RASPBERRY JAM DOUGHNUT RECIPE

There is nothing better (in my opinion) than a freshly made, heavily sugared doughnut, filled to the brim with raspberry jam. They are not difficult to make but they do take a little time… but who doesn’t have some free time at the moment?! This Raspberry Jam Doughnut Recipe results in deliciously soft doughnuts that are super tough to resist.

TIP – this works really well with homemade jam. If you want to have a go, then take equal parts raspberries (fresh or frozen) to jam sugar (sold in most supermarkets). Bring to the boil and cook for 5 minutes, stirring continuously. Remove from the heat and place into a heatproof container or jar. I tend to sieve some of the raspberry seeds out, but you don’t have to.

You can also add any filling you like. As you can see below, I have added lemon curd and nutella in place of the jam, but it would work well with any kind of jam or curd. I even made them with coffee jam once.

INGREDIENTS

• 480g strong bread flour

• 14g quick action yeast

• 1 tsp salt

• 40g butter

• 30g caster sugar

• 220ml milk

• 2 eggs

• 1litre vegetable oil

• raspberry jam

• extra caster sugar

METHOD

In a measuring jug, measure out the milk and then heat up gently (either in a microwave or on a hob in a saucepan) until warm. Once the milk is warm (not boiling), add in the butter and stir so that it melts into the warm milk. Add into the warm milk the yeast and stir well so it dissolves into the milk. In a large mixing bowl (or stand mixer bowl), add together the flour, salt and sugar and stir to combine.

Add together the flour mixture, milk mixture and the eggs and beat together to form a soft, slightly sticky dough. Knead the dough so it becomes very smooth (3-4 minutes in a stand mixer or 5-6 minutes on a floured surface by hand). Oil the sides of a bowl and place the dough inside. Cover with cling film and leave somewhere warm to double in size for about 1 hour. Once risen, lightly oil both your kitchen work surface and your hands and take out the dough (the oil on your hands will stop the sticky dough from sticking to you). Line two baking sheets with greaseproof paper. Then cut out 12 squares of greaseproof paper and place onto the lined baking sheets (about 10cm x 10cm). Oil these lightly. These paper squares are for the doughnuts to rest on and make picking them up later to pop into the oil a lot easier. By oiling the paper the dough balls will slip easily into the hot oil and you won’t lose any of the rise in this process.

Cut the dough into 12 pieces and shape each into a ball. Place each ball onto it’s own little square of oiled paper on the baking sheets. Cover loosely with cling film and leave to prove again for 45 minutes. As you are getting close to the end of the 45 minutes, pour the oil into a large saucepan and leave to heat up. The oil needs to reach between 160 and 180 degrees C and I recommend using a thermometer to track this temperature. Whilst you are waiting, cover a wire rack with a couple of layers of kitchen towel. Once the oil is hot enough, gently pick up the doughnuts by the paper and drop them into the oil (careful the oil doesn’t splash you – it is hot!). You may need to cook your doughnuts in batches, it depends on how large your saucepan is. You want just enough to cover the surface with space to bob about (they will float). The doughnuts will need around 2 minutes on each side, flip them over to check that they are nicely browned on both sides. Once browned, remove from the oil with a spatula and leave to cool on the paper towels (this helps to soak up some of the excess oil). Once all of the doughnuts have been cooked, turn off the oil and leave it to cool down somewhere safe. NB. Hot oil heating on the stove should never be left unattended. Add some caster sugar to a bowl and roll each cooked doughnut around in the sugar, coating each side generously. Place your jam into a piping bag. Make a small hole in the side of each doughnut with a knife and then pipe jam into the doughnut. I find it is best to then store them on their sides with the jam hole facing upwards to avoid the jam escaping. Doughnuts are best eaten the day they are made but if you do keep yours for a day, then 10-20 seconds in the microwave and a little extra sugar will revive them (the jam does get hot doing this so be careful!).