Tuesday, June 19, 2007

Darling Mini Jelly Donuts


Found this krapfen/light donut recipe in an old copy of Gourmet, so I made a batch of mini jelly donuts for company. And since the kids adore Dora the Explorer, I shaped a batch of it in the shape of Explorer Stars or otherwise known as estrella on the show.

1 (1/4-oz) package active dry yeast
2 tbs warm water
1 c whole milk
2 tbs granulated sugar
1 tsp salt
2 lg eggs, lightly beaten

3 1/2 to 3 3/4 c all-purpose flour plus additional for dusting
About 10 c vegetable oil

1/2 c raspberry jam
Confectioners sugar for dusting

Bring milk to a simmer in a 1-qt heavy saucepan, then remove from heat and stir in granulated sugar and salt. Cool milk to lukewarm (about 90F).
While milk is cooling, dissolve yeast in warm water in a small bowl, stirring until creamy, then let stand until foamy, about 5 mins. (If yeast doesn't foam, discard and start over with fresh yeast.)

Pour milk mixture into a large bowl and stir in 2 1/2 c flour, 2 tbs oil, eggs, and yeast mixture with a wooden spoon to make a very soft dough. Spread 1 c flour on work surface and put dough on top, scraping it from bowl with a rubber spatula. Knead dough, incorporating all of flour from work surface and adding just enough additional flour (if necessary) to keep dough from sticking, until smooth and elastic, 5 to 8 mins. Transfer dough to another large bowl and sprinkle lightly with additional flour, then cover bowl with a clean kitchen towel and let dough rise in a warm draft-free place until doubled in bulk, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

Turn out dough onto a floured surface and roll out with a floured rolling pin until 1/2 inch thick. Cutout rounds with 1-inch cutter. Stretch 1 round to 2 1/2 inches and put 1 teaspoon jam in center, then stretch another round to 2 1/2 inches and use it to cover jam, pinching edges of rounds firmly together. (Pinching will stretch doughnuts to about 3 inches in diameter.) Make more jelly donuts in same manner.

Cut through filled donuts with floured 2 1/2-inch in different cutters, rotating cutter several times to help seal edges. Transfer rounds to a floured kitchen towel, then reroll scraps (only once) and make more jelly donuts in same manner. (If dough shrinks after rerolling, let stand 10 minutes.)
Cover donuts with another kitchen towel and let rise in a warm place 30 minutes.
While donuts rise, heat 3 inches oil (about 10 cups) in a deep 4-qt pot until it registers 375F on thermometer.
Fry donuts 2 at a time, turning occasionally, until puffed and golden brown, about 2 mins per batch. (donuts will bob in oil; hold them half submerged with a slotted spoon to brown evenly.) Transfer as cooked to paper towels to drain.

Serve warm, dusted with confectioners sugar.

Recipe from Gourmet magazine

Note: This took a little while, so I will try to use my breadmaker for the dough next time. Also instead of stretching the dough to fill the jelly, I chose to cook the doughnuts first, let it cool, then fill the donuts with jelly which I thought was easier. Forseeing a mess, I didn't fill the kid's donuts, and let them dunk their donuts into the jelly instead.

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

Are you going to make me some donuts too? Where's your bak chang for dragonboat festival?-SK

Chef Erik said...

I'll try these and let you know how they turn out. Thanx

WokandSpoon said...

Hey - I like Dora too ;-)

And those stars are so cute!

Little Corner of Mine said...

Oh, I like the star shape ones, so cute! It look really soft too!

Anonymous said...

wah...so cute and so delicious.

A Mature Student said...

Ooh, that looks great. They are the plain doughnuts and you baked them?

I think my daughter would like that with cinnamon and sugar.

East Meets West Kitchen said...

SK,
OK. Trade you donuts for bak chang! :)

Chef Erik,
It's soft and light. Try it out, and I'll wait to hear back from you!

Wokandspoon,
Me too! And thanks!

Thanks C! It was quite tasty too!

Thanks Cooking Ninja!

Hi J,
Actually they were fried. But I did sprinkle some cinnamon sugar on mine, and it was delicious.

Lee Ping said...

These donuts certainly look better than mine. Good job!

Big Boys Oven said...

Oh my good, they are so deep dead gorgeous, you got there Miss Star, Miss Love and Mr Round. Nowadays everyone in KL is talking about Donuts and so with food bloggers. hehehe
Thanks for dropping by www.havefoodwilltravel.blogspot.com I am sure I will write more of my interesting findings. I also initiated my other blog www.bigboyskitchen.blogspot.com and do drop by.
Sidxxx

East Meets West Kitchen said...

Hi Lee Ping,
Thanks, mine were just simple jelly donuts whereas yours were beautifully glazed and decorated. :)

Hi Big Boys Oven,
Thank you! Will definitely drop by your new blog soon.

Lee Ping said...

Simple is good. The reason why I glazed and decorated mine was because I was trying to replicate what I saw in WMW's and Teckiee's blog.

Blur Mommy said...

wow.. these looks great! very puffy. My gal, the Dora fan, would definitely love the star ones.: )

East Meets West Kitchen said...

Lee Ping,
You did a great job replicating.

blur_mommy,
Thanks!