Stokes Sauces: National Doughnut Week - going nuts about doughnuts

Wednesday 25 April 2018

National Doughnut Week - going nuts about doughnuts

National Doughnut Week 12 - 19 May

National Doughnut Week (12th - 19th May 2018) is a unique opportunity for bakers, cafes and companies to raise money for The Children's Trust by donating money for every doughnut they sell.

It's also a great excuse for us to practise making home-grown doughnuts so that we can do a little Children's Trust fundraising ourselves.

The Children's Trust offers both residential and community-based rehabilitation services for children and young people with a brain injury. You can find out more about the trust and make a donation here.

Going nuts about doughnuts

The basic jam doughnut

You'll need:

1 tbsp of dry yeast
4 tbsp of caster sugar
150 ml of warm milk
225 g of plain flour
A pinch of salt
50 g of soft butter
2 beaten eggs (free range)
Vegetable oil for wok frying
Stokes Extra Jam - Strawberry, Blackcurrant or Raspberry

http://www.stokessauces.co.uk/category/jams-and-marmalades

Here's how:

Mix the yeast with half a teaspoon of sugar and two tbsp of the warm milk. Place this in a warm place to rest for 15 minutes, or until it froths.

Sift the flour and salt into a large bowl. Stir in one tablespoon of sugar. Make a well in the flour and pour in the yeast mixture, milk, butter and eggs. Mix to make a dough and knead it well.

Cover the bowl with cling film and let it rest for 40 minutes, or until the dough doubles in size. Work the dough into 10 or 12 balls and rest them in a warm place until they double in size again.

Carefully (and in batches) lower the dough balls into hot oil (using a wok is recommended) for 3 or 4 minutes until they are golden brown. Dry and cool them on kitchen paper then coat them in the remaining sugar.

Use a knife to make a slit in the doughnut ball and spoon or squeeze the jam into each delicious ball of loveliness.

Doughnut 'holes' & dips

Unlike the great Polo mint question - what happens to the holes ... 'doughnut holes' are wonderful small fluffy sweet little balls of joy. And they're perfect for dipping.

You'll need:

1 tbsp of dry yeast
4 tbsp of caster sugar
150 ml of warm milk
225 g of plain flour
A pinch of salt
50 g of soft butter
2 beaten eggs (free range)
Vegetable oil for wok frying

Here's how:

Basically, follow the procedure as with the jam doughnuts but roll more (two to three times as many), smaller dough balls, halve the frying time and don't fill them with jam.

For the dips:

Blackcurrant dip - 3 tbsp of Stokes Extra Blackcurrant Jam, diluted slightly with 2 tsp of water and warmed gently to soften the dip.

Lemon dip - 2 tbsp of Stokes Lemon Curd mixed with 3 tbsp of double cream

Chocolate dip - melt 100 g of dark chocolate in a bowl over a pan of simmering water. Add and warm 100 ml of double cream and (optional but amazing) 2 tsp of Stokes Chilli Jam for additional zing.

Whisky dip - heat and combine 100 g of dark muscovado sugar with 100 ml of double cream, 50 g of butter and 1 tbsp of whisky (at least) and simmer until everything dissolves together.