We believe a yeast-raised doughnut is defined by a lovely spring and slight chew – it should bounce back after you bite into it. There are a lot of variables that go into making a truly great doughnut. We’re constantly tweaking our base recipe, temperatures and fermentation time based on the time of year and resulting environment to make them just so. Making doughnuts is challenging but when you get it right, it’s incredibly rewarding!
Start with delicious ingredients
Doughnuts taste best when they’re made with real, natural ingredients. We recommend unhomogenised organic milk, organic eggs, cultured butter, real vanilla bean and freshly grated nutmeg – because they will make your doughnuts taste delicious. We also use a combination of cake and bread flour for the perfect blend of softness and chew, and fry in clean rice bran oil for the nutty, natural flavour it imparts with the dough.
Slowly does it
Waking up to a freshly fried plate of doughnuts is one of life's greatest pleasures. But you’ll need to plan ahead. Our doughnuts take 12-15 hours from start to finish, including two to three hours of active work and 12 hours of fermentation. Fermenting (also known as proofing) allows the yeasted dough to rise, giving your finished product a lovely light and springy texture. You can do this in just three hours, but a long, slow proof (we do ours overnight in the fridge) also adds umami and depth of flavour. We’ve tested both ways and the longer process always tasted that little bit better.
Details matter
After the first proof, roll out the dough in both directions, rotating the dough as you go. This helps to prevent misshapen or uneven doughnuts. Then, use a ruler or a marked toothpick to ensure consistent depth throughout.
Waking up to a freshly fried plate of doughnuts is one of life's greatest pleasures. But you’ll need to plan ahead.
For cutting, you can use specialty doughnut rings, but two round pastry cutters in concentric sizes work just as well. After a final proof at room temperature, check whether they’re ready to fry by gently poking with a finger. The dough should feel light and bouncy, and spring back to its original shape with only a slight finger indentation left behind.
Doughnuts float
Generally, the best temperature for frying is between 185-190˚C, but this can vary depending on the style (from yeasted and cake doughnuts to ). Either way, you want your rings to float proudly to the surface of the oil. Once flipped, you should notice a lighter (less fried) line of dough around the edge of the doughnut. This is the 'proofing line' and indicates how successfully you have proofed your dough. No line or a dark double line means it’s under-proofed, while a nice, even line heralds a well-mixed, well-proofed dough that’s light and fluffy.
Sugared = hot, glazed = cool
Sugared doughnuts, like our flavour, are best tossed through sugar just after frying, so the sugar sticks (they're also ideally consumed as soon as possible – a hot sugared doughnut is hard to beat.). On the flip side, if you are going to glaze, give your doughnut time to cool - glazing a hot doughnut will result in most of the glaze dripping right off.
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