Homemade Doughnuts

For some reason I associate doughnuts with Halloween. I’m not sure exactly why—perhaps there were doughnuts served at Halloween parties I went to as a child—or it may be those orange frosted beauties in the bakery case with chocolate sprinkles on top. Or perhaps it’s really because I love doughnuts so much that during my second pregnancy I faked that I craved doughnuts so I could eat all I wanted! No matter why, when a reader requested a column on doughnuts I knew that Halloween would be the perfect time.




Another reason for lagging on this subject might be that I have never been very successful making doughnuts at home. I have experimented many times because no matter how good the ones at the bakery are, I have a memory etched in my mind from childhood of going to my cousin’s house (across the street from the grandmother I was visiting) and being offered a doughnut from a large plate. I had never seen or tasted home-made doughnuts (it wasn’t one of the things my Mom did) but I watched my aunt pulling out beautiful brown cake-type doughnuts from a sea of bubbling oil where they were bobbing about. She took a large shaker of powdered sugar and covered them with sweet snow. Then she cautioned us not to get burned. With the powdered sugar falling all over my chin and clothes, I bit into the perfect crusty doughnut—crisp and sugary on the outside, soft, sweet and cake-y on the inside. A doughnut that measured up to the texture, the temperature, and the exquisite flavor (cinnamon and just a hint of nutmeg) of that doughnut has become a culinary quest.



Alas, I have never achieved it—but I keep trying. The trouble is that we can’t afford the calories to experiment very often—so Halloween seemed the obvious time to indulge. I like both the raised variety and the cake doughnut described above, so decided to try making both of them. These doughnuts came very, very close to my remembered perfection. I will pass on the tips I’ve figured out along the way.



First, the raised doughnuts—follow the directions exactly. I use an electric deep fryer (Fry-Daddy) which holds an even temperature; the only problem is that it doesn’t have a thermometer to read, so I had to put a candy-hot fat thermometer in the pot to make sure it came to 375 degrees. Also the surface isn’t very large so two was the most I could fry at a time (and that was difficult) so it took a long time. You could use an extra-deep electric skillet which would fry several at a time and which does have a thermometer.



Raised Doughnuts



1 package active dry yeast

¼ cup water

¾ cup milk, warmed

¼ cup melted butter

¼ cup sugar

1 tsp. salt

1 egg

3 ½ cups all-purpose flour



To mix by hand: Soften yeast in warm water (110). Combine warm milk, melted butter, sugar and salt. Add 1 cup flour; beat well. Add yeast and egg; mix. Add enough of remaining flour to make soft dough. Turn out on lightly floured surface; knead till smooth and satiny (about 8 minutes). Place in greased bowl, turning once to grease surface. Cover and let rise till double (about 1 ¼ hours). Punch down. Let rise again till double (about 55 minutes). Roll out dough 1/3 inch thick. Cut with floured doughnut cutter. Let rise till very light (30 to 40 minutes). Fry in deep hot fat (375) till brown. Drain on paper towels. While warm, dip in glaze.



Glaze



2 cups powdered sugar

3 Tbsp. (about) very hot water



Stir together until consistency of thick cream; drizzle over warm doughnuts or dip doughnuts into glaze.



Alternative methods: 1) use a heavy-duty stand mixer with a dough hook to mix and knead dough. Kneading time: 10 minutes. 2) Use dough setting on bread machine using your instruction manual for the order to put into machine. Dough will have gone through 1 rising when timer beeps. Take out and continue as above.





Cake doughnuts



3 ½ cups all-purpose flour

1 Tbsp baking powder

½ tsp. ground cinnamon

¾ tsp. salt

¼ tsp. ground nutmeg

1/3 cup milk

½ cup butter, melted

4 eggs, beaten

2/3 cup sugar



Combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt and nutmeg in bowl; set aside. Separately, combine milk and melted butter. In large mixing bowl, combine eggs and sugar; beat with electric mixer until thick (about 5 minutes). Add milk mixture; stir with wooden spoon to combine. Add flour mixture and stir with wooden spoon until smooth. Cover dough; chill 2 hours. Turn out onto lightly floured surface. Roll dough to ½-inch thickness. Cut with a floured doughnut cutter. Fry 2 or 3 at a time in deep hot fat (375). for 2 to 2 ½ minutes or until brown, turning halfway through with a slotted spoon. Drain on paper towels. Repeat with remaining doughnuts and doughnut holes. Shake warm doughnuts in a bag with Cinnamon sugar or powdered sugar or frost with powdered sugar-cream frosting and apply decorative sprinkles. Serve warm (or reheat each doughnut 8 to 10 seconds in microwave on high).



Tips for cake doughnuts: Make sure your fat is the right temperature, remembering that if you fry more than 2 at a time, it will take the temperature down and adjust. If you cook them at too high a temperature, they will brown before the inside is cooked. If you cook at too low a temperature, the doughnuts will absorb too much fat.