Homemade Donuts |

It’s been a whirlwind of half term activities these past couple of weeks and it has only been today that all of mine have returned to school. So apologies that my blog posting has been rather tardy. I thought it would be fun however to show you one of the activities we all got involved in over half term. A rainy day a while back we all made bagels – see here so this time I thought donuts would be equally satisfying to make.

There is something about making your own that makes them so much more satisfying that store bought. The icing could certainly have been prettier – I think we probably iced when they were still a little warm – but I think the homemade/rustic look gives them an appealing edge don’t you think?

This recipe made us around 16 or so, but it kind of depends on how large your cutter is. They are irresistible light and fluffy to eat and the perfect teatime extravagance .

donuts

300ml whole milk

7g instant quick rise yeast

2 eggs

115g unsalted butter, melted and cooled

50g granulated sugar

pinch of salt

540g bread flour

sunflower oil (for frying)

glaze

icing sugar

milk

salt

sprinkles of your choosing

Warm the milk in a pan and then place in a bowl along with the yeast and give a stir. Leave to rest for 15 minutes, by which time foam should have formed on the top.
Either by hand or using a hand whisk beat together the eggs, butter, yeast/milk mixture, sugar and salt.
Add the flour little by little until it has all been absorbed into the mixture. Cover and leave to rest in a warm room for an hour so that the dough has doubled in size.
Sprinkle flour over a clean surface and turn out the risen dough. Gently roll it out to around 1/2 inch thickness and using a round cutter (3 inch diameter works well), cut out the circles and using a smaller cutter make the central hole. Place each donut onto a square of baking parchment. Once they have all been cut out cover again for a further 40 minutes to allow them to rise.
Heat the oil in a deep pan and when it is hot – test by dropping in a little dough crumb and if it fizzles and rises to the top it is ready – then place 3 or 4 in a pan at once. Leave for around 45 seconds and then turn and leave for a further 30 seconds or until golden brown. Remove with a slotted spoon and place on a cooling rack with paper towels. Repeat until they have all been prepared.

When the donuts have cooled you need to make the glazes.

In a large bowl add icing sugar, a little milk and a pinch of salt. Add the milk gradually so that you get the right consistency. If you want a specific colour icing sugar add the colouring at this stage.
On a side plate get your sprinkles ready.
Gently dip one side of the donut in the icing glaze followed by the sprinkles and return to the cooling rack. Repeat.
Eat immediately – although they do still taste good the following day, they taste the best on the day of preparation.