Glazed Doughnuts
Did you know that doughnuts can be very versatile. At their core, doughnuts come in two main styles: yeast-raised and cake-style. Yeast-raised doughnuts are light and airy, often made with enriched doughs like brioche, while cake doughnuts are denser and rely on chemical raising agents. They can be rolled in cinnamon sugar, glazed until glossy, dipped in chocolate, or filled with jam, custard, or cream. From classic rings to filled bombs and modern gourmet creations.
There’s also a fun bit of history. One popular story credits a 19th-century sailor, Hanson Gregory, who punched a hole in his doughnut to fix the undercooked centre. Whether legend or fact, the idea stuck, literally and culturally.
And of course, the hole didn’t go to waste. That’s how doughnut holes (the snack) were born.
With this recipe, we will make a sugar brioche dough. Famously perfect for making a cinnamon doughnut or better yet, Beignets à la cannelle. As it is a yeast-raised dough, it will take some time however but it is pillow-like soft. As the name suggest, it can be sprinkled with cinnamon sugar or in this case, we will be making glazed icing to decorate.
Glazed Doughnuts
Sugar Brioche
Preparation Time: 3 Hours
Yield: 1 kg
Ingredients
500g Plain all-purpose flour
100g Castor Sugar
2 tsp Table Salt
2 Eggs
15g Dried Yeast
175ml Cold Full cream milk
2 tsp Vanilla Essence
Finely grated Lemon Zest
75g Unsalted Butter, room temperature, cubed
Method
Mixing
1. Using an electric beater with a dough hook, combine the flour, sugar, salt, eggs and yeast on low speed until mixed well.
2. Add the milk, vanilla, lemon zest and combine.
3. Increase the speed to medium and mix for 15 minutes scraping the dough from the sides from time to time. The mixture should start to come away from the side and form one ball of dough.
4. Reduce the speed to low, add the cubes of butter a bit at a time, ensuring after each addition that the dough is thoroughly mixed before adding the next.
5. If all the butter is added, increase the speed to medium and continue to mix for 10 minutes until glossy and smooth.
Windowpane test
1. To check if the dough was kneaded correctly, hold a small piece of dough in your hands and stretch the dough until it is almost thin enough to see through.
First Prove
1. Remove the dough from the hook and mixer, then sprinkle flour into a bowl. Add the dough.
2. Cover with plastic and set aside in a warm place to prove for 2 hours or until double in size.
3. When the dough has risen, knock it down with your fist, then remove as much gas as you can by folding the dough over a few times.
4. Place the dough in another bowl, sprinkle with flour, then cover and refrigerate overnight.
Dividing the dough
1. Remove the dough from the fridge and place onto a floured surface.
2. Shape it into an even log. Use a plastic scraper and cut through the dough to form equal sized wheels.
3. Remove the flour from the surface, take each piece and flatten slightly.
4. Use the cupped part of your palm and bring the outside pieces of the dough into the middle, and pinch the center to seal. Repeat 5 times. This ensures the air bubbles that are trapped in the middle escapes.
Glazed doughnuts
Preparation time: 2 Hours 20 minutes
Baking time: 2 minutes
Serves: 10 -12 portions
Ingredients
1kg Sugar Brioche dough
Canola or sunflower oil for deep-frying
Method
1. Following the balling and diving steps in the sugar brioche recipe, divide the cold dough into small 70g pieces then roll them into tight balls.
2. Press gently with the palm of your hand. Use a doughnut cutter or round cutter to cut out the center of the doughnut disk.
2. Place the doughnuts onto prepared baking sheets lined with baking paper, spacing them about 10cm apart. Cover with a dry cloth and proof for 2 hours or until double in size.
3. Heat the oil in a medium saucepan to 170°C. Working in batches, use the palm of your hand to gently flatten each dough ball before gently sliding it into the hot oil.
4. Be careful not to drop the balls all at once or the oil temperature will drop and doughnuts will absorb too much liquid.
5. Fry on one side for 30 seconds then flip around a cook on the other side for 1 minute or until golden.
6. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towel.
7. They can be filled with Pastry cream, ganache or hazelnut chocolate spread.
8. If not glazed, they can be covered with cinnamon sugar.
Sticky Glaze
243g Icing Sugar
30ml Milk
Food colouring paste
Method:
1. In a bowl, add the sifted icing sugar and milk.
2. Mix well with a whisk until soft and smooth.
3. Add food colouring to the glaze and mix well.
4. Add the glaze to a shallow bowl, and dip the top of each doughnut slightly covered. Place on a dripping tray or cooling rack to dry. Repeat a second time or third until the doughnut is fully covered.
