Sunday 14 November 2010

Caramel Doughnuts with Chocolate and Caramel Icing



This month is hosted by Chele at Chocolate Teapot and the special ingredient is caramel! Again, last month’s entries were amazing and it was so good to see loads of different little things that had me practically drooling over my keyboard!



I have wanted to make proper fried doughnuts for a long time.  I filled that want with mini baked doughnuts in September but the feeling of want has come back with a vengeance and I don’t think baked doughnuts are going to cut it.  So why not just make proper doughnut?  There is one thing that has massively stood in my way.  I hate hot oil.  Fine with other people using it but I’m personally scared of it.  Probably from those terrifying adverts from when I was a kid.  You know the ones with the chip pan fires? Especially when they throw the water over the fire? *shudder*

So, I decided I needed to face my fears and if I could face my fears and have something tasty at the end of it I’d feel a lot better about doing it…

Ingredients

Caramel Filling
175gr butter
110gr golden caster sugar
2tbsp golden syrup
400gr can of condensed milk

Caramel Doughnuts (Adapted from here)
450gr strong white bread flour
50gr butter
25gr golden caster sugar
Pinch of salt
1 x 7gr sachet dried yeast
1 egg
175ml lukewarm milk

Toppings
100gr milk chocolate

1tbsp caramel filling (see above)
1tbsp icing sugar
1tbsp milk


Method
1, Make the caramel filling by adding the butter and sugar together in a large heavy based pan.  Melt them together over a medium heat stirring gently. 
2, When the sugar has dissolved, add in the rest of the caramel ingredients and slowly bring to the boil.
3, As soon as it hits the boil, reduce the heat down to medium and simmer for three to four minutes.  This is the same recipe I would use for making Millionaire’s Shortbread but I would let it boil for six to seven minutes so it really firmed up when cool.  Three to four is the right amount to make a pipeable filling. 
4, Remove the filling from the heat.  Its best to pour it into a heatproof jug to get it to cool quicker.  It needs to be room temperature before use.  When it is cool enough spoon it into a disposable piping bag and secure the top with an elastic band.  Set to one side while making the doughnuts. 

5, To make the doughnuts, sift the dry ingredients together and stir them well. 
6, Rub in the butter quickly. 
7, Make a well into centre and pour in the egg, warmed milk and the caramel syrup if you are using it and mix together until it forms a dough
6, Knead the dough for 10 minutes or until the dough is very smooth and in no way sticky.
7, Place into a greased bowl, cover with clingfilm and leave to raise in a warm place until it has doubled in size. 
8, Knock back the dough and give it another knead for about 5 minutes.  Form it into 20 even balls for mini doughnuts or 10 big ones.  I opted for little ones.
9, Place on a lined baking tray and cover loosely with clean film and return to the warm place for 45 minutes until they have doubled in size. 
10, Heat some sunflower oil in a large saucepan to 180o/c.  I used around 1litre in a wok and measured the temperature with my sugar thermometer. 
11, Gently place the doughnuts into the oil and fry until golden brown.  Remove them with a slotted spoon and drain them on plenty of kitchen paper.

12, Leave them until they are cool enough to handle safely. 
13, Insert a sharp knife halfway into the doughnut and give it a little twist to open up the hole. 
14, Snip off the end of the piping bag filled with caramel and insert it into the doughnut hole and give it a firm squeeze.  Place onto a baking sheet covered with clingfilm
15, Leave to one side and make the toppings by melting the milk chocolate and drizzle it over the top and stirring the remaining ingredients together to a smooth icing and drizzling that over too.  
16, Eat semi warm or leave them to cool before packing into an airtight container.  They will only last a day or so.

11 comments:

  1. WOW! Those look delicious!

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  2. Im not suprised they only last a day or two, theyd be lucky to make it the tin in this house! truly scrumptious, thanks for sharing x

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  3. It is fair to say that you owe me a new laptop casue I've just slobbered all over the one I've got lol

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  4. definitely going to try this, thank you!
    hlgvsfood.blogspot.com

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  5. Hey i am suuper boy

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  6. Thanks for the lovely comments and for stopping by! They were delicious but need to do some serious gym work before making another batch!

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  7. Oh good lord, these look good. I am with you on the scary hot oil front. Whenever I use our deep fat fryer I stand by it constantly and shut my girls out of the room, and should they come in they are constantly reminded of the hot oil, they soon leave. I am no doubt giving them a deep seated phobia too!

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  8. Well done on overcoming your frying fear. I've never deep fried anything either - what do you do with all that leftover oil? Your doughnuts look amazing - making them last more than 5 minutes would be a feat here, never mind a day! Thanks for entering the challenge.

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  9. Wow that looks really mouth wateringly delicious and I'm not even hungry! I've never made doughnuts partly because of the same frying fear but I may have to be brave like you :)

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  10. I just cooled the hot oil, strained it, before putting it back in the bottle and labelling it "Deep Fry Oil" so it can be reused! I'm still a bit wary about hot oil!

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