Daring Bakers Challenge October - Donuts mmm

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.

I have to admit that deep frying anything whilst heavily pregnant was not a particularly appealing prospect so I enlisted the help of Le Gourmand to stand over the hot oil, while I cut the dough. Initially sceptical about cooking after 11 at night, his tune changed when he started to eat the luscious bomboloni from Kate Neumann's recipe. Instead of dusting in sugar and then icing sugar, we just dusted them in sugar, nutmeg and cinnamon and filled them with plum jam.

Despite the claims below that the dough would not rise in the refrigerator, mine did so I used a cutter of about an inch diameter instead of half an inch. And instead of making 32 I would estimate we made closer to 50.

Unfortunately they don't keep very long, although we have managed to resurrect them with a few seconds in the microwave.

INGREDIENTS

1. 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon lukewarm water
2. 1 1/2 envelopes active dry yeast (3 1/4 teaspoons)
3. 1 1/2 tablespoons honey
4. 3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
5. 3 tablespoons milk
6. 6 large egg yolks
7. 1/3 cup granulated sugar, plus more for rolling
8. 2 teaspoons kosher salt
9. 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
10. 3 cups canola oil, for frying
11. 3/4 cup seedless raspberry preserves
12. Confectioners' Sugar, for dusting

DIRECTIONS

1. In the bowl of a standing electric mixer, mix the water, yeast, honey and 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons of the flour. (Alternatively, whisk the ingredients by hand.) Cover with plastic wrap and let stand at room temperature until foamy, about 1 hour.
2. Return the bowl to the mixer, fitted with a dough hook. Add the remaining 13/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons of flour, along with the milk, egg yolks, 1/3 cup of granulated sugar and the salt. Mix at low speed until blended, then add the butter and knead at medium speed until silky but sticky, about 5 minutes; the dough will not pull away from the side of the bowl. Using an oiled spatula, scrape the dough into an oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate overnight. The dough will not rise.
3. In a large saucepan, heat the canola oil to 360°. Line a rack with paper towels. Fill a shallow bowl with 1/2 inch of granulated sugar. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough a scant 1/2 inch thick. Using a 1/2-inch round biscuit cutter, stamp out 32 rounds; do not reroll the dough. Fry the rounds, 8 at a time, until they are browned, about 4 minutes. Be sure to keep the oil between 360° and 375°. Drain the bomboloni on paper towels, then roll them in the granulated sugar. Continue frying and rolling the remaining bomboloni.
4. Fit a pastry bag with a plain donut tip (or a 1/4-inch tip) and fill with the preserves (you can also use a squeeze bottle). Poke the tip three-fourths of the way into the bomboloni and squeeze in the preserves, pulling the tip out slightly as you squeeze to fill them as much as possible. Dust the bomboloni with confectioners' sugar and serve warm.