I must admit that for the longest time I was scared to try and make donuts. They seemed daunting because there are obviously a number of steps, and we deal with frying oil. There are plenty of baked donuts out there, but when it comes to the real thing, there’s nothing quite like it. I’m so glad I tried donuts and came up with this recipe because while there is work involved, they taste all the better in the end because of it.

This recipe makes around 10 donuts

Ingredients:

For the Donuts:

 1 Cup Milk heated to 95 degrees F

2. ½ Tsp Instant Yeast 

2 Large Eggs 

1 ½ Tsp Vanilla Extract

1/2 Cup (1 stick) Unsalted Butter, melted and cooled 

3 Tbs Granulated Sugar 

1.5 Tsp Salt

4 Cups All-Purpose Flour

For the Custard:

 1 ½  Cups Milk

2 ½ Tbs Cornstarch

2 ½ Tbs Granulated Sugar

2 Large Egg Yolks

1 ½ Tsp Vanilla Extract

¼ Tsp Salt

1 Tbs Unsalted Butter

For the Ganache:

 6 oz Semisweet Chocolate, chopped, or chocolate chips

½ Cup Heavy Cream

 Directions:

 1.     For the custard, put the milk, sugar and cornstarch in a saucepot and whisk until combined. 

2.     Cook while stirring constantly on medium heat until the mixture begins to thicken. Simmer for 2 minutes then remove from the heat. 

3.     Add ¼ cup of the hot mixture to a bowl with the egg yolks and stir constantly to ensure you don’t cook the egg, then pour this mixture back in to the pot and cook on a medium-low heat while stirring constantly for 2 minutes. 

4.     Off the heat, add the vanilla, salt and butter and stir until smooth. 

5.     Pour into a bowl and cover with plastic, ensuring the plastic is fully touching the top surface of the custard and refrigerate until completely cool and set, at least a couple hours.

6.     For the donuts, heat the milk to 95 degrees and sprinkle in the yeast. Set aside for about 10 minutes until the yeast is foamy.

7.     In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar and salt. 

8.     In the bowl of a stand mixer with the dough hook attachment, add the melted butter, eggs, vanilla and yeast mixture with about half of the flour mixture. 

9.     Mix on medium speed until combined and gently add the remaining flour. Continue to mix until you get a smooth dough. 

10.  Dump the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead for just a minute to bring the dough together, form into a ball and place into a greased bowl. 

11.  Cover the bowl with a kitchen towel and let the dough rise for at least one hour or until doubled in volume. 

12.  Once the dough has risen, dump it onto a floured surface and roll until its ½ inch thick. Use a 3-inch biscuit cutter to cut as many circles of dough, re roll the dough and cut until you’ve gone through it all. 

13.  Place the dough circles on a lightly floured baking sheet, cover with a damp kitchen towel and allow to rise for another 45 minutes. 

14.  Using about a quart of vegetable oil in a large pot or Dutch oven, heat the oil on medium heat until it reaches 350 degrees F on a candy thermometer. 

15.  Gently place 3-4 donuts in the oil, cooking for 2-3 minutes on each side until golden brown. 

16.  Place on to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat with the rest of the dough. 

17.  For the ganache, place the heavy cream in the microwave until very hot, then pour over the chopped chocolate/chocolate chips. 

18.  Allow to sit for 1 minute then use a whisk to stir until smooth. 

19. Once the donuts are cooled, use a piping bag with a small round tip to pipe custard into the center of each one, then dip the tops in the ganache and allow to set for 5 minutes.

Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days, or keep the empty donuts at room temperature and the custard and ganache in the fridge, then assemble as you want them.