Doughnuts

Ingredients

• Milk - 1 cup.
• Fresh yeast - 50 gms / Active dry yeast - 2 1/2 tsp.
• Sugar - 4 Tbsp.
• Cake Flour( or All Purpose Flour) - 500 gms.
• Salt - 1/8 tsp.
• Eggs - 1 whole egg + 3 egg yolk.
• Vanilla essence - 1tsp.
• Butter - 4 Tbsp, melted.
• Alcohol - 2 Tbsp (optional, I don't use).
• Oil - 4-6 cups for deep frying.

Instructions

1. Heat the milk to warm, pour in a bowl and add the yeast, 1 Tbsp of flour and 1 Tbsp of sugar. Mix and put in a warm place for about 15 minutes to let the yeast rise. And it becomes frothy properly.
2. Sift the remaining flour with salt and keep aside.
3. In a stand mixer bowl add the egg and egg yolks along with rest of the sugar. Whisk until the eggs become light in color and fluffy.(You can do this by hand as well, if you are not using the stand mixer).
4. Add vanilla essence and give a quick mix, now change mixer attachment from whisk to dough hook and add the sifted flour. Knead the flour for 10 minutes. (If kneading by hand, knead the dough for good 15-20 minutes). Remember the softer the dough, the tender the doughnut will be.
5. Gradually add the melted butter and knead till all the butter is well incorporated and the dough is no longer sticky.
6. Cover the stand mixer bowl with towel ( if kneading the dough by hand transfer the dough to a large clean bowl and cover with kitchen towel) and leave in a warm place to rise for about 1 hour. I like to keep it in my oven with oven light on.
7. Take half of the dough and place it on a lightly floured work surface. Sprinkle the dough lightly with flour and roll to a thickness of 1/2-inch using rolling pin. With the help of a glass or cookie cutters cut out the doughnut of desired sizes (with and without hole in the center). Repeat with the rest of the dough.
8. Place the cut out doughnut on a baking tray lined with parchment paper and cover with kitchen towel. Let the cutout doughnuts sit for few minutes to get a quick 2nd rise. About 15-20 minutes.
9. Heat the oil to medium heat in a deep frying pan. Make sure to use enough oil so that the doughnuts can float freely (about 2.5 – 3 inches). Test the temperature by frying a small piece of dough; it should bubble and float up immediately.
10. Fry 4-5 doughnuts at a time, do not overcrowd the pan. Cook on each side until golden brown, about 2-3 minutes per side. Then remove to drain on paper towels.
11. If you want to add jelly or custard as the filling in the doughnuts, fill them in the doughnuts after they are fried using a syringe or fill a pastry bag with the filling and using a plain tip filled the doughnuts.
12. Coat the doughnuts with choice of glaze or dust them with sugar, Enjoy.