Doughnuts!

If you’re in London, you either love doughnuts or you roll your eyes at the very mention of them, because that’s what everyone seems to be obsessed with.

If you’re visiting London, make sure to get down to Borough Market for Bread Ahead doughnuts or a bit further up to Maltby for the famous St. John doughnuts. And if you’re like me, and like to do everything yourself, you try and replicate the recipe yourself at home.

I made these doughnut balls using the St. John recipe for my little cousins. We piped some with two types of custard: chocolate and vanilla. Plain and simple. So good.

St. John Doughnuts

This recipe makes 24 doughnuts or a gazillion little doughnut balls. The dough is made similar to a brioche, so it’s easier to have a stand mixer to be able to incoroprate the softened butter into the dough, a little at a time, to form a smooth, shiny emulsion. Also, make sure to coat the doughnuts with sugar when they are hot from the fryer for the sugar to be able to stick well. I swapped the water for milk to add richness. An important tip from the book: heat the oil to 190C. Too high, and the doughnuts will burn, too low and they will absorb the oil, making them greasy.  Recipe adapted from The Complete Nose to Tail.

500g (strong) white flour
65g caster sugar, more for coating
10g salt
15g yeast
4 eggs
1 lemon, zested
155ml milk
125g butter, softened
Sunflower oil for deep frying

1. Put all of the ingredients except the salt, butter and oil in a bowl.
2. Mix all the ingredients together until fully hydrated. Let it rest for 15 minutes.
3. Then add the salt and beat until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl.
4. Add the softened butter into the dough while it’s still mixing, a little at a time until it’l fully incorporated. About 6-8 minutes, until the dough is shiny and stretches, passing the windowpane test.
5. Wrap the bowl with clingfilm and let the dough rise for 2 hours at room temperate. Too warm, and the butter might separate. Knock back down and refrigerate for 4-8 hours.
6. For regular sized doughnuts measure the dough of 40g each. Roll into smooth balls. Place on floured sheets with about 4-5cm gap between them and let them prove for 2 hours, until doubled.
7. Heat a large pan with enough oil for deep frying and heat to 190C.
8. Fry the doughnuts a few at a time. Don’t crowd them because they expand. Plus too many will drop the oil temperature drastically.
9. Drain the doughnuts on paper towel to soak up excess oil then toss in the caster sugar immediately. (you could also flavour the sugar with vanilla or cinnamon).
10. Eat plain or pipe with filling. Here’s the recipe for a vanilla custard (pastry cream/crème pâtissière).