4.12.18
I had been craving doughnuts for quite some time. I know it’s easy to stop in one of those popular, franchised doughnut stores and just buy one. But I couldn’t settle for that. I wouldn’t settle for that. I needed to make them myself. It had been ages since I dove into the world of homemade doughnuts, because truth be told, they are a process. They need time to rise, twice, and then you have to make fillings or glazes, blah blah blah. Bottom line is: they’re worth it, but they’re labor intensive. Despite that, I somehow ended up having enough time in my day to remake my filling, because the first one I made was pretty gross.
The the idea in my head was so perfect: I’ll make a delicious blackberry pastry cream and use it to fill sugar covered doughnuts. They’ll be creamy and rich and this baking blog won’t even know what hit it! Well guess what, the blackberry pastry cream I made was DISGUSTING. I’m not quite sure why. I folded in the blackberries I broke down in a saucepan and ran through a sieve to get rid of the seeds. Since I recently folded Baileys into pastry cream for these eclairs the same way, I thought it would work. It didn’t. The flavor was lost and the color was a pukey muted purple and was not attractive. On reserve in my fridge, I had heavy cream and raspberries hanging out, so it was time to improvise. I mashed up the raspberries, whipped up some cream and folded them together to create something so tasty and light I wish I had thought of it in the first place! In the future, I think I’ll try and make a blackberry curd for a doughnut filling……
Be warned, the whipped cream can pop out the back or top and get on your nose, totally giving away that you ate a doughnut, and loved it, and probably went back for a second.
I know that this is not the type of baked good that can just be a spur of the moment endeavor. But next time you have a “me day” at home to get some work or cleaning done, make these doughnuts on the side so when all your work is finished, a delicious fried and filled reward is waiting.
Raspberry & Cream Doughnuts
Ingredients
For the Doughnuts
- 1 (1/4-oz) package active dry yeast
- 1/2 cup warm water
- 4 cups flour
- 1 cup whole milk, room temperature
- 1/2 stick unsalted butter, softened and sliced
- 3 large egg yolks
- 2 tablespoons sugar + extra for rolling
- 1 1/2 tsp salt
- Canola oil, for frying
For the Filling
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 1/2 cup confectioners sugar
- 2 pints fresh raspberries
Instructions
For the Doughnuts
- In a small bowl, mix together yeast and warm water, allow to foam for 5 minutes
- In a stand up mixer with a dough hook attachment, add together all ingredients, including the yeast mixture and mix on low-medium speed
- Once dough is formed, increase speed to high and beat for about 3 more minutes, the dough will be sticky
- Scrape down sides of the bowl, so a ball is formed, sprinkle with flour and cover with a kitchen towel, allowing to rise for about 1 1/2- 2 hours at room temperature
- After dough has doubled in size, punch down, scrape onto floured surface or baking mat and roll out until about 1/2 thick
- Using a cookie cutter of your desired size, making sure to flour the rim so it doesn’t stick to the dough, cut out as many rounds as possible
- Reroll extra dough and repeat cutting process until no dough is left
- Transfer to a floured baking sheet (or just move mat over to baking sheet), cover with towel and let rise for another 30 minutes, the dough will become light and delicate feeling
- In a large pot, bring about 2-3 inches of vegetable oil to around 350 degrees, if you don’t have a thermometer, use scrap dough to check if it’s ready (it should sizzle as soon as you put the dough in)
- Carefully place about 2-3 donuts in oil and fry about 1 minute each side, until lightly golden
- Remove with skimmer or slotted spoon and place on plate with paper towel
- Allow to cool
- Take a chopstick or skewer and carefully poke holes on the sides of each doughnut
- Add sugar to a medium bowl and roll doughnuts so they are evenly covered
For the Filling
- With a stand up mixer using the whisk attachment add cream and sugar into a chilled bowl (about 15 minutes in the freezer, chill whisk as well)
- Beat until stiff peaks form
- In a bowl, mash up raspberries so they are chunky
- Using a slotted spoon, if possible, to avoid adding the juices, add raspberries to whipped cream and carefully fold in so they’re evenly distributed throughout
- Transfer to piping bag with filling tip, or a round tip, and pipe filling into the hole on the side of each doughnut, they should feel heavier so you know you’ve actually filled them
- Sadly doughnuts don’t hold well, they’re best enjoyed immediately. They can be pushed to 24 hours as long as they’re stored in an airtight container
