CREME BRÛLÉE DONUTS

 CREME BRÛLÉE DONUTS

It may be the greatest creation in sweet tooth history: Crème Brûlée Donuts. Soft, pillowy, fried dough, a creamy custard center, all with crunchy caramel topping the entire affair. These creme brulee doughnuts are what your food dreams made of. They are a bit time-consuming, so just be sure to plan ahead accordingly. But most of the time is spent on non-active prep, and they are well worth it!

Ingredients:

Doughnuts

1/4th cup water

3 tbsp oil

1/2 cup milk

3 cups flour

1/4th cup granulated sugar

Pinch of salt

1 tsp active dry yeast

Oil for deep-frying

Custard filling

1+1/2 cups milk

2 tbsp custard powder 

1 tbsp cocoa powder (optional)

1/3rd cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

Pinch of salt

Caramel

2 cups sugar

Recipe:

1. In a medium saucepan, combine water, oil, and milk until the oil melts. In the bowl mix together flour, sugar, salt, and yeast. Add warm oil-milk mixture to flour mixture and mix.
2. Knead for 5 to 8 minutes until the dough is smooth and soft. Transfer to a greased bowl and cover with a damp tea towel; let rise in a warm place for 1 hour.
3. Meanwhile, make the custard filling. Heat milk in a medium saucepan until it is just about to boil. While the milk is heating up, whisk 2 tbsp milk, custard powder, cocoa powder (optional) and sugar in a separate bowl until thoroughly combined and just a little fluffy. Add salt; mix well.
4. Once the milk has reached boiling point, slowly begin to pour the milk custard mixture into the saucepan while whisking consistently. Cook, continuing to stir, for another 5 to 10 minutes, until the mixture is thick and glossy.
5. Stir in vanilla once the custard is finished cooking. Strain the custard into a bowl and cover with plastic wrap, pressing plastic wrap onto the surface to prevent a skin from forming. Let chill while you continue with the doughnuts.
6. Once the dough has risen, gently punch it down and turn out onto a floured surface. Roll out to a little less than an inch thick. Cut out round circles of dough and transfer them to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Let rise for another 30 minutes.
7. Heat oil in a nice big pot, preferably heavy-bottomed. Fry the doughnuts, to golden-brown perfection for about 2 or 3 minutes, flipping halfway through. Transfer to a wire rack. Let doughnuts cool to room temperature.
8. To fill the doughnuts, place chilled custard filling in a piping bag fitted with a medium round tip and stick in the sides of each doughnut to squeeze a little bit of filling into each of pastry.
9. To finish, place sugar in a small heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat. Melt sugar, swirling pan occasionally, and cook until it turns a rich amber color. Remove from heat and carefully dip doughnuts in caramel.

Let cool and harden on wire rack once more. Now eat!

Enjoy and keep showering your love.