Yeast dough, proved twice, cut, fried and dipped in a lemon glaze. It makes about thirty, and almost all of the time is waiting rather than working.
The oil temperature decides everything
This is the step that separates a donut from a heavy, greasy disc, and the original recipe warned about it without giving a number.
The number is around 175°C, or 350°F.
- Too hot and the outside browns in seconds while the inside stays raw dough.
- Too cool and the dough absorbs oil instead of sealing, which is what makes a donut greasy.
- About right gives a couple of minutes a side and a pale ring around the middle where the donut floated.
Without a thermometer, drop in a scrap of the offcut dough. It should sizzle steadily and float up within a few seconds. If it browns immediately, the oil is too hot; if it sinks and sits there, too cool.
Fresh yeast or dry
The recipe asks for 25 g of yeast, which is a lot, and that quantity only makes sense as fresh yeast. If you are using dry yeast, you want about 8 g, roughly a third.
Using 25 g of dry yeast gives a dough that rises fast, collapses, and tastes strongly of yeast. The clue is in the method: dissolving it in warm liquid is what you do with fresh yeast.
Two rises, neither rushed
The first rise develops the flavour and the second gives the donuts their lightness. Cutting either short gives dense donuts that taste of raw flour.
After cutting, the shapes rest for another thirty minutes before frying. They should look visibly puffed. Handle them gently at that point: knocking the air out undoes the wait.
Glazing
Glaze them warm but not hot. On a hot donut the glaze melts and runs straight off; on a cold one it sits in a thick opaque layer instead of a thin translucent one.
The lemon in the glaze is doing the same job as the sugar in a tomato sauce: cutting through sweetness rather than making the glaze taste of lemon.
More fried dough
- Churros — the other fried dough, with no yeast.
- Buñuelos — cheese, and round.
- Homemade bread — the same dough logic, baked.
- Hojaldras — flat and fried, for breakfast.
Homemade Donuts FAQ
About 175°C, or 350°F. Hotter and the outside browns before the middle cooks; cooler and the dough absorbs oil and turns greasy. Without a thermometer, drop in a scrap of dough: it should sizzle steadily and float within a few seconds.
Fresh. 25 g only makes sense as fresh yeast, and dissolving it in warm liquid is the method you use with fresh. If you have dry yeast, use about 8 g instead, roughly a third, or the dough will rise fast, collapse and taste of yeast.
The first rise develops flavour and the second gives lightness. After cutting, the shapes rest another thirty minutes and should look visibly puffed before they go in the oil. Handle them gently at that point.
Warm but not hot. On a hot donut the glaze melts and runs off; on a cold one it sets in a thick opaque layer rather than a thin translucent one.
To cut the sweetness rather than to make it taste of lemon. Half a tablespoon of juice in 125 g of icing sugar is enough to stop the glaze being cloying without being identifiable.
They are best the same day. Fried dough goes stale quickly, and by the next morning they are noticeably heavier. The dough itself can be made the night before and left to rise slowly in the fridge.
📖 Recipe
Ingredients
- 500 g wheat flour
- 70 g sugar
- 50 g butter (softened)
- 25 g fresh yeast (if using dry yeast, use about 8 g instead)
- 100 ml water (lukewarm)
- 150 ml milk (lukewarm)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 egg
- 3 g salt
- Oil, for frying (enough depth for the donuts to float)
- 125 g powdered sugar (for the glaze)
- 3 tablespoons water (for the glaze)
- ½ tablespoon lemon juice (for the glaze)
- Lemon zest (for the glaze)
- Melted chocolate, optional
- Sprinkles, optional
Notas
Instructions
- Put the milk and water in a bowl, add the yeast and stir until it dissolves.
- Put the flour in a bowl with the sugar and the salt, mix well, make a well in the middle and pour in the yeast liquid.
- Add the butter, the vanilla extract and the egg. Mix thoroughly.
- Turn the dough onto a floured surface and knead by hand until it is smooth and springy.
- Shape it into a ball, oil a container, put the dough in, cover with cling film and leave it to rise.
- Flour the surface again, turn the dough out and knead it briefly a second time.
- Roll it out to about one centimetre thick.
- Cut the donuts with a ring cutter or the rim of a glass, then cut the hole in the middle. Gather the offcuts and roll them again.
- Put the cut donuts on a tray, cover them and leave them for another 30 minutes.
- Heat enough oil for the donuts to float, to about 175°C. Too hot and they brown before the middle cooks; too cool and they soak up oil.
- Fry until golden on one side, turn, and once both sides are done lift them onto kitchen paper.
- For the glaze, mix the powdered sugar with the tablespoons of water.
- Add the lemon juice and some of the zest, and stir until it is smooth and pourable.
- Dip the donuts into the glaze and let the excess run off.
- For the chocolate version, dip them in melted chocolate instead and add sprinkles.
- Let them cool a little before eating.
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