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Homemade doughnuts

I've been trying to work in some sweet treats along with the usual sourdough bread, and this doughnut recipe works so well as a treat -- makes enough to share with friends, as they keep for a couple of days but are best fresh!

One key tip: if you use jam with chunks of fruit (such as the Bonne Maman blackcurrant we tried last time), it will clog the tip of most icing bags. As an alternative, try a flavorful jelly, or you may have to remove the fine tip and just pipe through the cloth bag to put your filling in!

Ingredients:

500g flour (like Untreated Baker's Organic)

15g fresh yeast (or = 1.5 tsp instant dry)

250 ML whole milk

60g unsalted butter (room temperature)

40g caster sugar

10g salt

2 large eggs

400-500ML oil (rapeseed, corn, etc. work fine) for frying

Warm the milk in a pan to body temp.

Rub yeast into the flour.

Rub the butter in next, then stir in the sugar and salt

Mix in the eggs, then...

Mix in the milk gradually to avoid lumps

Work the dough for about 5-7 minutes to get some conherence in the texture, but it will remain on the sticky side, so don't be tempted to add too much flour.

Rest dough for an hour

Scrape out onto a floured work surface and divide into long pieces, then cut into roughly 30g segments and divide into balls (make sure they have a light undercoating of flour so as not to stick). Makes about 30 doughnuts.

Rest until you see them about double in size, around 45 minutes.

About 10 minutes before frying, heat the oil in a small pan at medium heat. If it's too hot, the doughnuts won't cook through by the time the outside is browning. If you have a thermometer, aim for 180C. Fry maximum of 4 or 5 at a time for about 45 seconds each side, turn to second side, remove with a fish slice or slotted spoon and place on kitchen towel to cool.

To finish, you can either roll in sugar/cinnamon as desired, or make a mix of 200ML whipped cream and a nice tart jam (apricot worked nicely!) and pipe into the centre with a piping bag.