So. I thought I had a nice variety of recipes shot before I left for NZ so that I could share while I was away. Turns out that over a third of those are doughnut recipes. So hold onto your butts, maybe this will become a doughnut blog for the month. It’s going to be good though - there’s an earl grey cruller situation, and a chocolate choux ice cream sandwich (which is as much an ice cream sandwich as a doughnut so maybe we are good?), and then there are these dudes - vanilla bean old fashioned doughnuts with a vanilla bean glaze.
The recipe for these comes out of the beautiful new Staub cookbook! The book was written by my lovely friend Amanda Frederickson and is filled with a whole heap of amazing recipes, utilising Staub Cookware. Amanda makes the most delicious looking food, and her recipes are super easy to follow, and there are also recipes from a few super cool contributors. If you haven’t heard of Staub before, it is a french made cast iron enamel cookware, and it is one of my most favourite things to cook with. The book is jam packed with recipes I can’t wait to try - there are some super cozy looking ones in there too, so I can see myself working my way through them this winter!
This was the first time I had made Old-Fashioned doughnuts, but it most certainly won’t be the last. We have eaten them loads - there is an epic old school bakery near us called Peter Pan Donut shop, and they have a red velvet cake doughnut which is my fave thing ever. They differ to yeast raised doughnuts in that they are a cake-like batter rather than a dough. You mix the batter together, then give it a rest in the fridge to firm it up before rolling it out, cutting out doughnuts, and frying until golden. Because they don’t have any yeast in them, old fashioned doughnuts are much denser, and the surface turns into craggy amazingness when they are fried, which is perfect for grabbing onto the vanilla bean glaze.
A few wee tips:
- Ideally these need an overnight rest, but you can give them 4 hours if you are in a pinch.
- A candy / frying thermometer is super important for these so you can keep the oil a consistent temperature. I also always fry in cast iron to help with this too.
- These are best eaten on the day that they are made!
This Recipe was reprinted with permission from The Staub Cookbook, copyright © 2018. Photography by Colin Price. Published by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of Penguin Random House.
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Answers to your baking questions
Over the years, many of you have asked me questions about:
- baking in grams
- adjusting oven temperatures
- what kind of salt to use
- and many more!
I've curated and answered them all for your easy reference in this frequently asked questions post!
Vanilla Bean Old Fashioned Doughnuts with Vanilla Bean Glaze
- Yield: Makes about 8 Doughnuts, Plus Doughnut Holes 1x
Description
Vanilla Bean Old Fashioned Doughnuts with Vanilla Bean Glaze
Ingredients
Batter
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 Tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- Pinch freshly grated nutmeg
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- 6 tablespoons (90g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 2 large eggs
- ½ cup (120ml) buttermilk
- 1 tablespoon vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
- Vegetable oil, for frying
Glaze
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- Pinch of salt
- ½ cup heavy cream, plus more as needed
- 1 Tablespoon vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
Instructions
DOUGHNUTS
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and nutmeg. Set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, combine the sugars and butter and mix on medium speed until creamy. Add the eggs one at a time and mix on medium speed until smooth. Add the buttermilk and vanilla bean paste and mix to combine. Slowly add the dry ingredients and mix to combine.
- Coat a large bowl with oil, add the batter, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, or overnight.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set a wire rack into a second baking sheet. Scoop the dough onto a well-floured surface and roll it out to ¾ inch thick. Using a a 3 ½” circle cutter and a 1 ¼” circle cutter, cut out doughnut shapes. Place on the prepared baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining dough, re-rolling the dough once to get 8 doughnuts. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- While the dough is chilling, in a medium cast-iron cocotte, add the oil until it comes halfway up the side of the pot. Heat the oil over medium-high heat until it reaches 350˚f / 180˚c on a candy thermometer.
- Working in batches, add the doughnuts to the oil and fry for 3 to 4 minutes, flipping halfway through, or until the doughnut is golden brown. Let the doughnuts cool on the baking sheet fitted with a rack. Cool.
GLAZE
- While the doughnuts, are cooling, make the glaze: In a medium bowl, combine the powdered sugar, salt, cream, and vanilla bean paste. Stir until smooth, adding more cream if needed. Dunk the doughnuts, then set them back onto the rack to dry.
Notes
Reprinted with permission from The Staub Cookbook
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