Soft and Fluffy Donuts with Four Glazes
Eek, Hanukah begins this Sunday! So exciiiiited!
So usually, part of the Hanukah excitement, aside from the cozy holiday feeling, family parties, gifts, and Menorah lighting rituals, is attributed to my Mom's donuts. Okay, more than "part" of the excitement. Most of it. I'm mostly excited for the donuts. And the homemade fries and chips. The fried foods - donuts, fries, chips - are a Hanukah tradition. Which means I have to wait an entire year for a homemade donut.
But now there's this little blog thing I have/do called Truffles and Trends where I post recipes and stuff. So it was my turn to make the donuts this year. And since I have a posting schedule for the blog, I started testing out donuts a few weeks ago. Which had its advantages and disadvantages. Advantage: I got to taste an abundance of homemade donuts weeks before Hanukah actually started. Disadvantage: having all the donuts I could want did take away a little but from the excitement of having my first homemade Hanukah donut on the actual holiday. But I guess I can't have my donuts and eat them too, eh?
When you run a food blog, recipes are not as simple as trying one out and then sharing it with you all. I wish. There's actually a whole lot more work that goes into it than that.
For example, these donuts. I couldn't just rely on the fact that everyone loved my Mom's donuts and go with her recipe right off the bat. Nope. Stubborn, finicky me had to go and try out 7 other donut recipes first. And summon friends and family to conduct some very serious taste testing sessions. And then not be satisfied with any of the recipes. Because most of them were good. But not excellent. And then try out my Mom's donuts as my eighth option. And of course, have everyone proclaim that the eighth one, my Mom's recipe, was their favorite.
So, now you know the story. The recipe for these soft and fluffy donuts is based off the one my Mom makes every Hanukah. It was the clear winner.
Now, I like fluffy donuts. As do many other people. But, through my donut experimentations, I've found that the fluffier and lighter the donuts were, the less flavor they had. And the more they tasted like oil.
So, what makes these donuts so popular is the fact that they're the perfect combo of fluffy and dense. The texture of these donuts is still light, delicate, and soft. But not very light, delicate, and soft. These donuts have got a certain richness and denseness to them that makes them very flavorful.
Let's talk about the glazes now. There's four of them. Because I couldn't decide on just one to share. I had too many frosting options. I could go with a simple chocolate glaze, which consists mostly of confectioner's sugar, cocoa, and milk. Or I could post a simple vanilla glaze, which is the same thing minus the cocoa. Or I could do a rich chocolate frosting, full of butter and melted chocolate and other goodness. Or I could simply tell you to melt a bar of your favorite milk chocolate and spread it on top.
But I couldn't decide between the four. So I supplied you with all of the glaze options. And will let you make this crucial decision all by yourself. I'm not sure if I should say 'sorry' or 'you're welcome.'
Just in case you were wondering, depicted on the donuts in these photos is the simple chocolate glaze. And my family's favorite is always melted milk and white chocolate.
I decided not to fill my donuts. Because I hate custard. And jelly. Yep, I'm selfish like that. Perks of being the one that actually makes the donuts - you get to decide what does and doesn't go into them.
But, if you do want to fill your donuts, make sure not to make a hole in the middle of your donuts before you fry them. I'd suggest a simple and classic confectioner's sugar dusting if you choose to fill your donuts with jelly, and a chocolate glaze if you go with a custard center.
As for garnishes, the possibilities are endless. Sprinkles, crushed nuts, chocolate chips, cereal, glazed orange peel, toasted coconut, cookie crumbs - should I go on?
Oh, and just in case you still weren't sure, these are REAL donuts. DEEP-FRIED. In REAL OIL. Shocking, I know. Because every proclaimed donut recipe I've seen recently hasn't actually been for real donuts. The recipes provided were for baked donuts. But the authors of these recipes failed to mention the "baked" part. And I didn't know they were baked donuts until I got to the ingredient list and noticed the lack of oil. And the addition of a donut pan.
I've posted two of these such baked donuts before - chocolate donuts and cinnamon crumb donuts. They're cake. Baked. In a donut pan. And therefore, they're called "baked donuts." But not these donuts. Not these soft and fluffy donuts. These aren't baked. These soft and fluffy donuts with four glazes are deep-fried. And epic.
Happy Hanukah!
soft and fluffy donuts with 4 glazes
Yield: About 16 donuts
1 1/2 cups warm water or warm milk
3 packets instant dry yeast
1/4 cup sugar
3 tablespoons oil (or melted butter)
2 egg yolks
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
4 cups flour
-Oil, for frying (I used 1 1/2 bottles of Mazola Canola Oil)
Rich Chocolate Frosting:
1/4 cup milk
3/4 stick butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 ounces dark chocolate, chopped
1 tablespoon oil
2 cups confectioner's sugar
-Desired garnishes
Simple Chocolate Glaze:
2 cups confectioner's sugar
4 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Milk for thinning (about 4 tablespoons)
-Desired garnishes
Simple Vanilla Glaze:
2 cups confectioner's sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Milk for thinning (about 4 tablespoons)
-Desired garnishes
Melted Chocolate Glaze:
A few bars milk chocolate or white chocolate
-Desired garnishes
Donuts: Pour warm water (or milk) into machine bowl fitted with hook attachment. Sprinkle yeast and sugar on top. Let sit and foam for 5-10 minutes.
Once yeast is activated, add in oil and egg yolks and mix on low to combine.
Add in salt, nutmeg, and flour and mix on low speed till incorporated. Once incorporated, mix on medium-high speed for a few minutes, until dough loosens from side of the bowl and is smooth.
Place dough into a large, oiled bowl. Cover and let rise in a warm spot for 1 hour, or until doubled.
Once doubled, flour surface, top of the dough, and rolling pin generously. Roll dough out to 1/2-inch thickness. Use a donut cutter, a round cookie cutter, or the bottom of a glass to cut out circles and use a smaller cookie cutter (or bottom of a piping tip) to cut out a smaller hole in the center. Alternatively, don't make a hole in the center so donuts can be filled with your choice of custard or jelly.
Place donuts onto a floured baking sheet or floured piece or parchment paper. Cover with a kitchen towel and let rise in a warm spot for 30 minutes (the oven with the heat off can be a good spot for rising). Meanwhile, prepare a pot with about 2-3 inches of oil and heat to 350-375 degrees. Use a kitchen thermometer to test the temperature.
Once donuts have risen, gently place a few into the oil, fry till golden brown on first side, then flip and fry on the other side till golden brown. Remove donuts from oil with a slotted spatula and place onto paper towels to absorb oil. Let cool before glazing.
Rich Chocolate Frosting: Heat milk, butter, vanilla, and chocolate over a small flame until melted. Remove from flame and add the oil and confectioner's sugar, whisking until smooth. Dip the tops of the donuts into the frosting and place onto cake rack with baking sheet under it to collect the drips. Garnish with desired toppings.
Simple Chocolate and Vanilla Glaze: Combine all ingredients and whisk until smooth. Dip the tops of the donuts into the glaze and place onto cake rack with baking sheet under it to collect the drips. Garnish with desired toppings.
Melted Chocolate Glaze: Melt chocolate over a double boiler or in the microwave in short intervals, stirring between each interval. Dip the tops of the donuts into the glaze and place onto cake rack with baking sheet under it to collect the drips. Garnish with desired toppings.
On a completely unrelated note, official definition:
photo from dump a day dot com
