This week I will end up looking (even more) like a doughnut.

W tym tygodniu stanę się (jeszcze bardziej) podobny do pączka.

I must say, I do like doughnuts made by my Mom, but I don’t have her recipe. That said, I think I found a perfect one, from Justin Gelatly (available in his book, “Bread Cake Doughnut Pudding”, sources). This is what they look like:

On the Stall @boroughmarket #now #today #doughnuts #vanilla pic.twitter.com/Q07e7spz1L

— Bread Ahead Bakery (@BreadAhead) February 11, 2017

… and this is what they look like when I make them:

@sourdough_mania recipe from @breadaheadboroughmarket ‘s Justin Gellatly #doughnuts

A post shared by Breadcentric (@breadcentric) on Jan 16, 2017 at 3:20pm PST

Close enough. But this time I want to try them differently. Instead of frying them empty, and filling them with all the custard love ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°), I want to make them traditionally Polish, with rose petal jam. To do this, I will need to round the dough with jam already inside.

Planning

Normally I would make the doughnuts Wednesday night to be ready for Fat Thursday, but it will be middle of the week and I may be willing to try something less adventurous (like cheese donuts), therefore this is a weekend bake for me. This is the plan:

1. Make the dough Saturday morning, let it double in volume (about 30 minutes)
2. Knock back the dough, pop into the fridge, let it proof throughout the day
3. In the evening make doughnuts, leave for about four hours to double in size (in my case two hours)
4. Fry

I recommend getting some rice flour for dusting, as the dough will be very fragile and will collapse if it sticks to the proofing surface. It will not stick to rice flour.

If you will be frying in a sauce pan, get one with thick bottom and get a thermometer to monitor temperature around 180 C. Deep fryer owners have it easier with automated temperature control.

Ingredients

Makes around 20 doughnuts

• 500 g strong white wheat flour
• 60 g caster sugar
• 10 g fine sea salt
• 15 g fresh yeast, crumbled
• 4 eggs
• zest of half lemon (get an organic lemon, make sure the skin is not waxed)
• 150 g water
• 125 g unsalted butter
• about 2 litres rapeseed oil for frying
• some icing sugar for dusting

Preparation

1. Put all the ingredients apart from butter in the mixer bowl and mix on medium speed for about 8 minutes until they form a dough that forms a ball. I used a dough hook

2. Turn the mixer off and let the dough rest for about a minute

3. Start it again on medium speed and add butter in small portions, giving it a bit time to incorporate. Once it’s all nicely mixed in, mix on high speed for 5 minutes
   

   The dough is super stretchy

4. Cover with cling film and let the dough double in volume

5. Knock back the dough, cover again and store in the fridge overnight

6. Next day, cut the dough in 50 g pieces, make them flat, put jam in the middle, close them firmly and round to form a nice tight ball. The dough is sticky as hell, so dusting with wheat flour is encouraged. It’s also easier to round empty doughnuts, as with jam you can easily get it through on the other side of the dough and not to close it properly
   

   Not all rounded doughnuts were perfect, but hey, nobody is

7. Place on a dusted tray (rice flour!), with a lot of space between the doughnuts

8. Cover them lightly with clingfilm. I sprinkle a bit flour on top before covering (rice flour!). They will need about 4 hours to double in size (two hours in my case)

9. Heat up the oil – 180 C is what you want

10. Put doughnuts in the pan, enough to have the space to rotate. Picking up must be gentle. Make sure the doughnut does not tear or deflate. Fry for 2 minutes on each side, until golden brown. Keep monitoring the temperature – I keep the probe in the pan all the time
    

    Doughnuts in the oil

11. When taking out, place the doughnuts on a paper towel. It will help get rid of some of the excess fat. Next, put them on a cooling rack to cool down completely
    

    Fried doughnuts

12. Dust with icing sugar before serving if you want
    

    A doughnut dusted with icing sugar

The doughnuts are insanely good with homemade custard, but also quite heavy, that’s why I decided to go for the jam. They went very flat after frying. With the filling it’s easy, as you reinflate it with cream, with jam already inside, it’s looking so so.

The crumb

If you are reading this recipe and wondering “how will I eat 20 doughnuts?”, change it into “who will I share 20 doughnuts with?”. Sharing the guilt helps. Enjoy!

Doughnuts