CHOCOLATE & BOSTON CREME DOUGHNUTS! It's Daring Baker's time once again!

T
here was a time when I could live only on doughnuts.Our college canteen sold the best ever doughnuts in the city plus it was sugar coated. Not that I needed a sugar high in college, but it was fun eating it as the sugar used to stick all over our mouth and our college stray dog(s) used to wait under our open mouths hoping they would get some piece of it and if they didn't, they would jump up, scare us and make sure we drop it for them. That's how 'Jumpy' got it's his name. Then there were eagles swooping down from the roof to snatch it from our hands! It was an adventure!

Here in US, after every Sunday Mass all of us would gather in the Church basement for 'Coffee & Rolls'. They would keep a variety of doughnuts,cinnamon roll, coffee etc and we can have a share of it. I wait for it everyweek because I get to pick my favourite Boston Creme Doughnuts.

A few days ago, I had a bad craving for the same but I didn't get a chance to buy and eat it. So while I was planning for the DB challenge, I knew what variety I had to make. And trust me,it came out exactly the same way! I have made Sugar Doughnuts and Perfect Chocolate Doughnuts before, but nothing's like this one.This recipe is a keeper .

The October 2010 Daring Bakers Challenge was hosted by Lori of Butter Me Up. Lori chose to challenge DBers to make doughnuts.She used several sources for her recipes including Alton Brown, Nancy Silverton, Kate Neumann and Epicurious.

BOSTON CREME DOUGHNUTS
Recipe source for the doughnuts: Alton Brown




Ingredients:
For the doughnuts:
Milk- 1 1/2 c
Unsalted butter-1/3 c
Yeast-4.5 tsp
Warm water- 1/3c
Eggs-2 large, lightly beaten
Sugar-1/4c
Salt-1 1/2 tsp
Flour- 4 2/3 c
Oil for deep frying. You need about 3 inches of oil in the pan.

For the chocolate glaze:
Recipe by Lara Ferroni . I got this recipe from Kamran's blog


Powdered sugar- 11/2 c
Cocoa powder- 4 tbsp
Milk/Water- 6-7 tbsp (or as needed)
Vanilla Extract-2 tsp

1 portion Creme Patissierie 

Method:
For the doughnuts:

• Place the butter in a large mixing bowl.Heat the milk just to warm it through. Pour over the butter and mix together so that the butter melts with the heat from the milk.
• In the meantime, add the yeast to the warm water and set aside for 5-10 mins or till foamy.
• Add the yeast mixture, eggs, sugar, salt and half the flour to the butter-milk mixture and mix using the paddle attachement of your stand mixer or with a wooden spoon.
• Once it's all mixed together, add in half the amount of flour and mix till incorporated.
• Add in the remaining flour and knead/use the dough hook and mix for 3-4 mins of till the dough leaves the side of the bowl.
• Place the dough in an oiled bowl and allow it to rise for 1 hour or till doubled in size.
• Once it has doubled in size, dump it onto a well floured surface, roll and cut it into the shape you want.For Boston Creme Doughnuts, make plain rounds.
• Arrange all the cut dough on a lightly floured cake tin/plate/chopping board, cover with a tea towel and allow it to rest for 30 mins.
• Heat the oil to 360F/180C. Deep fry the doughnuts giving 1/2 a minute on each side.
• Drain and reserve.

For filling:

• Transfer the cooled creme pattisierie into a piping bag/ketchup bottle.
• Poke a hole into the side of the doughnut and squeeze out some custard into it. You will feel the doughnut becoming heavy. Stop it there.
• Dip it in chocolate glaze and allow it to set.

For the chocolate glaze:

• Sift together the powdered sugar and cocoa powder to avoid any lumps.
• Add in the milk/water and vanilla extract and mix to form a glaze . The consistency is upto you.
• This glaze will thicken if you leave it unattended.You just need to add a few drops of milk/water to loosen it.
• Dip the doughnuts in the glaze and allow it to set for 10 mins.

Verdict:
Soft as cotton would be the best way to describe these doughnuts. I couldn't resist so I had a bite of just-out-of-the-oil doughnuts. When I told Jobin that I am going to make doughnuts for DB today and asked for his preference, he said he wanted it plain. But the sometimes-creative-person in me went crazy with chocolate frosting and Boston Creme Doughnuts.

The recipe said it would make 24 doughnuts and 24 doughnut holes. But I got 48 of them!!! I immediately called him and asked him whether I could pack some for his office  and he obliged. When I asked him how it was recieved in the office, he said,' It got over in less that 5 mins,next time make some more :-)' Though he wanted only the plain ones, he ended up eating every variety :-) So did I.

Now,what are you waiting for? Try these immensely easy,delicious, hassle free doughnuts today!

PERFECT CHOCOLATE DOUGHNUTS...the best homemade ones eva!

Now, I can proudly say that I have mastered the art of baking those perfect doughnuts! It was a lil bumpy ride for me though :D From those hard biscuit like doughnuts( but they were delicious!) to chewy ones and whatnot, oh yeah!all that elbow grease too! :) So here I present to you the most perfect homemade doughnuts!

I had posted their pictures long back on Facebook and many have been asking me for it's recipe. So this one is for you all, my lovely FB friends! Thanks for being so patient! :)

THOSE PERFECT CHOCOLATE DOUGHNUTS
Recipes source: Institute Of Baking and Cake Art

Ingredients:
250 g flour
7.5 g (1 1/2 tsp)  yeast
100 ml warm water
4g (3/4 tsp) salt
60 g granulated sugar
5 g (1 tsp)  milk powder
40 g margarine, frozen
4g (3/4 tsp) baking powder
1 egg,beaten
Oil for deep frying

Method:

• Mix yeast, warm water and sugar and leave aside for 15 mins or till nice and frothy.
• Sieve the dry ingredients together.
• Cut and mix fat with flour. Mix well till fingertips till it resembles flaked rice (aval). 
• Make a well in the centre & add yeast mix. Mix till well incorporated.
• Add egg & mix well. If you feel the dough is sticky at this point, just add some more flour & mix till it is not sticky anymore. Knead for a good 5-6 minutes.
• Let it rest for 30-40 mins or till doubled (in a warm place). 
• After it doubles, punch down the dough with your palm. 
• Roll out into 1/4- 1/2 inch thick and cut out shapes using a doughnut cutter or using 2 cookie cutters/bottle caps( one big & one small). Let it prove under wrap  for another 40 mins.
• Deep fry in hot oil. (The oil should be real hot, but fry on medium flame . Otherwise, the centre will not be cooked and the exterior will brown soon!)
• Drain on kitchen towel and serve as is or with a chocolate coating.

Chocolate Ganache

Ingredients:
100 g Dark Chocolate
100 g Fresh cream (25% fat- Amul)

Method:

• Chop chocolate into small chunks and leave it in a glass/staineless steel bowl.
• Heat fresh cream in a saucepan till it comes to a boil .
• Pour the hot cream over the chocolate and let it sit for 5 mins.
• Stir it till you get a glossy chocolate-y mixture. Let it cool.
• Dip the doughnuts half way into it , decorate with 100's & 1000's (multi coloured sprinkles) and serve.

Note: This doughnut is best served on the day it is made.

What are you waiting for now? Have you not waited enough for this recipe? ;) Get baking girls and boys!I hope the pictures have done justice in salivating you all :)

These doughnuts are YeastSpotted!

SUGAR DOUGHNUTS ♥ for my bro ♥

My brother L.O.V.E.S doughnuts and everytime I used to come home from my hostel in Bangalore, this was the only thing that he asked me to get for him. And it was the same story for 5 years!

I studied in Mount Carmel College, Bangalore and all those who studied there will give a testimonial for the famous sugar doughnuts that we used to get in our canteen. They were BIG and fluffy. I was warned by Tia, my cousin that that would be one thing all freshers were addicted upon :) And I proved it RIGHT! :)

I had tried some versions and all of them turned out like biscuits in texture :D But this one was really soft and nice.

SUGAR DOUGHNUTS

Recipe source: Kaipunyam

Ingredients

Flour-2c

Melted butter-2 tbsp

Egg-1

Baking powder-1 tbsp

Sugar-1/2 c

Milk-1/2 c

Salt-1 tsp

Oil-for deep frying

Powdered sugar- for dusting

Method:

• Mix together flour, salt ,baking powder and sugar. Add the melted butter.
• Add beaten egg and milk to it and form a smooth dough.
• Roll out into 1/4" thickness and cut out into doughnut shapes.
• Deep fry them in hot oil.
• Dust with powdered sugar.

It was an immediate hit! My bro agreed that it is OK! :P Anyway dad, mom and myself loved it!