Monday, February 11, 2008

Overcoming The Fear Of Doughnuts

Ahhh, doughnuts! When I first read Helen's post on her blog, Tartelette about her and Peabody’s Time To Make The Doughnuts event, I loved the idea of an all-doughnut event, but I wasn’t so sure I would participate. Don’t get me wrong, I like doughnuts as much as the next guy. It’s just I never fry anything as I don’t have a deep fryer and I’m scared stiff of a big pot of oil heating away on my stove.


But (Isn’t there always a but!) I kept going back to Tartelette’s post about the event, trying to convince myself that I shouldn’t even be thinking about it and only succeeding in wanting to make doughnuts even more. So off I went in search of the perfect debut recipe, not too complicated but interesting enough so that I would want to make some again. The recipe I chose seemed easy enough, no need to shape the dough, and it reminded me of something I had tasted before so I would have something to compare it to. I gathered my ingredients and started on my dough. After the one hour rising period I removed the dough from the oven and realised my bowl wasn’t big enough, it was overflowing! I quickly grabbed a bigger bowl and dumped the dough in it. Then I started to mix the apples and raisins into the dough. At that point I realised maybe I should have added them to the dough BEFORE the rising time as the dough was incredibly stiff and sticky. So much so that I broke one of my wooden spoons stirring in the fruit!


I managed to mix the fruit in as best I could all the while keeping a watchful eye on the dreaded pot of oil. After frying a couple of batches I started to relax a bit and everything went relatively well. I do wish I’d had an extra pair of hands though when came time to sugar, glaze and start
another batch of doughnuts all at the same time! It was my own fault for deciding to maple-glaze half of the doughnuts anyway! Bottom line? All who tasted them loved them so I was pleased. Will I make doughnuts again? Probably, but I’ll have to wait for the Roundup to get some inspiration!

Olie Bollen (Dutch Doughnuts)
Allrecipes.com

2 (.25 ounce) packages active dry yeast
1/2 cup lukewarm water (110 degrees F to 115 degrees F)
4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs, beaten
1 1/2 cups milk
1 1/2 cups chopped apple
1 cup raisins (optional)
1 quart vegetable oil for frying
white sugar for decoration

Warm oven on lowest possible temperature setting.

Dissolve the yeast in the warm water in a small mixing bowl. In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, and salt. Add the eggs, yeast mixture, and milk; beat with an electric mixer until blended.

Turn off the oven. Cover the prepared dough with a greased piece of plastic wrap, and place the bowl of dough on the lowest rack of the warmed oven. Allow to rest and rise for 1 hour.

Heat the oil for frying to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) in a heavy bottomed, deep skillet.

Mix the apples and raisins into the dough. Then, carefully slide the dough by heaping teaspoons into the preheated oil. Do not crowd the pan. Fry the fritters until they are golden brown, about 2 minutes per side. They should turn over on their own when they are ready to brown on the other side, but keep an eye on them and flip them as necessary. Remove them to a paper towel lined plate and repeat with the remaining dough. Dust with sugar while warm.

Maple Glaze
1 cup confectioner's sugar
1/3 to 1/2 cup maple syrup

Combine confectioner’s sugar and maple syrup. Dip warm doughnuts in glaze while they’re still warm.

Pin It!

17 comments:

Ryan and Emma said...

Great Blog. Really like the pictures too! thanks for sharing!

Ryan

Anonymous said...

Thought they looked familiar...a Dutch classic for New Year's eve. They look delicious!

Brilynn said...

Way to conquer the fear of frying! I wasn't so successful :( Those look awesome!

Aimée said...

Superb entry to Helen's doughnut event-they look really great!
Fun blog you have here. Always nice to meet another local Mama blogger. :)

rhid said...

These look so tasty! I'm scared to deep fry as well - all that spluttering....

LyB said...

Ryan - Thank you very much! I work very hard on my pictures, it's nice when someone notices :)

Linda - I guess I did something right then if they're recognizable! Thank you!

Brilynn - Thank you, but you should have seen me, I was so nervous!

Aimée - Thank you! It is nice to know other moms have to do something for themselves as well :)

rhid - They were pretty good!Frying them wasn't so bad, I used my deepest pot so there wasn't much spluttering at all.

Nic said...

I really like the addition of fruit in these doughnuts - going to have to save this one!

LyB said...

Nic - the fruit keep the doughnuts nice and moist.

Helene said...

These were new to me until this event and I am making yours this weekend for brunch on sunday. Thank you so much for taking part, and sorry your donuts rolled by me...going to fix that right now!

Cakelaw said...

Lyn, these look fabulous - donuts with raisins and apple really appeal to me. And a special congrats for braving the deep fryer - I chickened out of that.

Gretchen Noelle said...

These look really good. Apples and raisins and maple...yum!

LyB said...

Helen - I'm so glad you're going to try these and thanks so much for all the work you put in the event, it was so much fun!

Cakelaw - Thank you, it wasn't so bad once I got over the initial "check the temperature of the oil every 20 seconds" reaction ;)

Gretchen - Maple is good with everything, well, almost anyway!

Cheryl said...

Beautiful job. I love the ones with the glaze on them.

biscuitpusher said...

The French Crullers were good, but these look fantastically yummy too. Maybe next time I can actually make something for a blog event rather than just baking something a week later. :)

Aparna Balasubramanian said...

These are really nice, and with apples and raisins. Have been seeing so many doughnuts, can't believe there can be so many kinds.

LyB said...

Cheryl - Thank you very much!

Buiscuitpusher - Time flies by doesn't it?

Aparna - I know what you mean! I've been looking at the roundup thinking I should be making more doughnuts very soon :)

cialis said...

Hello, I do not agree with the previous commentator - not so simple