The world's best donuts and how to make them yourself

Everyone knows I'm a HUGE fan of donuts. I could literally live on them. Now for our tea party last month, while looking for the best ideas for cookies and cake I thought: 'Yeah, why not try to make donuts yourself? Can't be too difficult, can it?' And that's where the adventure started. The Internet told me that the ingredients where... well... ordinary. How could something as yummy as a donut consist of only very normal stuff like flour, milk, eggs?
And then there was the hot oil thing. I didn't own a kitchen thermometer. I didn't see a big problem in that, but after my mother told me the most colorful horror stories about self-igniting oil and exploding pans (Really? Exploding pans!?) I was a little concerned and invested in a kitchen thermometer at last. A Google search told me that the self ignition temperature is pretty much out of reach for things like donut frying, but it really helped to get the right temperature and hold it constant. But now without further ado, here's the recipe I used for my donuts!

 

Donuts

(medium, makes about 20 plus holes)

1 1/8 cup warm milk
1 package dry yeast
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
250g melted butter
4 cups flour
canola or vegetable oil

1- In a small bowl mix sugar and the warm milk and add the yeast to the mixture. Stir gently and let sit for 10 minutes.
2- Melt the butter and stir in the eggs.
3- Add the butter-egg mixture to a larger bowl. Get a hand mixer with dough hooks. Put it on medium speed and stir in the yeast mixture. Keep stirring for a couple of minutes until it's well combined.
4- Now with the mixer still going add the salt and start adding small portions of flour at a time (not more than 1 cup) until all flour is stirred in. Keep stirring for another 5-10 minutes.
5- Put the dough in a lightly greased bowl and put it in the fridge overnight.
6- Get the dough out of the fridge the next day and place it on a lightly floured surface. Roll it out to about 1 cm thickness (0.5 inch) and cut out the donuts. you could use anything that has the right size. I used IKEA glasses and small mason jar lids (about 8 and 3 cm).
7- Place the donuts and holes on a baking sheet and allow the donuts to rise for 1 - 1.5 hours. Make sure you keep them in a place that's warm and not drafty.
8- Heat enough oil in a large pot or pan that the donuts can float. Keep the temperature between 180 - 190°C (370-380°F).
9- Stir two or three donuts at a time for 30-45 seconds each side and place it on a stack of paper towels to drip off afterwards.

If you want to try the glaze I used (it was so good!) mix milk and powdered sugar to a paste and add pinch of salt, 1 teaspoon lemon juice and 1/4 teaspoon of vanilla extract. If it's now too liquidy add a little more powdered sugar. Pour into a bowl that's slightly wider than the donuts. Dip the donuts into the glaze (or just drop them onto the surface), remove and place on a baking sheet to dry.


Enjoy! The donuts are the very best (and really to die for) on the day they were made so I recommend you to eat as much as you can. Just like I did, I couldn't resist!