HomeArticlesWith This Guide, Glazed Doughnuts Are Surprisingly Easy To Make, When planning a birthday surprise for husband at home
Try your hand at doughnuts with this guide. Remember, one base and infinite topping possibilities await you. It's also handy when planning a birthday surprise for husband at home
Looking for birthday surprise for husband at home? Doughnuts are a classic, especially in America. But over time, they’ve spread and become loved all over the world. There’s several different toppings one can add to doughnuts, from chocolate and caramel to coconut and honey, and more heavy duty toppings like brownie bits or Indian specials like jalebi doughnuts. The possibilities are endless and there’s plenty of room to get creative. But the base remains the same - a soft, moist and easy to eat doughnut that impresses and melts in the mouth. So here’s everything you need to know to make the perfect doughnuts, which you can then top however you like.
Ingredients:
- 240 ml whole milk, warm
- 2 and 1/4 teaspoons instant or active dry yeast
- 65 mg granulated sugar, divided
- 2 large eggs
- 85 gm unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 500 gm all-purpose flour, spooned & leveled, plus more as needed
- 1–2 quarts vegetable oil
For the donut glaze:
- 240 gm confectioners’ sugar, sifted
- 80 ml heavy cream, half-and-half, or whole milk
- 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Directions:
- In a bowl, whisk together the milk, yeast and sugar. Cover it and let it sit for about 10 minutes. It will get foamy and frothy on top. Then add the remaining sugar, eggs, butter, vanilla, nutmeg, salt and flour. Use a handheld mixer or processor and beat it all well together. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and ensure it's all well mixed. The dough will slowly start coming together and pulling away from the sides of the bowl. Add more flour if needed, but not too much, since the dough needs to be sticky. Just add enough that the dough should fully detach from the sides of the bowl.
- Transfer the dough to a floured workstation and knead it for about 10 minutes. If the dough is too sticky, add some flour. The dough, once kneaded, should be soft. To check whether it's done, slowly poke the dough. If it bounces back, it's done. Another way to check if it's done is by taking a small ball of dough and stretching it out thin enough that light can pass through it. Hold it up in front of a window. Does light pass through it without the dough tearing off? If yes, then it's done.
- Now, grease a bowl with oil and place the dough in it, turning it around so that the oil coats all of it. Cover the bowl and let the dough rise for about 2 hours.
- Once the dough is ready, punch it down so that the air can release. Remove the dough from bowl and place on a lightly floured surface. With a rolling pin, roll out the dough to ½ inch height. Using a doughnut cutter, cut into doughnuts. Reroll the scraps and roll out again into more doughnuts. If you don't have a doughnut cutter, use one small and one large cookie cutter.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and place the doughnuts and doughnut holes on it. Let it rest as you heat the oil in a pan. They will rise a little as they rest.
- Add the oil in a pot or pan and place on medium heat. Add about 2-3 doughnuts at a time, depending on the size of the vessel. Cook for 1 minute on each side. Place the fried doughnuts on a plate. For doughnut holes, frying for 30 seconds on each side is enough.
- As the doughnuts sit, make the glaze by combining all the ingredients in a bowl. Dip the warm doughnuts into the glaze, coating all over, and then back on the rack or dish. Let the excess glaze drip down. In about 20 minutes, the glaze will set.
- Serve once the glaze has set.
- Leftover doughnuts can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature or in the fridge for about 2 days.
Notes, tips and tricks:
- For maximum flavor, use whole milk. Low fat or non dairy milk wont give the same flavor as full fat.
- Once you're done frying, do not throw out the oil. Instead, transfer it to an empty container and reuse later.