All the help you knead to prove your festival baking skills
by Vicky Graham Hardie Grant, £10
THE ORIGINAL
Our original raised donut* recipe, made day in, day out at the bakery.
Makes: 12 regular donuts or 24 minis
INGREDIENTS
750g (1lb 10 oz/5 cups) strong white bread flour, plus extra for dusting
80g (3oz) caster (superfine) sugar
80g (3oz) unsalted butter
15 g (½ oz/3 tsp) salt
21 g (¾ oz/6 tsp) instant dried yeast (three packets)
3 medium eggs
240ml (8 fl oz/1 cup) warm full-fat (whole) milk 140ml (5 fl oz/½ cup) warm water
2 tbsp vegetable oil
EQUIPMENT
Stand mixer (optional) Rolling pin
Dough scraper (optional) Cutters (in shape of your choice)
METHOD
Place the flour, sugar and butter in a large bowl. Make two wells in the flour at opposite sides of the bowl and add the salt to one and yeast to the other.
Break in the eggs and then add the warm milk. If using a stand mixer, attach the dough hook and mix on the slowest speed, while carefully pouring in the water, bit by bit. If you don’t have a stand mixer, use one hand to bring the dough together and the other to pour in the water. Mix together until all the ingredients have been incorporated – you should end up with a sticky, wet mixture.
Continue kneading the dough on a slow setting for around eight minutes or, by hand, on a floured surface for ten minutes. When the dough has been kneaded enough, it’ll be smooth, elastic and have a shiny surface.
Put the dough in a clean bowl and cover with a damp tea towel until doubled in size (between 20 and 90 minutes, depending on the temperature of your kitchen).
Grease two baking trays with one tablespoon of vegetable oil on each.
Cover your hands with flour and sprinkle a flat surface with more flour. Tip out the dough and knead with your hands to form a ball. Use a dough scraper, if you like, to help pick up all the doughy residue from the surface.
Sprinkle the rolling pin with flour and roll out the dough to around 2 cm (¾ in) thick.
Use a cutter to cut out your desired shapes and place on to the greased baking trays, spacing them out. Knead any leftover dough and roll out to repeat the process until you have used up all the dough. Leave to rise for around ten to 20 minutes until the dough springs back when you touch it.
Cook the dough using one of the methods below and smother with your glaze or icing of choice.
FRYING & BAKING
Baked or fried? Frying your donuts will make them crispy and fluffy, while baking them will make them soft and squidgy.
INGREDIENTS
3 litres (100 fl oz/12 cups) vegetable oil
FRYING METHOD
The original and most effective way of making donuts — this is how we do them in the bakery every day. Remember to be super-careful when using hot oil. Keep any form of water away from the fryer or pan, move slowly to avoid any splashes and, if frying in a pan, always use a digital thermometer to make sure the oil doesn’t get too hot.
Preheat a deep-fat fryer, or oil in a heavybased pan, to 180°C (350°F).
Use a fish slice to pick up each portion of dough and then carefully drop the dough into the fryer, cooking each one for around 60 seconds on each side, until golden brown.
Remove with tongs and place on a baking tray lined with a paper towel to soak up any excess oil. Leave to cool.
BAKING METHOD
These guys are sprayed with oil before and after they go into the oven, to simulate the frying process. They have a lovely depth of flavour to them. Use a rapeseed oil spray.
Preheat the oven to 220°C (430°F/gas 7). Fill a roasting dish with boiling water and place it at the bottom of the oven.
Spray the donuts with oil (around three sprays per donut, as a rule of thumb) and bake in the oven for six minutes.
Spray with oil again as soon as they come out of the oven and leave to cool.
* Since this spelling is used in the title of the book, we have retained it for these recipes