INGREDIENTS
3 teaspoons sugar
175g bread flour
50g cake flour
½ teaspoon salt
25g salted butter
1 sachet (10g) dry yeast
90ml milk, lukewarm
1 egg
half a cup castor sugar
cinnamon to taste
Bonne Maman raspberry jam, heated slightly so it’s a bit runnier and perfect for dipping
Clover Whipped Cream for topping
Method
Add flour, sugar, butter and salt to food processor and blitz until butter disappears.
Add yeast, milk and egg and blitz until it just forms a ball.
Sprinkle flour on your work surface and knead dough until it comes together and is elastic and smooth.
Place in a deep bowl brushed with vegetable oil and cover with cling film. Allow to prove until it has double in size (60 – 90 minutes depending on room temperature).
Once doubled in size, tumble dough onto a floured work surface and roll or press flat until it is 2cm thick.
You can cut the dough with a knife or use a 4cm round cookie press to ensure the doughnuts are all exactly the same size.
Shape these rounds into balls by rolling them with your hands, or a pull-and-fold type action (like you’re tucking in sheets when you’re making a bed) produces better perfectly formed round balls.
Place balls in a deep tray brushed with vegetable oil and cover with cling film. Set aside to prove for the second time until the balls have doubled in size. (NB: you need to use a deep tray as there needs to be space between the plastic and the balls so they can rise. If you place them on a baking sheet, they have nowhere to go!)
Once they have doubled in size, fry them in 4cm medium warm vegetable oil.
If the oil is too hot, the doughnut will brown too much on the outside and still be raw inside. You want them golden brown and cooked through, so fry just one doughnut initially and cut it open to see if it’s cooked inside. Adjust your oil temperature as needed. (TIP: Also turn them constantly as you fry them. If you fry them on one side until brown before you turn them, the law of physics messes with you and it’s hard to flip them over and keep the uncooked side facing down. Using a slotted spoon and a fork works best to keep the little critters under control.)
Once cooked through, remove and drain on kitchen towel. Then toss immediately in castor sugar mixed with plenty of powdered cinnamon.
Either fill with jam once cool or serve with jam on the side.
