I have been struggling with the recipe for doughnuts for the last three years. I have been tried every trick in the book to make them soft and fluffy. I spent a lot of time thinking about it since carnival is fast approaching and everyone wants to eat doughnuts during the carnival period. I love fritule (traditional Croatian fritters shaped like mini doughnuts) but doughnuts are doughnuts! We all have fond memories of them from our childhood (and adulthood!). My goal was to make tender and fluffy doughnuts and I managed to achieve it. Don’t be afraid to try to make some doughnuts, the recipe is full of descriptions and I made photos of every step in the recipe to make it easier for you. Let’s get started!

    INGREDIENTS:

• 800g Schar’s MIX B flour (+ 50g to flour the kneading surface)
• 50g tapioca
• 2 egg yolks
• 2 whole eggs
• 1/2 packet baking powder
• 1 cube of fresh yeast (around 40g)
• 35g granulated sugar (you can add more if you prefer sweeter doughnuts)
• 1 packet of vanilla sugar*
• 100ml rum
• 100g room temperature butter
• 550ml warm milk

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Sift the 850g of flour and set 50g aside to flour the kneading surface.
2. Combine flour, tapioca, and baking powder.
3. Using a mixer, mix butter, granulated sugar and vanilla sugar*.
4. Whisk eggs.
5. Warm up 550ml of milk and add fresh yeast, a teaspoon of sugar and a teaspoon of flour. Cover it with a kitchen towel and let it sit in a warm place to activate the yeast.
6. When the yeast is ready, add butter, eggs and rum into the sifted flour.
7. Slowly add the yeast mixture into the flour and mix until well combined. The dough is very soft so use a hand mixer with dough hooks to knead it to make it easier for you.
8. When the dough is done, put it on a previously floured kneading surface and knead it lightly.
9. To make it easier, split the dough into two or three parts. Roll out the dough to the desired thickness (4 – 5 cm). Cut out the doughnuts using a glass or a cookie cutter.
10. Cover the doughnuts with clean kitchen towel and let them sit for at least 2 hours in a warm place to let the dough rise. It should also be warm in the room where the dough is resting so it rises better.
11. When the dough is ready, get a heavy-bottomed pot and pour in some oil. The amount of oil depends on the size of the pot, but the doughnuts should float in it. If you want to get doughnuts with a white line in the middle, the bottom part of the doughnut should be submerged in oil and when you flip it, the middle part shouldn’t sink in the oil and you will get the white line in the middle. When putting the doughnuts into the oil, put the top part of the doughnut into the oil first (flip it upside down from how they were sitting while rising).

Fry them in hot oil on a medium heat. They are done very quickly so watch them closely in order to flip them to fry evenly on both sides, and to make sure they don’t burn.

When done, put them on a kitchen paper towel so it soaks up the excess oil.

When cooled, fill them with a desired spread. I recommend apricot marmalade.

Bon appetit!

* INSTEAD OF VANILLA SUGAR, YOU CAN USE A TEASPOON OF VANILLA EXTRACT. ADD IT TO THE WET INGREDIENTS AND MIX UNTIL WELL COMBINED.