Doughnuts (donuts) are one of the most popular desserts in the world. Although usually deep-fried, doughnuts can be prepared by shallow-frying or baking. The topping and filling choices are limitless, as you can glaze them with dark or white chocolate, icing sugar glaze, and you can fill them with jam, jellies, chocolate, custard, whatever you like. They store well, just make sure they are in a sealed container, so they don't turn soggy.
Ingredients:
400-450 grams flour
250 ml warm milk
60 ml vegetable oil
60 grams icing sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons dry yeast
2 teaspoons vanilla
Preparation:
Mix the yeast with about 4-5 tablespoons of warm milk, and leave it to activate. Sift together the flour (set aside about 50 grams or so) with the icing sugar, add the activated yeast, the rest of the milk, vanilla and the eggs well beaten with vegetable oil. Gradually adding the flour you set aside earlier, knead until you get a soft, pliable dough that does not stick to your hands, then leave it to rise, about 2 hours.
Punch down the risen dough, then roll it out to about 1 cm thickness, and cut out, using a cookie cutter (or a glass), about 16 doughnuts (about 8 cm in diameter) with 2-3 cm wide holes in the centres. Arrange them on a baking sheet lined with baking paper and leave them to rise again, for about 30 minutes. Brush them with a bit of milk, then bake, in a preheated oven, at 190˚C, for about 15 min or so. Leave them to cool down a bit, then glaze with icing sugar glaze or with chocolate and serve immediately.
