Old Fashioned Doughnuts
These old fashioned doughnuts are light and tender, with a crisp edge, covered in a sweet, shiny vanilla glaze, just like doughnuts from your favourite bakery!
Equipment
- Large Heavy bottomed Pan
- Cookie or Doughnut Cutter
- Candy or Food Thermometer
- Chopsticks
- Slotted Spoon
Ingredients
Doughnut Ingredients
- 50 g butter 4 tbsp
- 100 g caster sugar 1/2 cup
- 3 egg yolks
- 200 g sour cream
- 2 tsp vanilla extract or 1 tsp vanilla paste
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- 400 g plain flour 3 1/3 cups
- 50 g cornflour 1/2 cup
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 2 L Oil for frying
Vanilla Glaze Ingredients
- 500 g Icing sugar 4 cups
- 1/4 tsp Salt
- 2 tbsp Golden Syrup or Corn syrup
- 1 tsp Vanilla
- 50 ml Milk 1/4 cup (this amount can vary but add a little at a time, till you get the right consistency)
Instructions
Making the Dough
- Cream together the butter and sugar
- Then, add in the egg yolks a whip for about 5 minutes, till it’s light yellow and fluffy
- Next, add in the sour cream and whip for a further 5 minutes, this time, the mixture should be even paler and almost doubled in size
- Now, fold in the spices, vanilla and salt. Being careful not to over mix!
- For the dry ingredients, sift together the plain flour, cornflour and baking powder twice (It’s really important to double sift these together.)Now, add in a cup of your flour mixture at a time, into the wet mixture, fold well each time, until all of the flour is gone and you are left with a sticky dough. (Make sure not to over mix at this stage, just fold the dry mixture enough so that it is combined.)
- The dough is now ready and should be slightly sticky, bring the dough together so that it is one big ball (You don’t need to knead it) and place into a bowl, covered in cling film / saran wrap and allow it to rest in the fridge for at least an hour
Making the Glaze
- Make the vanilla glaze by combining, icing sugar, salt, vanilla, golden syrup / corn syrup and milk until you have a thin glaze that is solid in colour. It should be a light beige, almost white colour and be able to coat the back of a spoon and set this to the side
Frying the Doughnuts
- Fill a heavy bottomed pan with 2L of oil and heat to 325°F In the meantime, set up a cooling rack with either parchment paper or paper towels underneath, to take the doughnuts out onto. Next to that, place a plate with a couple of chopsticks or skewers and a slotted spoon, now you're ready to fry. (more details in the blog post)
- Carefully slide in the donuts one at a time, careful not to overcrowd the pan, or they won’t fry properly. Frying only 3 - 4 at a time.Fry for 2 minutes on either side, they should be very lightly golden on the outside and crackly on the top. Once fried, place them onto a cooling rack
- Once the doughnuts are cool enough to handle, immerse them into the glaze and place on a cooling rack, (with some parchment paper underneath to catch any extra glaze) and the doughnuts are ready!
Notes
Use two chopsticks or long skewers to turn the doughnuts over as you fry them
Store the doughnuts in a airtight container or tin, once the glaze has fully set and store at room temperature at they should last for about 3 days
If you don’t have a rolling pin use can use a closed bottle of olive oil or wine instead
If you don't like cinnamon or nutmeg, simply leave it out, your doughnuts will be lighter and have a stronger vanilla flavour
To cut the doughnuts, use a doughnut cutter if you have one or, a cookie cutter or mug, with a small piping tip to cut out the centres
Add a little milk at a time, the amount of milk in the glaze will vary based on the weather, so just add a little at time
Remember: the heat will vary slightly so don’t worry if it goes over 325°F, just make sure the temperature of the oil doesn't go over 350°F.