool the doughnuts will turn out greasy rather than crisp on the outside and fluffy inside. While they’re still hot, toss in the cinnamon sugar to coat. At their best warm, the doughnuts are still delicious eaten cold on the day they’re made.