Boston Cream Donut or Doughnut?

Doughnuts are the best. So are Donuts.

My niece is graduating from a prestigious institution in Boston in the next few weeks. On the day she left for school, we bought Boston Creams and wished her farewell. For graduation I said I would make them.

After trying three reputable recipes, I merged elements for best flavor, texture, and ease. The results are incredible.

I think I've also solved my fear of frying - all that wasted oil. There's a simple middle-ground that allows you to fry and not feel like you're throwing away $$$ on fry oil.

Makes: 18 doughnuts
Time: 3.5 hours

INGREDIENTS

• 425g (15 oz) AP FLOUR (Boom, got it out of the way immediately!)
• 7g (2 1/4tsp) YEAST (instant, rapid rise, etc)
• 1/2 tsp SALT
• 150g (5 1/3 oz) MILK at room temperature
• 2 large EGGS at room temperature
• 75g (2 2/3 oz) SUGAR plus more for rolling if you are making sugar instead of Boston Cream
• 85g (3oz) BUTTER softened
• 1 tsp VANILLA EXTRACT
• 1/3 tsp NUTMEG - freshly ground is best
• 2 inches of OIL for frying - vegetable is fine

PASTRY CREAM and CHOCOLATE GLAZE recipes at bottom.

1- Blend FLOUR, YEAST, NUTMEG and SALT in the bowl of your mixer. In a separate bowl mix together EGGS, MILK, SUGAR, and VANILLA until the the sugar has been incorporated into the liquid. With your dough hook attachment, drizzle liquid into dry on low. Stay on low until the dough comes together into a single mass - 2-3 minutes.

2- Increase mixer speed to one notch below medium and add BUTTER one tablespoon at a time, waiting until the previous chunk is gone before adding the next. Should take about 3 minutes.

3- Knead, still on medium low, for about 7 minutes. Dough should be smooth and pulled away from the sides of the bowl but still be sticking to the bottom.

4- Place your dough on a lightly floured workspace and knead just long enough to bring together into a ball. Place into a greased bowl, cover, and leave to rise for 2 hours. (If it's cold in your kitchen, turn on the oven light and park the dough in there.) The dough should at least double during that time.

5- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and dust lightly with flour. Roll out dough to a fat 1 cm or 1/2 inch. Cut out donuts with a 6 to 8 cm or 3 1/2 to 4 inch cutter, depending on how big you like your doughnuts. For Boston Creams, you don't want a hole in the middle. Place on dusted parchment paper 2cm apart. Gather and roll out extra dough and cut additional donuts, or shape into doughnut holes. Dust tops of cut out donuts with flour and cover with plastic wrap. Leave to rise 30-45 minutes.

6- Add oil to small dutch oven [ASIDE: I have an 18 cm across 1.5 quart dutch oven that I bought for about $35. It's high quality, holds heat like the big boys, and I find there are a million uses for it. Using it to fry donuts takes a little longer because you can only do two at a time, but that's PERFECT because of how you need to assembly line the filling and chocolate. I find that I use less than 3 cups of oil, which I can store in the fridge without taking up a ton of space.] Bring oil to 175C or 350F.

7- Drop one or two doughnuts into the oil (CAREFULLY) and cook for about a minute for the larger donuts and as little as 45 seconds if you cut smaller ones. Flip with tongs or a spider or whatever you have that can withstand oil temps. Fry for the same amount of time on the second side. [NOTE: If you decide to cut holes in the middle, even a larger doughnut will cook on one side in as little as 45 seconds.]

8- Place on paper towels to cool and dry. Put the next donuts in the fryer. When the next batch comes out, fill and dip in chocolate (or roll in sugar) the previous batch. They should be just cool enough to handle.

9- EAT!

PASTRY CREAM (Creme Patissiere)
INGREDIENTS

• 350g (1.5 cups) MILK
• 3 EGG YOLKS
• 50g (1/4 cup) SUGAR
• 4 TBSP CORNSTARCH
• 1 TBSP BUTTER
• 2 TSP VANILLA EXTRACT

1- Heat MILK to simmering in saucepan.

2- Whisk EGG YOLKS, SUGAR, CORNSTARCH together in separate bowl.

3- Add a few tablespoons of the simmering milk to the egg mixture while whisking until approximately one third of the milk has been added (aka, tempering). Add remaining milk in a slow stream while constantly whisking. Return egg mixture to the saucepan and continue whisking over medium low heat until the mixture thickens pulls away from the bottom and sides of the pan. [You want to get the mixture just to 100C or 212F for the cornstarch to thicken. Don't let it go beyond that, or the cornstarch might breakdown, or the whole thing might burn.]

4- Remove from heat and whisk in VANILLA and BUTTER.

5- Store in airtight container in the fridge for up to three days before making the doughnuts, or cool to room temp and use.

CHOCOLATE GLAZE
INGREDIENTS

• 125g (4oz) BITTERSWEET CHOCOLATE CHIPS
• 60g (2oz) MILK (cream would be best, but anything will do. If you are using non-fat, drop a slim pat of butter into the mix)

1- Microwave all ingredients for about 30 seconds and mix with a fork. You might need to heat it up again (10-15 seconds) if it cools too much before you are done with your dipping.