It’s time to make the doughnuts!

Mmmm… Doughnuts… Mad about them since forever, their smell while frying can make me go wild! So how could I say “No” to this great blogging event hosted by Peabody and Tartelette? Make sure you don’t miss this one as well, there isn’t much time left, only until tomorrow night!

Frosted with chocolate

It’s only the second time I’ve made doughnuts, ever. The first one was last Hanukkah. We invited Avi’s family over to dinner, and I was daring enough to make not one but two different yeast doughs simultaneously – one for a Focaccia and one for the donuts. And I also had two trays of antipasti in the oven, some salads to make and some cheeses to slice. You can easily understand that the mess was huge… Nevertheless, everything turned out pretty well and all the dishes prepared were tasty. The doughnuts recipe, though, was good but certainly not a keeper.

Vanilla frosted

So when I was looking for a recipe to use this time, it was hard for me to decide even the kind of doughnuts I would like to present. The Israeli doughnuts (called “Sufganiot”) came almost instinctively to my mind, along with the Romanian ones (which are called “Gogoshi”). But then I remembered that a while ago, Avi’s brother was toying with the idea of opening a sweets shop, that would sell doughnuts, among other things. When he told me about it I immediately said that I’d join him and make the doughnuts. Problem was that at the time, I’ve never made a single doughnut… Ever since I added trying a Dunkin Doughnuts recipe to my to do list, so this blog event was the perfect opportunity for this. So Sharon, this one is for you 🙂

The result tasted delicious! I wanted to experiment as much as possible this time, so half of the batch I fried, and the other half I baked. I shaped them in 2 different shapes – one is the regular doughnut, and one is little spheres. Some of the spheres (which I fried) I filled with a piece of milk chocolate filled with cream, this came out really good. The rest I left plain, and glazed them after the frying/baking. I made 2 glazes – vanilla (Avi’s favorite) and chocolate. And there were also several doughnuts that I simply dusted with confectioners’ sugar.

Dusted with confectioners’ sugar

To sum it all up, this doughnut recipe is definitely a keeper! The glazings, if tasted straight from the mixture, are not that hot, but don’t let that scare you – after they get firm on top of your doughnut – they’re great! Especially loved the chocolate glaze!
Thanks Peabody and Tartelette for a great event! I really enjoyed making those cute little things!

All together now…

Dunkin Doughnuts
Makes 12 big doughnuts or 24 small ones

1 package regular or quick-acting yeast
1/8 cup warm water (105-115 degrees)
3/4 cup lukewarm milk (30 secs in the microwave)
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1 egg
1/6 cup shortening
2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1. Dissolve yeast in warm water in a mixing bowl.
2. Add milk, sugar, salt, egg, shortening and 1 cup of flour. Beat on low speed while scraping bowl for 30 seconds. Beat on medium speed, scraping bowl occasionally, 2 minutes.
3. Stir in remaining flour until smooth.
4. Cover and let rise in a warm place until double, about 50-60 minutes.
5. Turn dough onto a floured surface. Roll dough 1/2- inch thick. Cut with round cookie cutter. Cover and let rise on floured baking sheets until double, 30-40 minutes.
6. Heat vegetable oil in a deep fryer or Dutch oven to 350. Slide doughnuts into hot oil. Turn doughnuts as they turn golden brown, about one minute on each side. Remove carefully from oil (do not prick surfaces) and drain.
7. When cool, glaze with the desired glaze and/or dust with powdered sugar.

Vanilla Glaze:
Mix 1 cup powdered sugar with 1 1/2 tablespoons milk and 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla.

Chocolate Glaze:
Mix 1 cup of powdered sugar with 1 1/2 tablespoons milk and 1 tablespoon chocolate drink mix (Nestle’s Qwik). If it’s not chocolatey enough, add a little cocoa powder.

Note: If the glaze doesn’t get thick enough, add more milk to the mixture, 1/2 tsp at a time, until it gets the texture you prefer.