DONUTS WITH CREAM

This picture is from http://www.wallcoo.net/

Who doesn't love donuts, huh?  When I was a kid, I used to read the books of Christopher Pike; The Spooksville novellas was my favourite;  I remember the male characters in the book would usually hang in a local bakery where they would eat lots of donuts.  I really wanted to try these donuts at that time but couldn't find any in the bakeries of my locality.  Donuts are not so popular in Mauritius as in US and Canada.  A few years back, I came across a mini cake shop in Port Louis called "Puits D'amour" selling mini donuts.  I gave it a try, and understood instantly why Americans and Canadians love it so much.  The mini donuts were slit and filled with cream.

I looked for recipes on the net, watched YouTube Videos and started to gather books containing donuts recipe.  OMG, there are so many varieties of donuts.  Click here, you will be left mouth wide open like me.  One of the simplest and nicest donut I saw on the net was from "Cherry on a Cake".  

Basically there are two types of donuts:  Yeast-raised donuts and cake donuts.  They can be either fried or baked.

I have used the recipe of Wayne Gisslen (2005), Professional Baking, Fourth Edition.  The ingredients for 250 g flour are: 137.5 g water    12.5 g fresh yeast    25 g fat    35 g sugar    4.3 g salt    0.75 g mace    12.5 g non-fat milk solids    35 g eggs    250 g bread flour.

I tried the recipe twice.  The first time I made the donuts, I used 100% bread flour.  The second time, I used bread flour + all purpose flour and I got a more tender product.      

Ingredients

110-137 g warm water*

5 g instant yeast

25 g margarine

35 g sugar

A pinch of salt

13 g milk powder

35 g eggs

150 g bread flour 

100 g all purpose flour

*The amount of water will depend on your flour absorption values.  110 g was ideal for me.

Method

1.  Combine the yeast and 100 g warm water.  (Later you use the 10 g if need be).

2.  Sift your flours in a large bowl.  Mix in the salt, sugar, milk powder and margarine using a fork.  Make a well in the center; add in the beaten egg and yeast suspension.  Mix until you get a sticky mass of dough (Use more water if need be).  Allow to relax for 2-3 minutes before kneading.

3.  Knead the dough for 5 minutes on a lightly floured surface (1 teaspoon of flour should be enough for the whole kneading process).  Allow the dough to relax for 3 minutes.  Knead for 5 minutes again, and then relax for another 3 minutes.  Finally knead for 5 minutes and place the dough in a buttered bowl.  Cover with cling film and allow to ferment for about 90 minutes.

Kneading time: 15 minutes by hand, the kneading process should include folding and knocking back of the dough

If you are going to use a mixer, develop the dough completely for about 6-8 minutes at second speed (Wayne Gisslen, 2005). 

The second time I made these donuts, I left the dough to ferment overnight in the fridge.

4.  De-gas the dough.  Flatten or roll out gently to 12 mm thickness.  Let the dough relax for a min.   Cut out donuts with a donut cutter.  Cut as close together as possible to minimize the quantity of scrap.

5.  Combine the scrap dough and let it relax. Flatten or roll out and let it relax again. Continue cutting donuts.

6.  Allow to proof for an hour on wax paper (the donuts will be easily removed from wax paper without deflating than on a baking tray).  Cover with a damp towel.

7.  Heat oil in a deep fryer at 190°C.  Gently slide in the donuts; fry until golden brown on both sides.  When the donuts are fried, lift them from the oil and let excess oil drip off. Place the donuts in one layer on absorbent paper or cooling rack.  Allow to cool.

Fry for about 2 minutes on each side; just flip it and tap the cooked side with your slotted spoon, if you hear an empty sound you know it is cooked; repeat the same process for the other side 

So happy I got the nice white ring around the donuts

8.  Slice and fill with the cream of your choice.  I used my dad's Eclair Cream.  Click here to get the recipe.  You can ice the top, sprinkle with powdered sugar or decorate with melted chocolate.  I let you decide...

So... here you are, donut with cream!!!

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Here are some additional pictures.  I made the donuts with nutella the very first time I tried the recipe with 100% bread flour.

I filled the remaining scrap dough with marmalade and fried it.  I used it as a tester to check if the oil is ready for frying the donuts.   

Focaccia (Using Poolish)

The basic Focaccia recipe below is from Bread Technique and Mark Witt (2008).  I wanted to try his recipe first before trying that of Peter Reihnart.  You can choose any topping of your choice.

Ingredients:

Poolish

350 g bread flour

500 ml water*

1/8 tsp of instant yeast

Focaccia dough

200 g bread flour

1 tsp instant yeast

11 g (1 ¼ teaspoon) salt**

40 g extra virgin olive oil

Topping 1 (herbed oil)

80-100 g extra virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon rosemary

1 tsp sweet powdered paprika

1 tsp thyme leaves

1 tsp chopped garlic

Topping 2 (Optional)

More powdered paprika

Black olives (sliced)

Cheddar cheese (grated)

* Original recipe called for 400 ml water, but mine required 500 ml water to achieve the right batter consistency

** I used exactly 11 g salt for my focaccia and found it a bit salty. It was even more salty with the cheese!  I would suggest around 1 teaspoon of salt.

Method (Using Poolish)

----------------------------------Day 1 - Making the poolish----------------------------------

1.  Combine the flour (350 g) and instant yeast together.  Stir in the water and mix till it resembles a heavy batter.  Cover with cling film and let set for 8-12 hours on the counter.  Store in the refrigerator overnight.

----------------------------------Day 2 - Making the focaccia----------------------------------

1.  To the poolish, add the yeast; cover the yeast with the flour (200 g); Add the bread improver and salt on top of the flour; and finally pour the oil somewhere near the edge of the bowl.  Make sure you do not add the ingredients altogether (the yeast may be killed if mixed directly with the salt).

2.  Mix for about a minute just to bring the ingredients together.  Knead for about 4 minutes with a dough hook.  Stop the mixer and let rest for 10 minutes.  Knead for another 4 minutes and let rest for 10 minutes again (Resting allows good hydration).  Finally, knead for 4 more minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic.  It should be very sticky, clear the sides of the bowl but cling to the bottom of the bowl.

3.  With oiled hands, turn the dough into a generously oiled bowl and form a ball. Flip the dough over to coat both sides with oil.  Cover and place in the fridge overnight.  Punch it down once or twice if you like a finer crumb and a flatter bread.

----------------------------------Day 2 - Making the herbed oil----------------------------------

1.  Warm the oil in a Microwave or under a double boiler.  Add the herbs and spices.  Store in an airtight jar.

----------------------------------Day 3 – Panning, topping and baking----------------------------------  

1.  Remove the dough from the fridge and let it warm to room temperature for about an hour. 

2.  Place the dough onto a well oiled rimmed baking pan of about 13” x 18”.  Stretch until the dough nearly fills the pan.  (If the dough becomes resistant to stretching, a rest will make further stretching easier).

3.  Spray the dough with cooking spray and cover with plastic.  Allow to proof for 1-2 hours or until doubled in height.

4.  Dimple the focaccia with oiled fingers (Dip your fingers in the herbed oil).  Top with sliced olives and sprinkle with more paprika.  Pour the herbed oil over the focaccia.  Dimple some more!

5.  Bake in a preheated oven at 190°C for 25 minutes rotating once at around 10-15 minutes of baking.  After 25 minutes of baking, add the cheese. Bake for further 10-15 minutes or until golden brown.  Allow to cool on a cooling rack.

'PAIN DE MIE AU BEURRE' OR BUTTER BREAD LOAF

My bread madness is not over yet.  It's so fun to knead.  I remember when I was still doing my O-level, I had no idea when to stop kneading.  You imagine that!!  I came across this bread recipe through Honey Bee Sweets' blog.  She got this beautiful recipe from Carol 自在生活 blog.  I would strongly advise you to visit Honey Bee Sweets' blog.  There are many wonderful recipes over there.  Carol's pictorial is just amazing.  You don't need to know Chinese to understand the recipe.  Just follow her pictorials.  Click on the links below to get the butter bread loaf recipe from the above mentioned blogs:

1. 奶油千層吐司 from Carol 自在生活 blog (With pictorials)
2. "Thousand Layer" Butter Bread Loaf from Honey Bee Sweets' blog

I adapted the recipe with minor modifications based on the equipment and ingredients I had.

Ingredients 

List A

270 g bread flour (High gluten flour)

30 g cake flour (Low-gluten flour)

5 g instant yeast

3 g salt (about ½ teaspoon)

30 g caster sugar

200 ml warn milk

List B

20 g unsalted butter

List C

30 g unsalted butter
List D
1 beaten egg

Method

1.  In a large bowl, combine the sifted flours (both low and high gluten flour), sugar and salt. Dissolve the yeast in the warm milk.  Add this liquid to the flour mixing to form a rough mass.  Work and knead the dough for about 20 minutes until it is smooth and does not stick to your hands.

2.  Knead in the 20 g unsalted butter.  When all the butter is incorporated into the dough knock back and continue kneading by folding, pushing and rotating the dough continuously until you obtain a smooth and elastic dough.
Take your time and do the kneading process slowly.  Avoid being harsh with the dough.  This should take you approximately 20 minutes.  You can use the Windowpane Test to check whether the dough is ready.

Initially the dough was stiff! But once you add the butter, it is easier to work with!
It is always recommended to develop the gluten before adding fat!!

3.  Place the dough ball in an oiled bowl.  Spray some oil or water on the surface of the dough to prevent drying.  Allow the dough to rise (ferment) in a warm place for about 1½ hours.  You can cover it with a damp towel or cling film.  I left mine to ferment for 2 hours since it is currently winter here.


4.  Punch down or deflate the dough to remove air.  Turn the dough out of the bowl onto a lightly floured surface.  Form the dough into a ball; cover with a damp towel and allow it to rest for 10-15 minutes.

1.  Cover and allow to ferment    2.  After fermentation    3.  Punching or degassing    4. Resting

5.  Roll the dough into a large rectangle (about 30 cm x 50 cm).  Spread the 30 g unsalted butter onto the dough.  Roll up the dough (as you would do for a Swiss roll) from the short side and seal all the four edges tightly.  


6.  Fold the resulted dough roll or log into half with one half on top of the other.  Cut through the middle of the folded log lengthwise leaving about 2cm at the end uncut.

I did many mistakes here.  Didn't roll the rectangle properly.   As a result the roll was short in length and the whole thing became too plumpy :-p

7.  Twist the dough as shown in the picture below.  It need not be tight.  Place the twisted bread dough in a greased loaf tin.  Spray with water.  Cover with a damp towel and allow to prove for 1 hour.  (I did not use a loaf tin but rather a cake tin which was not deep enough).


8.  Glaze with either beaten eggs or milk or honey.  

1. Twist and place in greased mould    2. Proofing     3. Glazing

9.  Bake for 30-40 minutes at 180°C depending on your oven.  Un-mould and cool immediately on a cooling rack once baked.

So cottonyyyy!  Actually I was having fun tearing the bread! LOL

The texture as well as the taste were amazing.  Thanks to Carol and Honey Bee Sweets for sharing recipes.  Keep the circle of sharing.

SOFT STUFFED BREAD

Playing with yeast is one of my favourite hobby.  So far I have tested so many recipes with both positive and negative results and I should say that I am still on a bread quest.  The recipe below is from artcakes's channel on You Tube with minor modifications.  It is a Soft Burger Bun recipe which I turned into a Soft Stuffed Bread.  I guarantee you that the recipe is fail-proof.  I will definitely make this bread again.

Ingredients

Dry ingredients:

550 g all purpose flour (sifted)

1 tablespoon salt 

1 tablespoon sugar

15 g instant yeast

2 g bread improver (The original recipe did not call for bread improver)

Wet ingredients:

38 g vegetable oil

25 g honey (She has used honey and corn syrup.  I used only honey since I didn't have corn syrup on hand)

1 large egg

335 g warm water

Method

1.  Mix the flour, salt, sugar and bread improver in a bowl.  Dissolve the yeast in 5 tablespoons of the warm water.  Whisk the wet ingredients with the remaining warm water.

2.  Pour the dissolved yeast and the liquid in the dry ingredients.  Mix with an electric mixer using the dough hook attachment.  I mixed the dough for about 10 minutes at medium speed.  The result should be a rather sticky  dough.

3.  Scrape the dough onto a lightly floured surface.  Knead the dough lightly by giving it a few folds till it doesn't stick on  your working surface.  Believe me, she had reasons when she said 'KNEAD LIGHTLY'. If you press the dough too hard while kneading, you will find the dough more sticky and you will have a tendency to add more flour.  So, watch out your kneading.  Soft breads usually have higher moisture content.  Adding too much flour while kneading might affect the texture of the finished product. 

4.  Place the dough in a greased bowl, oil the surface of the dough and cover with cling film.  Allow the dough to rise until it doubles in volume (This is called fermentation). The fermentation process is necessary for the development of flavour, texture and volume.  Normally after fermentation a dough becomes less sticky.  I left the dough for 2 hours at room temperature (30°C).  The dough is ready when air bubbles have formed on the surface of the dough. An easy way to determine if the dough has risen sufficiently is to simply press a lightly floured finger on the dough.  If the dough springs back quickly, it is an indication that the dough has not risen sufficiently, but if the indentation remains, the dough has properly risen.

5.  Remove from bowl and place on a lightly floured surface.  Portion the dough into balls of 90-95 g.  Flatten the balls into thick disks or rounds.  Place your favourite filling in the middle of each round and bring the edges together.  Pinch to seal and try to shape them as round as possible.  Place them on a greased and lined baking tray (leave spaces in between them).  Cover with cling film and allow to prove for 45 minutes.

I made rounds, knots and swirls

6.  After proving, brush with water, sprinkle with sesame seeds then brush with a mixture of egg and sugar.  Bake at  190°C for 20 minutes turning the tray halfway.

7.  After baking, cover them immediately with a clean towel.  Covering the bread after baking helps to keep the bread soft.  Uncover after about 15 minutes.

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For the filling, I have used cooked minced meat.  I prepared the filling by cooking all the ingredients below over low heat until dry.  Then I sprinkled it with grated cheese.  You can definitely use another filling.

Please visit  artcakes's channel on You Tube for the original recipe.  Her buns look wonderful.  My family and my friends have really liked the soft stuffed bread.