LET'S GO NUTS FOR DONUTS!

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

I was excited to see that this month's challenge involved making donuts!   With fall in the air, I thought it was the perfect chance to try making apple cider donuts.  We eat those every year along with apple cider at the local apple orchard we visit and the kids always devour them!  I made beignets over the summer a couple of times and we enjoyed the fluffy treats so I decided to adapt the yeast donut recipe to make apple cider donuts.  I thought I would reduce the cider down and use it in place of the water.  I let the reduced cider cool down and decided to sprinkle the yeast over it.  I waited for a while for it to bubble up, but it wasn't bubbling up as I had hoped.  So, I decided to stick with the original yeast donut recipe and just add some cinnamon and nutmeg to it.  The dough came together easily and rose beautifully.  I rolled the dough out and instead of the traditional donut shape, I took the easy way out and decided to just make donut holes.  Cinnamon sugar is our favorite topping so the balls got rolled in them and was enjoyed by the whole family.  Since making the yeast donuts, I've thought about the apple cider donuts we had at the orchard and realized that they are usually cake donuts, not yeast donuts.  I will be trying the cake donut recipe in the future.  In the meantime, we've enjoyed fresh yeast donut holes for a few days.

{YEAST DONUTS}

Hands on prep time - 25 minutes
Rising time - 1.5 hours total
Cooking time - 12 minutes
Yield: 20 to 25 doughnuts & 20 to 25 doughnut holes, depending on size

{Ingredients}

Milk 1.5 cup (360 ml)
Vegetable Shortening 1/3 cup  (70 gm) {can substitute butter, margarine or lard}
Active Dry Yeast 4.5 teaspoon  (14 gm)
Warm Water 1/3 cup  (80 ml) {95°F to 105°F / 35°C to 41°C}
Eggs, Large, beaten 2
White Granulated Sugar ¼ cup (55 gm)
Table Salt 1.5 teaspoon (9 gm)
Nutmeg, grated 1 tsp (6 gm)
All Purpose Flour 4 2/3 cup  (650 gm) + extra for dusting surface
Canola Oil DEPENDS on size of vessel you are frying in – you want THREE (3) inches of oil (can substitute any flavorless oil used for frying)

{Directions}

1. Place the milk in a medium saucepan and heat over medium heat just until warm enough to melt the shortening. (Make sure the shortening is melted so that it incorporates well into the batter.)
2. Place the shortening in a bowl and pour warmed milk over. Set aside.
3. In a small bowl, sprinkle the yeast over the warm water and let dissolve for 5 minutes. It should get foamy. After 5 minutes, pour the yeast mixture into the large bowl of a stand mixer and add the milk and shortening mixture, first making sure the milk and shortening mixture has cooled to lukewarm.
4. Add the eggs, sugar, salt, nutmeg, and half of the flour. Using the paddle attachment of your mixer (if you have one), combine the ingredients on low speed until flour is incorporated and then turn the speed up to medium and beat until well combined.
5. Add the remaining flour, combining on low speed at first, and then increase the speed to medium and beat well.
6. Change to the dough hook attachment of the mixer and beat on medium speed until the dough pulls away from the bowl and becomes smooth, approximately 3 to 4 minutes (for me this only took about two minutes). If you do not have a dough hook/stand mixer – knead until the dough is smooth and not sticky.
7. Transfer to a well-oiled bowl, cover, and let rise for 1 hour or until doubled in size.
8. On a well-floured surface, roll out dough to 3/8-inch (9 mm)thick. (Make sure the surface really is well-floured otherwise your doughnuts will stick to the counter).
9. Cut out dough using a 2 1/2-inch (65 mm) doughnut cutter or pastry ring or drinking glass and using a 7/8-inch (22 mm) ring for the center whole. Set on floured baking sheet, cover lightly with a tea towel, and let rise for 30 minutes.
10. Preheat the oil in a deep fryer or Dutch oven to 365 °F/185°C.
11. Gently place the doughnuts into the oil, 3 to 4 at a time. Cook for 1 minute per side or until golden brown (my doughnuts only took about 30 seconds on each side at this temperature).
12. Transfer to a cooling rack placed in baking pan. Allow to cool for 15 to 20 minutes prior to glazing, if desired.

{Notes}

This was another great challenge.  It was fun making the donut holes using the yeast donut recipe.  Before fall is over, I am going to attempt apple cider donut using the cake donut recipe.  My girls can hardly wait!