Soft and Fluffy Donuts

Donut is one of the most favorite desserts among children and has been bringing smiles since long time ago. Whether you call them  donuts  or  doughnuts, these sweet fried or baked pastries are a well loved treat. Yes, everybody loves donuts, including me. For all the reasons I mentioned above, I decided this is the time to make homemade donuts. After browsing recipes on the internet, my choice was Peggianne’s “Mom’s Raised Doughnuts” posted at allrecipes.com. 

This was my first attempt at making donuts. The recipe and the instructions were easy to follow and I followed the recipe exactly. They do take time, but they are so worth it! They turned out wonderfully fluffy, just as promised, light and airy, with just a touch of crisp on the outside. The recipe made three dozen donuts for me. I fried them in mostly veggie oil with about a ½ cup of shortening added in. I made many kinds of glazes for them like chocolate, strawberry, maple, green tea, with sprinkles, chopped roasted almond and cashew, and even nutella spread. Believe me, they are to die for! From now on, we will probably not get the store donuts again as we could make this bakery quality donuts at home! And yes, I will make this again and again.

Ingredients:

½ cup warm water (100 to 110 degrees F/40 to 45 degrees C)

2 (0,25 ounce) packages active dry yeast

1 tsp white sugar

¾ cup milk, lukewarm

1/3 cup vegetable shortening

¼ cup white sugar

1 tsp salt

2 eggs

4 cups sifted all-purpose flour

2 quarts vegetable oil for frying

1 tbsp warm water

½ tsp vanilla extract

1 cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted

Method:

1.         Pour 1/2 cup of warm water into a small bowl, and stir in the yeast and 1 teaspoon of sugar. Allow the yeast mixture to stand until it forms a creamy foam layer on top, 5 to 10 minutes.

2.         Place milk and vegetable shortening into a small saucepan over medium-low heat and cook until the shortening has melted and the milk has tiny bubbles around the edge. Remove from heat.

3.        Place 1/4 cup of sugar and the salt into the work bowl of a large stand mixer and pour the milk and shortening into the bowl. Mix on low speed just to dissolve sugar; and allow mixture to stand until warm.

4.         Beat in the yeast mixture, eggs, and 1 cup of flour on low speed until smooth. Gradually beat in remaining flour to make a soft dough.

5.         Continue beating the dough on low speed until dough leaves the sides of the bowl, 2 to 3 minutes.

6.         Turn the dough out onto a well-floured work surface and knead until smooth and elastic, 2 or 3 more minutes.

7.         Form the dough into a ball and place into a large greased bowl. Grease the top of the dough, and cover the bowl with waxed paper. Set the bowl into a warm place; let the dough rise until doubled in size, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

8.         Punch down the dough and roll out on a floured work surface to 1/2 inch thick. Cut doughnuts out of the dough with a 3 1/2-inch round doughnut cutter with a 1-inch smaller cutter in the center. Let the doughnuts rise on the work surface until very light and fluffy, 40 minutes to 1 hour.

9.         Heat oil in a deep-fryer or large saucepan to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

10.    Gently pick up and drop the doughnuts into the hot oil, working in small batches of 2 or 3 at a time, and cook until the doughnuts are light golden brown, turning once, about 2 minutes.

11.  Drain the doughnuts on paper towels to absorb oil.

12.  In a bowl, mix 1 tablespoon of warm water and vanilla extract, and stir in the confectioners' sugar to make a glaze. Spread a thin layer of glaze over the warm doughnuts.

13.  (This is addition from me) Or you can glaze your doughnuts with your favorite glaze. Pour the glaze into a shallow bowl. Dunk the doughnuts, let any excess glaze drip off, and transfer to a wire rack placed on a baking sheet or over a sheet of parchment paper to rest until glaze sets. (Who are we kidding? We know these glazed doughnuts are going straight from bowl to gaping mouth J)

Happy Frying!

Bahan:

½ cup air hangat (100 s.d. 110 derajat F/40 s.d 45 derajat C)

2 pak ragi kering aktif

1 sdt gula pasir

¾ cup susu, suam-suam kuku

1/3 cup shortening

¼ cup gula pasir

1 sdt garam

2 butir telur

4 cups tepung terigu serbaguna, ayak

2 liter minyak sayur untuk menggoreng

1 sdm air hangat

½ sdt vanilla cair

1 cup gula halus, ayak

Cara:

1.         Tuang ½ cup air hangat ke dalam gelas kecil. Masukkan ragi dan 1 sdt gula pasir dengan cara disebarkan. Biarkan ragi bekerja sampai membentuk lapisan yg berbusa pada permukaan air, selama 5-10 menit.

2.         Dalam panci kecil, panaskan susu dan shortening dengan api sedang-kecil sampai shortening meleleh dan susu sedikit berbusa. Angkat, sisihkan.

3.         Masukkan ¼ cup gula pasir dan garam ke dalam baskom/mangkuk besar aduk. Tuang larutan susu dan shortening, kocok dengan mikser dengan kecepatan randah, agar gula larut dan adonan menjadi hangat. Bisa juga diuleni dengan tangan.

4.         Tambahkan larutan ragi, telur, dan 1 cup tepung terigu. Kocok dengan kecepatan rendah sampai licin (bisa juga diuleni dengan tangan). Tambahkan terigu sedikit demi sedikit sampai adonan lembut.

5.         Kocok terus adonan dengan kecepat rendah sampai adonan tidak menempel lagi di mangkuk, selama 2-3 menit.

6.         Pindahkan adonan ke atas meja kerja yang telah ditaburi terigu, uleni kembali dengan tangan sampai kalis.

7.         Bentuk bulat adonan, letakkan dalam  letakkan dalam wadah yang telah diolesi sedikit miinyak, dan tutup dengan plastik atau serbet lembab selama 1 jam sampai adonan mengembang 2x lipat, selama 1 sampai 1½ jam.

8.         Kempeskan adonan dan gilas dengan rolling pin setebal  kira-kira ½ inch. Cetak dengan cetkan bentuk donat (saya memakai cetakan dengan diameter 3 inch). Diamkan sampai donat mengembang selama 40 menit sampai 1 jam.

9.         Panaskan minyak sampai suhu 350 derajat F (175 derajat C).

10.   Goreng donat sampai coklat keemasan, dibalik sekali saja, selama kurang lebih 2 menit.

11.   Angkat, tiriskan di atas tissue makan. Drain the doughnuts on paper towels to absorb oil.

12.   Dalam mangkuk, campur 1 sdm air hangat dan vanilla cair, masukkan gula halus, aduk sampai halus untuk membuat glaze. Oleskan di atas donat yg masih hangat. Bisa juga menghias dengan glaze lain sesuai selera.

13.   (Tambahan dari saya) Tuang glaze ke dalam mangkuk. Celupkan donat, biarkan sisa glaze-nya menetes, letakkan di atas rak kue yang telah dialasi kertas minyak. Biarkan sampai glaze mengeras. 

Selamat mencoba!