The Pres is off today, persevering on our front porch project.
It was the perfect day to get up and make jelly doughnuts.
I have no idea where I got this recipe 20 years ago. Now that I remember how delicious they are I'll make them more often. But it takes almost 3 hours and makes about 20 doughnuts at a time, so it's not something for every day unless you've got a bigger family than ours. You want to share these with some special people.
After their second rising, they get deep fried for about 2 minutes.
After draining them on paper towels they get rolled in sugar.
It is tempting to eat them just like this.
But don't skip the jelly step.
Even if, like me, you make a botch of the jelly part. It would be nice to have a pastry bag or an injector to get the jelly in without making a mess, but who minds a little bit of jelly on the sides?
Even Fidget, the notorious jelly-hater, liked the one I gave her with raspberry preserves in it. But her favorite one had honey inside instead.
Jelly Doughnuts
with apologies to whoever developed this delicious recipe. If I knew your name I'd put it here.
makes 14-18
1 pkg yeast
1 tsp sugar
1/4 cup warm water
1/3 cup room temperature butter
3 TB sugar
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup milk, scalded
2 eggs, beaten
2 1/2 cups flour (it took me 3 1/2 cups so don't be alarmed if it takes you that much too)
jelly- I used Polaner All Fruit Raspberry seedless, Market Pantry Blackberry Seedless jam and Smucker's Orchard's Finest Northewest Triple Berry Preserves
sugar
frying oil
In a large bowl combine yeast, 1 tsp sugar and water. Let stand until foamy, 5-10 minutes. In a small bowl combine butter, 3 TB sugar, salt and milk; cool to room temperature. Stir milk mix into yeast mix. Add eggs and 1 3/4 cup flour; beat vigorously. Stir in enough remaining flour to make a stiff dough. Turn dough out and knead 8-10 minutes. Clean and grease bowl, place dough in bowl, and turn to grease all sides. Cover and let rise til double, about an hour. Place parchment paper on cookie sheets. Punch dough down, roll out to 1/2" thick. Cut dough with a floured 2 1/2" biscuit cutter. Place dough circles on the baking sheets. Cover and let rise til double, less than an hour this time. Fry risen circles of dough at 350 in a deep fryer approximately 2 minutes or until brown. Fry 5 at a time. Once drained onto paper towels, roll doughnuts in sugar. Then cut a deep slice in the doughnuts and fill with 2 tsp jelly. Enjoy!
For more inspiration visit the fabulous showcase of yeast breads and sweet goodies at Yeast Spotting's blog, www.wildyeastblog.com
