Vanilla Custard Donuts

The last time I made donuts, years ago, I didn't think they were that successful - a bit heavy and doughy, not such a pleasure to eat. I decided to give them another try as I like to think my baking has improved since then, but also because there was a very promising looking recipe in a new book of mine which I have found to be trustworthy with it's recipes! '

"The cook and Baker" has so far proven to have interesting and delicious looking recipes which are yet to go wrong.

Makes 12 | preparation time 1 hour 30 minutes plus 1 hour 10 minutes proving time | cooking time 50 minutes

Ingredients

Brioche dough

250ml full fat milk

10g dried yeast

75g caster sugar

2 eggs, at room temperature, lightly beaten

485g plain flour

1 tsp salt

75g butter, cubed and softened

Diplomat creme

500ml full fat milk

15ml vanilla extract

1/4 tsp salt

60g cornflour

110g caster sugar

2 eggs, at room temperature

60g butter, diced

300ml double cream, whipped

Raspberry jam

Sifted icing sugar, to coat

Method

1. For the brioche, warm the milk in a small saucepan over low heat until it is lukewarm, then stir in the yeast, sugar and eggs.

2. Put the flour and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook. Add the wet mixture to the flour and mix until a loose dough has formed. Increase the speed to medium-high and mix for 5 minutes.

3. Add the softened butter and mix until it is incorporated and the dough becomes smooth and elastic, approximately 5 minutes.

4. Place the dough in a large greased bowl. Cover with clingfilm and leave in a warm place until it has doubled in volume, approximately 40 minutes.

5. While the brioche is proving, make the diplomat creme. Place the milk, salt and vanilla extract into a heavy-based saucepan over a medium heat. Bring slowly to the boil. Remove the saucepan from the heat as soon as it reaches boiling point.

6. While waiting for the milk to boil, in a large bowl whisk together the cornflour and sugar, then add the eggs and whisk until smooth. Pour half the hot milk onto the eggs and sugar, whisking well. Pour in the remaining milk and whisk again.

7. Place the mixture back into the saucepan and cook over medium heat, whisking constantly until the custard is very thick, approximately 5-10 minutes. Remove from the heat. Whisk the butter into the custard until smooth and incorporated then pour the custard into a bowl. Cover with clingfilm directly on the custard to prevent a skin forming on the surface and set aside.

8. Whisk the double cream until soft peaks form. Remove the clingfilm from the custard and gently fold the whipped cream through. Cover with clingfilm again, directly on the custard and chill until needed.

9. Lightly grease a baking tray. Empty the risen brioche dough from the bowl onto a lightly floured surface. Divide the dough into 12 portions, and roll each portion into a taut bun. Place on the prepared tray, leaving plenty of room between them so they don't stick together while proving (I used two trays just to make sure). Loosely cover with clingfilm and leave in a warm place to prove, approximately 30 minutes until the dough has almost doubled in size.

10. In a deep-fryer or a medium saucepan, heat 5 cm (2 inches) of vegetable oil to 160oC, using a thermometer. Be extremely careful with hot oil and do not leave unattended!

11. Gently remove the buns from the tray, taking care not to deflate the dough. Do not overcrowd the deep-fryer - fry only 3 or 4 at a time for 3 minutes on each side or until golden brown. Remove the donuts from the deep-fryer and drain well on kitchen paper. Set aside and allow to cool completely before filling.

12. Fill a piping bag fitted with a wide 1.5 cm, plain nozzle (or just cut a 1.5 cm wide hole in the piping bag) with the custard cream. Roll each donut in icing sugar. With a small serrated knife make a cut halfway through each donut. Fill with a dollop of jam, and generously pipe the cream into the donuts. Dust with extra icing sugar.