Donuts!!!

I have been waiting for this post since this blog was in the "maybe one day I'll start a blog" stages. Every year we have a tradition to get together with some of my nieces and we have a huge donut making fest. Its tons of fun and of course we have mounds and mounds of donuts to eat, glaze, dip, sprinkle and drizzle. This year, I decided to have an extra round of donut making, early, in order to be able to take pictures that were blog worthy. I literally felt like I was prepping models for the runway- thats how monumental this was for me! Ok, maybe it sounds a little weird, but any food blogger/photographer knows what sprinkles plus macro photography means! Anyways, 150  donuts later, here's what I have to show for it.....

Getting started....no donut cutters in my house-just a glass and a bottle cap...

Heating up the oil...a thermometer is essential for perfect donuts.

Don't donuts frying look cozy?

Donut holes waiting for their "accessories" (they're models, remember?)

Black and white- the in colors this season....

A look behind the scenes..Hey, no one said donut making was clean business!

Custard...

Sprinkles!

A little of everything...

Did I mention sprinkles+macro=addicting?

Ok, enough pictures, here's the recipe!

Donuts

• 2 (.25 ounce) envelopes active dry yeast (each packet is 2 1/4 tsp, so for this recipe you would need 4 1/2 teaspoons of yeast)
• 1/4 cup warm water (105 to 115 degrees)
• 1 1/2 cups lukewarm milk
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 1/3 cup shortening
• 4 1/2 - 5 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 quart vegetable oil for frying

Sprinkle the yeast over the warm water plus 1 tablespoon sugar, and let stand for 5 minutes, or until foamy.
In a large bowl, mix together the yeast mixture, milk, sugar, salt, eggs, shortening, and 2 cups of the flour. Mix for a few minutes at low speed, or stirring with a wooden spoon. Beat in remaining flour 1/2 cup at a time, until the dough no longer sticks to the bowl. Knead for about 5 minutes, or until smooth and elastic. The dough will still be slightly sticky. Place the dough into a greased bowl, and cover. Set in a warm place to rise until double. ( A quick rising trick is to preheat the oven to 300 and then turn it off about 10 minutes before you put the dough in. Then you put the bowl of dough in the warm oven, and voila- warm rising spot! ) Dough is ready if you touch it, and the indention remains.
Turn the dough out onto a floured surface, and gently roll out to 1/2 inch thickness. Cut with a floured doughnut cutter. Let doughnuts sit out to rise again until double. Cover loosely with a cloth. Heat oil in a deep-fryer or an 8 quart pot to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Slide doughnuts into the hot oil using a wide spatula. Turn doughnuts over as they rise to the surface. Fry doughnuts on each side until golden brown. It's really best to use a candy thermometer for the temperature of the oil, but if you don't have one, here's a good trick. It should take about 2 minutes for each side of the donut to get a nice golden color. If it takes quicker than 2 minutes, your oil is too hot. If it takes longer than 2 minutes, the oil is not hot enough. 

Dip in basic chocolate glaze. For a plain white glaze, mix together 2 cups confectioners sugar, 1 tablespoon oil, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla, and about 2-3 tablespoons hot water, or enough hot water to make the glaze the consistency of Elmer's glue. If it gets too thin, add more powder sugar, if it gets too thick as you dip, add more hot water. For a quick topping, toss hot donuts in plain powder sugar, or cinnamon and sugar.  For the daring amongst you, here is a great custard recipe. ( I replaced the whole milk with 1 1/2 cups soy milk+ 1/2 cup Rich's whip) For a more authentic custard taste, I would also add 1/2 teaspoon lemon extract next time. 

Enjoy! And as always, you can leave comments with any questions or comments and I will do my best to reply.