doughnut diaries - 6/27/23
Some more tips, tricks and thoughts. PLUS: recipe for Roasted Strawberries & Cream Brioche Babies.
Let me give you a bit of background on why I am so obsessed with doughnuts these days (besides the fact that I have discovered homemade doughnuts are something you should be absolutely obsessed with).
One of my favorite challenges as a baker is to take a pastry I’m not very fond of, and attempt to make it more likable and enjoyable for myself.
That’s actually how this whole doughnut thing started. Before I started frying my own dough, I was going out to buy doughnuts MAYBE twice a year, usually from the small mom and pop shop behind my apartment (because those doughnuts were always worth it in my opinion). Doughnuts from some places I tried were usually too heavy, oily or idk…tasted like plastic (I’m looking at you, Dunkin’). To clarify, I’m talking specifically about yeast-raised doughnuts. I’m not quite sure how I feel about cake doughnuts (they’re a concept I unfortunately do not understand ☹). Don’t hate me.
Thanks to the power of social media, Instagram and TrickTok have convinced me to try brioche doughnuts. Like…look at these beautiful babies. Look at them!
The influence is strong and honestly worth all the sweating and booty shaking in the kitchen. Brioche doughnuts are gold.
Tall Child Learns More about Frying Doughnuts
that was a Mitski reference. :)
In my last doughnut diaries post, I go over a ton of tips and tricks I have learned since I’ve started this fried and greasy journey. If you are interested in joining the fried dough at home gang, please consider reading that post (click me, click me)!
I’ll keep these tips short and sweet, since we’ve got a little recipe.
Frying Oils: Coconut Oil
For my last three doughnut frying sessions, I used coconut oil to fry. And it is a game changer. The doughnuts are not greasy compared to when I’ve used canola oil. There’s also no lingering smell in the kitchen after frying with coconut oil which is nice. And the doughnuts fry up real evenly too, I won’t go back to canola now. I won’t do it!
That being said…coconut oil is obviously more expensive compared to other oils. It also isn’t as reusable (I was able to use it for frying twice before having to dispose of it). But if you are interested…Target has 29 fl oz jars of organic refined coconut oil for $7.99. I’m sure other places have it at a better price too. <3
No Dough Gets Left Behind
One thing about me is I am not a dough waster. So much time and energy is put into dough, even when using a stand mixer.
Traditionally, the process for shaping doughnuts (using the rolling pin and doughnut cutter method) often leads to waste. You can only reshape the excess dough so many times before it’s unusable.
I do roll out my dough before shaping because it expels any excess air, but I shape all my doughnuts by hand. Typically 50 grams per dough ball. They won’t be as perfect as a cutter’s work, but the more you practice…ya know. :)
This method works for both doughnuts with holes and without. For doughnuts with holes, I roll the individual dough balls, and flatten them gently with my hand. I take the doughnut hole cutter and press it into the dough ball firmly until a hole is torn through the middle, only cutting the center and not the sides. It works like a charm - you just won’t have those super clean edges the cutter makes, making them original (lol).
Use a heavy-bottomed pot
My last major tip - use a heavy base pot (Dutch ovens are perfect for frying if you happen to have one). This will help with even cooking, and will prevent your dough babies from browning too quickly, potentially resulting in undercooked middles.
:)
Roasted Strawberries & Cream Brioche Donas
Equipment
small palette knife
rolling pin
stand mixer
piping bag with round tip/nozzle
Brioche Doughnuts
375 grams bread flour (may sub all-purpose)
50 grams granulated sugar
30 grams milk powder (optional)
10 grams active dry yeast
165 grams eggs
120 ml whole milk
1 tsp. kosher salt
165 grams salted butter (cool to the touch and slightly pliable)
Vanilla Pastry Cream
200 grams whole milk
200 grams heavy cream
5 egg yolks from large eggs
90 grams granulated or cane sugar
50 grams cornstarch
1 tsp. kosher salt
65 grams salted butter, cold
pure vanilla extract to taste
120 grams heavy cream (whipped and folded into pastry cream later)
Sugar Coating for Doughnuts
200 grams granulated sugar
Roasted Strawberry Jam
1 lb. fresh strawberries, washed and halved w/ stems removed
75 grams granulated or cane sugar
pinch of salt
cornstarch slurry (optional; explained later)
Oil for frying: my personal preference is coconut oil (doesn’t leave doughnuts greasy and has a higher smoke point), however you may use any neutral oil for frying such as canola, vegetable or peanut.
Prepare the Dough
Warm the milk and add just a touch of honey or sugar. Stir in the yeast and allow to activate for about 5 minutes.
Add the yeast and milk mixture, sugar, eggs, flour and milk powder to a stand mixer bowl. Add in the salt and begin mixing the ingredients with a dough hook on speed 2.
Mix until gluten begins developing (5-7 mins), then add in the butter gradually (I usually cut it into 1 inch chunks).
Begin kneading on speed 3 until a soft, smooth and supple dough forms that pulls away from the sides. This took about 30 minutes for me. (The dough is going to be pretty soft fyi)
A tip: Resist the urge to add more flour. The dough will seem really soft for a while. If you must add flour, add no more than 2 tablespoons, starting with 1 tablespoon before adding the other.
Place the dough into a large, lightly oiled bowl, and proof for 1 to 1.5 hours, or until doubled.
Knock the air out of the dough, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set the dough into the fridge for an overnight proof. Be sure to check on it periodically to expel any air.
Roasted Strawberry Jam
To a glass baking dish, add the washed and sliced strawberries, sugar, and pinch of salt.
Cook the strawberries in a preheated oven at 375 F for about an hour. Check on the berries every 15 minutes, giving them a good stir so they don’t burn.
This jam is really versatile and up to you how you want to finish it. I like to move the jam to a pot after it’s roasted, and cook it down further after adding a cornstarch slurry (1 TB cornstarch + 1 TB water) until the jam has thickened to my liking.
If you want to skip the cornstarch step, continue to cook the jam at 375 F in the oven until the juices have mostly boiled off (I’d say another 10-15ish minutes). Keep a close eye on the jam so it doesn’t burn.
Allow the jam to cool before moving it to a secure container and placing it into the fridge.
Vanilla Pastry Cream
To a medium saucepan, combine the whole milk and heavy cream over medium heat.
While the milk mixture is heating, whisk the yolks, sugar, cornstarch and salt until the yolks have become pale and voluminous (this takes 2-ish minutes - you’ll feel the burn).
Once the milk is warm (not simmering, but just hot enough you see steam wafting off the top), pour or ladle about ⅕ of the milk mixture into the yolk mixture, whisking until fully combined. Repeat the process until all the milk has been added (this process is known as tempering, and it’s important to do this process gradually to avoid shocking or scrambling the eggs).
Add the fully combined mixture back into the saucepan on medium low heat.
Whisk the mixture gradually to prevent overcooking.
After minutes of whisking, the custard will begin to thicken. Once the custard thickens enough for the whisk to leave a trail of ripples, remove from the heat and transfer to a large bowl (you can strain the pastry cream if desired in case there are any overcooked bits).
Whisk in the butter and vanilla until fully combined and smooth.
Cover with plastic wrap, ensuring the plastic is touching the custard, and place it into the fridge until fully set, at least 6 hours.
The Next Day…
Turn the cold brioche dough out onto a clean surface.
Separate into 50 gram pieces, and roll each piece into a ball. Press each dough ball down gently to flatten the top slightly.
Place the dough balls onto parchment (I like to cut individual parchment squares for each piece of dough)
Allow to rise another hour (covered loosely) or until almost doubled, and springs back slowly when pressed.
Heat a heavy bottomed pot with 3-4 inches of neutral oil to about 340 F. (between 335-345 F is okay; definitely use a thermometer during this process).
Fry the dough balls (careful to not overcrowd the pot). I find I have best results when I fry the doughnuts for 2 minutes, and then flip and fry for another 1.5 minutes, but time will depend on the temperature of your oil.
Fry one dough ball first and check for doneness. If it’s too dark on the outside and still raw in the middle, lower the oil temperature about 5-10 degrees.
Place doughnuts onto sheet pans lined with paper towels. Allow them to cool for 5-10 minutes before coating in the granulated sugar.
Prepare the Vanilla Pastry Cream
Whip 120 grams of heavy cream just until medium peaks have formed. To the whipped cream, add in about a quarter of the cold vanilla pastry cream.
Continue whipping the creams together, adding more pastry cream after each addition until it’s all combined.
The pastry cream will be lighter and airy, perfect for piping into doughnuts.
Assemble and Fill
Use a palette knife to stab the sides of each doughnut. For proper filling, we want each hole to be about an inch and a half in length along the side of the doughnut. I take the rounded tip of the palette knife and jam it into the doughnut, sometimes jamming it again right next to my first hole. I then push the handle of the palette knife into the doughnut to create more space for filling. Don’t be afraid to widen the hole a bit, we are putting two fillings into these pastries, and the doughnuts will bounce back to their shape.
Repeat until all doughnuts have been…holed? Lol. Idk, stab them all.
Take the roasted strawb preserves and spoon them gently into each doughnut hole, about a tablespoon per doughnut.
For an easy filling process, line the doughnuts in a pan with tall sides with the holes facing up. This will prevent the doughnuts from falling over as you fill them.
You may have leftover jam - save it for dolloping more onto the doughnuts later.
Fill a piping bag with a round tip with the vanilla pastry cream, and fill each doughnut with a generous amount.
Once all the dough babies are filled, take the remaining strawb jam and dollop a little more onto the cream filling of each pastry.
All that’s left to do now is admire your work and enjoy. Like…wow. :)
Doughnuts are best eaten the day they are fried, but will keep in the fridge for the next day.
Thanks for reading y’all! You’re very cool and I like you very much.
Channey <3