Delicious Donuts

There's something delicious about fresh soft donuts, and they're actually pretty easy to make at home. Using a yeasted dough you do need to allow time for it to rise, but the process itself is very simple.

Ingredients:

Makes 12 medium large donuts or 24 mini donuts.

• 125g (4 oz) buttermilk (at room temperature)
• 15g (1/2 oz) butter, soft
• 1 egg
• 250g (8 oz) bakers flour
• 1 1/2 tsp yeast
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 30g (1 oz) caster sugar
• Cinnamon sugar for dipping - approximately 2 teaspoons of cinnamon mixed with 1 cup of granulated white sugar

Method:

• Place the buttermilk and butter into the mixing bowl of a stand mixer (with the paddle attachment) and mix together for about a minute.
• Add the egg and continue mixing until it is completely mixed through.
• Change the paddle to a dough hook, and add the yeast, flour, caster sugar and salt. (It is important to add these ingredients in this order as we don't want the yeast and salt together.)
• Mix for about 4 minutes until it has come together as a dough and has been well kneaded.
• Place the dough into a greased bowl (or wrap in a silicone mat) and leave to prove until it has doubled in size.
• Once the dough has proved, knock it down on a lightly floured surface and roll into a long sausage.
• Cut into 12 equal pieces. (You can weigh these out if you want to be precise.)
• Roll each piece into a ball, then dip your index fingers into some flour and push one right through the middle of the ball. Use the other finger to help stretch the central circle out.
• Leave to sit for a further 15 minutes.
• While the donuts are proving for the final time, warm up some oil in a small pot or deep fryer if you have one. I use a small pot about half filled with oil. You need to warm it to about 85 degrees Celsius (175 degrees Fahrenheit). If the oil is too hot your donuts will very quickly colour on the outside, but still be raw on the inside.
• When the oil is ready, carefully add 2 or 3 donuts at a time. Turn them over a few times as they begin to colour. Depending on their size they should take roughly 5 minutes to cook through.
• Roll them in the cinnamon sugar as soon as you take them out of the oil.

Alternative decoration option: Leave them to cool, dip them in a chocolate ganache and decorate with sprinkles.