If you love dough desserts as much as I do, you are definitely familiar with how wonderful freshly baked doughnuts are. Barely left alone to cool down slightly, and then enjoyed bite by bite.
Sweet and fluffy yoghurt dough, tangy vegan blueberry cheesecake filling, and a brown sugar topping of dreams. An absolutely wonderful dessert year-round, but especially marvellous when fresh blueberries are in season.
Although I usually make my doughnuts on the smaller side, these are large; each of them is a generous serving of deliciousness. They are truly best served with a cup of strong coffee, and even some additional blueberry preserves, for good measure.
Ingredients
For the fluffy vanilla dough
550 grams plain flour
1 teaspoon salt
75 grams light brown sugar
150 millilitres warm water
30 grams fresh yeast
150 grams vegan vanilla yoghurt
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
45 millilitres vegetable oil, divided
For the blueberry cheesecake filling
200 grams vegan cream cheese
100 grams brown sugar
1 tablespoon cornflour
150 grams fresh blueberries
For the topping
50 millilitres vegetable oil
50 grams light brown sugar
Preparation
To make the doughnuts, sift the flour into a large bowl, add in the salt, whisk very well, and set it aside. Crumble the fresh yeast into a separate bowl, add in the brown sugar and the warm water, and set it aside for about 10-15 minutes so the yeast can activate. Once it is bubbly and ready, make a well in the centre of the flour, add in the yeast, yoghurt, vanilla, and the oil, and vigorously mix with a wooden spoon until a very soft dough forms. It should not stick to your hands, but if it does, let it rest for about 15 minutes, and then knead it again. This way, the dough, and the baked doughnuts, will be fantastically soft. Place the kneaded dough into a large clean bowl, cover it with a kitchen towel and let it rise, at room temperature, for about an hour, or until doubled.
When the dough is ready, transfer it to a lightly floured surface, and knead it briefly. Roll it out to a large rectangle, and cut it into 16 squares. In a medium bowl, whisk together the cream cheese, sugar, and the cornflour. Once smooth, mix in the blueberries. Place a portion of the filling onto each dough piece, close it up, and shape each of them into a ball. Make sure the seams are nicely closed, so the filling doesn't run out during baking. Arrange them on a large baking sheet lined with baking parchment.
Brush each of them with the vegetable oil, and generously sprinkle them with the brown sugar. Let them rest and rise, covered, for about 30 minutes more. Just before baking, brush them with the reserved oil, and bake in a preheated oven, at 200°C, for about 12-15 minutes. Make sure they do not overbake, and they stay soft. Once baked and done, remove them from the oven, and let them cool down a bit before serving. Yields 16 servings.
