August 02, 2013

Maple Bacon Doughnuts


You are either going to love me or hate me for this post. (Please love me). To be honest, I kind of hate myself in a loving way for it. Sometimes a fluffy, toothy, warm doughnut covered with a maple glaze and crumbled bacon is the only thing you need to get you back on the right track. You might not need to be getting back on track with something and that's super for you. I'm really happy your life is running smoothly. (Don't get me wrong here, I'm not being sarcastic; what I'm trying to say is no matter what situation you find yourself in your life, we all need to put time aside to let ourselves indulge in fried deliciousness!!! I think we need to be put more time aside for fried deliciousness, just saying.)


Don't look at this recipe, see all the steps in the pictures below and think I can't make doughnuts. OH YES YOU CAN AND YOU WILL!! I'm gonna break it down for you real quick here for a second. Essentially all you are doing is putting a few ingredients into a mixer to make a dough which you set aside to rise, roll and shape and then rise again. You don't even make the dough with your hands, the mixer does that for you, unless of course you don't have a mixer... in which case keep reading you will still be accommodated..........I got you covered!



Oh, maple+bacon+doughnut=totally dreamy!

Enjoy,

Holly,x 


Doughnut ingredients..no surprise ingredients-you can get them all in your supermarket: plain flour, salt, caster sugar, eggs, butter, milk and dry active yeast (it comes in packets on the baking shelf). 


Combine the flour and salt in the bowl of a stand up mixer fitted with a dough hook. 


Mix the yeast and sugar with the warm milk and set aside and allow the yeast to do it's thing. Make sure the milk is warm and not hot, otherwise you'll 'kill' the yeast.


In the meantime, melt the butter and whisk the the two eggs together. 


After five minutes, the yeast, milk and sugar will have doubled in size and the mixture will be frothy. 


With the mixer on low, pour in the yeast mixture, the eggs, the melted butter and 3/4 of the water.  Turn up the speed and work the dough for 5-7 minutes until it is smooth and elastic. If needed, add the remaining water. 


Place the dough in a large, lightly floured bowl. Make sure the bowl is big enough to allow the dough to rise and double in size.


Cover with a damp tea towel and place in a warm, draft free spot for 1 hour. 


For the glaze you will need three perfect ingredients: icing sugar, bacon and maple syrup.


Cook the bacon by laying the strips on a baking tray under a hot grill until crispy. Once cooked and cool enough to handle - crumble it.

Stir together the icing sugar and maple syrup. Cover and set aside until ready to use.


After an hour, the dough will have risen beautifully and will look like this. How beautiful??


Now punch it... 


...then turn it out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead a few times. 


Roll the dough out to 1/2 an inch on thickness and cut out 15 rounds with a 3 inch pastry cutter and punch out the doughnut holes with a 3/4-1 inch pastry cutter.  


Place the rounds and doughnut holes onto lightly floured baking sheets, nicely spaced apart, cover with a damp tea towel and place in warm, draft free spot for 40 minutes. 


After 40 minutes, the doughnuts and doughnut holes will have doubled in size. 


You are ready to fry now. Heat 2 inches, approx 1 litre, of vegetable oil in a pan to 175-180C. 

Cover a baking tray with layers of kitchen paper, so that you can drain the doughnuts once cooked.


 Fry the doughnuts in batches, for 30-45 seconds before...


...flipping over and frying for another 30 seconds. 


The doughnuts will darken slightly, so don't cook them to too dark a colour. Using a slotted spoon, remove them from the hot oil and drain on the kitchen paper. 


Don't forget the doughnut holes!


Fry 'em, lift them out of the hot and plonk them straight into a paper bag that has a healthy amount of icing sugar in the bottom. Close the bag and shake. Don't drain them, the hot oil around them helps the icing sugar stick.


Open the bag to a cloud of sweet smelling steam. 


Take a bite.....Hello, heaven??


A mouthwatering, pretty assembly line!


Glaze the doughnuts by dunking them into the maple glaze and sprinkle with crumbled bacon. Sprinkle the bacon on asap...so that the glaze is still wet and the bacon sticks. We don't want no bacon falling off these doughnuts. Oh Lord, don't even think of such a thing!


Recipe, makes 15 doughnuts plus doughnut holes.

Doughnuts
500g Plain Flour
5g Salt
2x7g Sachets of Dry Active Yeast
150ml Warm Milk
50g Caster Sugar
40g Unsalted Butter
100ml Water
2 Eggs
I Litre Vegetable Oil, for frying

Combine the salt and flour in the bowl of a stand up mixer* fitted with a dough hook.
Combine the warm milk, yeast and sugar and set aside for 5 minutes to allow it become frothy.
Whisk together the two eggs and melt the butter. 
After 5 minutes with the mixer on low, pour in the frothed yeast, the eggs, melted butter and half of the water.
Whack up the speed, adding a little more water if needed, and work the dough for 5-7 minutes. 
You should be left with a smooth , elastic dough.  
Place the dough in a large lightly floured bowl and cover with a damp tea towel. 
Set aside to a warm, draft free place place and allow it to rise for 1 hour until it doubles in size.
Then punch the dough and turn it out onto a lightly floured work surface. 
Knead the dough a few times and roll out until it is 1/2 an inch in thickness. 
Cut out 15 rounds with a 3 inch pastry cutter and cut out the centre of each round with a  3/4-1 inch pastry cutter. 
Place on a lightly floured baking sheets, cover with a damp tea towel, set aside to a warm, draft free place  and allow it to rise for 40 minutes until it doubles in size.
Re-roll the dough once, VERY LIGHTLY and cut some more doughnuts. You're not supposed to re-roll the dough....but I don't like waste and I got an extra 4 doughnuts!
Pour 2 inches of vegetable oil into a pot.
Heat the oil to 175-180C.
Carefully lower the doughnuts, in batches of 3-4, into the hot oil and fry for 30-45 seconds on each side until puffed and golden. 
Remove from the hot oil with a slotted spoon and drain on lots of kitchen paper.
Allow the oil to heat to 175-180C before frying the next batch.
Fry all the doughnut holes too, do not drain them on kitchen paper.
Place them in a brown paper bag or bowl with lots of icing sugar and shake. 
To glaze the doughnuts: dip the doughnuts into the maple glaze and immediately sprinkle with the crumbled bacon, so that it sticks. 
Allow to set for 20 minutes before eating...(if you can!)

Glaze
200ml Good Quality Maple Syrup
200g Icing Sugar, plus more for doughnut holes
5 Strips Unsmoked Streaky Bacon

Lay the strips of bacon out on a baking sheets, place under a hot grill and cook until crispy, turning once.
Remove from the grill and cool slightly before crumbling.
Mix together the icing sugar and maple syrup until you have a thick fluid consistency...like honey.
Cover and set aside until needed. 

*If you don't have a mixer this is where you follow the recipe except instead of using a mixer, use you hand and work the dough in the bowl until it comes together. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead for 10-12 minutes until it is soft, smooth and elastic. NO NOT add too much flour, the dough will come together as it needs to be kneaded for 10-12 minutes. 

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