Twisted Doughnuts | YumYums
There's something about a batch of freshly fried doughnuts that turns an ordinary morning into an occasion. These twisted doughnuts are soft and pillowy inside, golden and crisp on the outside, and finished with a simple vanilla glaze that sets to a delicate shine.
The twist isn't only for looks. All those extra grooves give the glaze somewhere to sit, so every bite carries that sweet, vanilla-scented edge rather than just the middle.
The dough itself is a soft, enriched one. Warm milk gets the yeast going, a little butter is kneaded in for tenderness, and time does the rest. It needs no special equipment and no fancy ingredients, so if you bake bread at home you already have everything you need. The only thing it really asks of you is patience while it rests and rises, and that patience is exactly what makes them light rather than heavy.
I like to make these on a slow weekend morning, frying them in small batches while everyone hovers nearby. They are at their absolute best within an hour or two of being glazed, so this is a recipe to make and eat. Serve them with tea or coffee, or warm one through for dessert with a scoop of ice cream on top.
Preparation Time 30 minutes (plus about 1 hour 50 minutes of resting and rising)
Cook Time 20 minutes
Serves 12 doughnuts
Ingredients
Dough
1 cup warm milk
2 tsp instant yeast
1 egg
2 tbsp caster sugar
3¼ cups plain flour -plus a little extra for dusting
1 tsp salt
3 tbsp butter -softened
For Deep Frying
3 cups oil
For the Vanilla Glaze
200 g icing sugar
2-3 tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
Pour the warm milk into a large mixing bowl and whisk in the yeast, egg and sugar. Leave it to sit for 10 minutes, until it looks slightly foamy on top, then add the flour and salt.
Mix and knead for about 10 minutes, until everything comes together into a soft, smooth dough.
Cover the bowl and leave the dough to rest for 20 minutes.
Uncover the bowl and knead the softened butter into the dough. Knead well until the butter is fully absorbed and the dough feels soft and supple again, then transfer it to a lightly greased bowl.
Cover and leave it to rise for about 1 hour, until it has doubled in size.
Tip the dough onto a lightly floured surface and divide it into 12 pieces. Roll each piece into a long log, twist it, then fold and seal the ends so it holds its shape. Place them on a parchment-lined tray, cover and leave for a final 20 minutes.
Heat the oil to about 175°C and deep fry in small batches for roughly 5 minutes, turning so they colour evenly, until deep golden all over. Lift them out and rest for 5 minutes on kitchen paper.
For the glaze, whisk the icing sugar with 2 tbsp of the milk and the vanilla until smooth, adding the last tablespoon only if it needs loosening. Dip the warm doughnuts into the glaze, let the excess drip off, and leave them on a rack to set.
A little tip
Keep the oil steady at around 175°C rather than very hot, and fry in small batches. If the oil is too hot the outside darkens before the middle cooks through, and frying in batches stops the temperature from dropping. Glaze the doughnuts while they are still warm, as the glaze clings better and sets to a thin, glossy shell.
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