Gina was every little girl’s dream aunt. Fun, girly and pretty, she had an incredible capacity to accept children as they were, even if they were utter spawns of the devil as I was. She was that grown-up – the one that pulls weird faces to make us laugh, plays hide and seek, tickles our tummies or the kind to soothe teary faces after a parental ticking off. My mother’s younger sister’s arrival meant that my mischief-bent mind and hands were safely occupied, while my perpetually harassed, time poor mother got on with the chores. I got my fair shares of smacks on the backside from the elders of the family, unquestionably deserved, but Gina Aunty could get me to do anything, even being good.
She, being a clever woman, had ammunition for getting us in order. They came in a white cardboard box. Rings of sugar coated doughnuts, available only in Dubai. After peeling our arms off her neck and smoothing out her clothes, she handed us the box and man, weren’t those doughnuts just awesome! Every time I see doughnuts, I remember her and her love for us.
Baking books over the last few years seem to feature doughnuts consistently. I haven’t yet eaten a doughnut that rivalled the taste and pleasure of those of childhood bribery but thought that homemade may perhaps get me closer. So, here’s the treat for you. I’ve tested out four recipes, from trustworthy chefs, bakers and food writers based in the UK. This is not a conscious choice of exclusion. I worked with the books I had. I’ll give my observation and you can draw your conclusions. Best get started…
Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall is an established, pro-nature, pro-season, pro-organic food writer. I enjoy his writing, watched his programmes and admire his enthusiasm. He brought out a series of River Cottage books in collaboration with his team, based on subject, of which Bread is one. His recipe calls for half strong white flour and half all purpose flour. The dough came together easily, but didn’t rise as much as the others. Rolling it into balls was easy as the proved dough was less stickier than the others to work with. The second prove wasn’t massive. Now here is where it all went pear shaped. In the cooking, the heat he specifies – 180degC- is far too hot. The outside crisped up fast but the inside was raw. Also, even at that temperature, the dough absorbed far too much oil, making it the greasiest doughnut out of the bunch. The crumb too was quite close set, dense, undesirable somehow in the case of a doughnut. Am afraid I won’t be giving this another go and didn’t take pictures.
Brilliant Bread – James Morton
Winner of the Great British Bake Off, James Morton has since published a book dedicated to bread. His recipe calls for strong flour, with less eggs and butter than the other recipes. This dough was by far the stickiest. Morton’s technique for wet doughs is similar to Richard Bertinet’s, slap and fold technique. They rose wonderfully smooth though quite delicate to transfer to the pot. His dough balls were cooked at a lower temperature of 160deg and for longer. The result is a seriously deep golden crust with the tell tale pale band across it’s girth. In the eating – this is the most breadlike of all the recipes. There is a bread like chew in the bite, tender but firm. I found myself wishing for a bit more sweetness in the bread itself. Also, his recipe held out in the long term, ie, the crust and doughnut didn’t soften but stayed that way for the rest of the day which was rather impressive. For all that it’s a deep fried treat, there’s a sense of restraint here somehow, a sense of thriftiness in the bread, pared down to its bare basics. If you like a straightforward, unfussy, bread like doughnut that eats as you find it, this is the recipe for you.
Dough – Richard Bertinet
This French baker has an ceaseless love of baking, nurtured in his father’s Bourgoiun bakery. I watched him make doughnuts on Rachel Allen’s series Bake. His fabulous technique, demonstrated in this video, was totally new to me. He endeared himself when he made the collected and reserved Rachel Allen guffaw at his comparison of perfectly rolled bread dough balls to silicone breast implants. It’s a great way to guesstimate the feeling of a properly worked dough! Here, he used a dough which was a combination of a brioche (with eggs and sugar) and white bread, using milk as the liquid component. His all strong-flour dough recipe is quite wet, intimidatingly so, but using his particular technique of lifting, slapping and folding over the dough, you can feel it change and come together as a cohesive whole. His hands on, detailed orientated recipe takes the prize for being the most time consuming and labour intensive, but I found the whole experience incredibly pleasurable and wouldn’t scoff at doing it again. The dough rose beautifully, evenly and took the shortest time to cook. I found this one prone to browning a lot quicker, so I had to adjust the temperature to find the right pace. I loved the rich flavour and tender texture here. Soft, but with a chew, just like a proper doughnut should be. With a squeeze of jam, these were heavenly, a perfect all-round result. Definitely a do-again recipe, when time and mood propel me.
Bread, Cake, Doughnut, Pudding: Sweet and Savoury Recipes from Britain’s Best Baker James Gellatly
This folks, this, was exquisite. The patisserie doughnut. James Gellatly was the pastry chef of the renowned St. John’s restaurant. His doughnuts are legendary. It’s based on that alone that I purchased the book and find myself surprised by it. His love of pastry lies deeply embedded in traditional baking, classic, well loved British bakes. I was expecting more, well, cheffiness. I was charmed by his book, but I am bowled over by his doughnuts, especially since he majestically overthrew all my assumptions of what constituted a proper doughnut.
The dough is similar to Bertinet’s, an enriched dough, but he uses water instead of milk along with lemon zest. The dough is made entirely by using a heavy duty food mixer. From the get go, this dough acts differently; when elasticity is mentioned in bread baking, this is the dough being referred to. It had a snapback quality to it which was eventually beaten into submission to become incredibly elastic, smooth and glossy, which stretched willingly resembling translucent satin sheets. It’s the work of 10 minutes. The worked dough, after the first long prove is then left in the fridge for a slow rise overnight where the lemon zest perfumes the dough deeply. A simple, on-the-counter-rise will not give the same result. The next day, the cold dough is simply rolled into balls- no fancy folding- and left to prove for 4 hours. By far the least labour intensive dough of the lot. Check out this video to watch the man himself at work making doughnuts
I left the house at this point and returned 3.5 hours later to find the most dramatically risen, voluptuously smooth, light-as-air balls of dough I’ve ever produced. My excitement was growing. The dough was also easier to transfer to the hot oil, but you still had to be gentle. When it hit the hot oil, it puffed magnificently and on turning, puffed again, with the largest width of the pale band of all the recipes here. The eggs in the recipe lend a rich orange tinged golden brown colour to the doughnuts. It was the fastest to cook too, a mere two minutes a side at 180 deg and it was true to time. I was ecstatic!
When it came to rolling the drained doughnuts, I found them to be quite soft, the crust softer than the others too, and the doughnut crinkled in the pale band. Crushed could not begin to describe what I felt. My ideas on doughnut to date, was that it had some weight to it. These were like clouds they were so light! I assumed the crust should be firm and breadlike. This was softer and submitted willingly to the pressure of your fingers on it. On tearing one open however, the texture was so tender, so soft, so airy, perfumed with lemon, it could not fail to please. Know too, that once these doughnuts are filled, the crinkle expands as the doughnut accommodates the filling and the doughnuts get rounder; like the expansion zip on your suitcase! Get the recipe here.
For me, without question, Gellatly’s doughnuts were ahead by miles. I know that this may not fulfil everyone’s idea of a proper doughnut and it sure didn’t mine, but on the first soft mouthful, I couldn’t argue. I just couldn’t argue. At the very least, you will have to admit that it is a fine specimen of a doughnut, one of the finest you will come across. And then go back and try a doughnut you loved before. Game over.
lemongrovecakediaries
You had me at the title “I dream of donuts” 🙂 I am definitely going to try James Gellatly donuts they sound delicious.
Caroline @ The Patterned Plate
It’s definitely worth the effort, if you can call it work really. It’s easy to put together and definitely the most refined of all the recipes. Next on the list would be Bertinets, followed by James Morton’s. Who am I kidding, gimme em all!
bitebymichelle
There is now a big bite mark on my computer screen! Gorgeous photos!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Caroline @ The Patterned Plate
Haha! Glad you liked them 🙂
slvrhawk2014
Beautiful photos…I dream of doughnuts, too!
Chaya
Yes! A post dedicated to doughnuts! I’ve actually seen various adaptations of Gellatly’s recipe online, and you’ve just convinced me to try them!
Caroline @ The Patterned Plate
Definitely worth a go and the video also makes it easy to see whats happening.
Oh Happy Confetti
That looks incredibly yummy!!
Caroline @ The Patterned Plate
Oh it is! It totally is yummy!
Heidie
Yummy!
Loretta
How absolutely gorgeous, your photos are simply stunning too, it makes one want to reach out and grab :). I recently stumbled on your blog – I have one too 🙂
Sweet and Savoury Pursuits
These doughnuts look delicious and your pictures are gorgeous!
cookingwithpree
wow! They look absolutely gorgeous and yummy! I’m going to have to try these
Thalia @ butter and brioche
You definitely have done your doughnut research! I’m glad I read this post because doughnuts are the one thing I’m slightly too frightened to make. I am so inspired to try my hand at them now after reading this. Thanks!
Caroline @ The Patterned Plate
Considering your blog name, it’s obvious you’ve tackled a brioche. The only thing left to do is to fry instead of bake! That’s it 🙂 Give it a go and man, it’s worth it!
Kirsten
Doughnuts – especially jammy ones – are one of the gluten laden treats I miss the most, along with toast. Such a torment to read this most! I have made gluten-free baked doughnuts successfully but have yet to venture in the world of gluten-free fried doughnuts as I fear there is no way they can live up to their traditional counterparts. Maybe I should be brave . . . Anyway, kudos for your experimentation 🙂
Caroline @ The Patterned Plate
Hmm, yes I can see how GF doughnuts would be a problem. Do you use Xanthum gum in place of wheat gluten? Serious Eats (fabulous blog) has what looks like a cracking doughnut recipe, but, you will have to have a lot of packets of various starches and flours. Not to mention, its more a fried cake dough, than a yeasted one, but that only means you will get to eat the dang things quicker than the traditional route! And that’s no bad thing 😉
Kirsten
Ha! I am no stranger to millions of different flours and starches – my cupboard is full of them! I try to stay clear of xanthan gum where possible, but in the pursuit of doughnuts I could be persuaded to use it . . . I will go and have a look at Serious Eats, thanks for the recommendation 🙂
Kirsten
“read this post” that should have read, not ‘most’ . . .
sarithakumbakkara
Wow, awesome doughnuts! My next try!
Michelle
Now, I’ll be dreaming of doughnuts…
santhini
You write so well… In that dreamy, nostalgic kind of way, with a soft glow around the edge of your ideas.
Caroline @ The Patterned Plate
Oh, you’re very kind, glad you like my rambling!
thebusyspatula
Your house must have been doughnut heaven on the days you made these! That last recipe is calling my name. I will have to give it a try. 🙂
feasting in apartment 5b
these donuts look AMAZING! Beautiful photos!!
Lauren
You made making doughnuts look less intimidating! Thank you! I’m inspired to take on this challenge.
surleen7
delish!! I will def try these! xoxo
eatexerciseeat
I am definitely trying these i have wanted to try doughnuts for a long while but never been brave enough!!
greenerandcleaner
So lovely! https://greenerandcleaner.wordpress.com/
blogbychar
These remind me of the donuts Mom used to get us every time we went to the market.
Kim
Your pictures are breathtaking and the recipe just looks yummy as hell! I am fond of your blog. Those doughnuts look delicious, rich and airy.
marianneonearth
They look delicious!
My Tiny Kitchen Garden
I love doughnuts, this is perfect!
simplemorsel
My daughter has been dying to make doughnuts! I think we’ll make yours tomorrow! Thanks so much for sharing!
Laís @thediabeticviking
Oh, I have once had one of these bad experiences, too high heat, burning on the outside and not cooked on the inside doughnuts! So frustrating!… Didn’t even try again. Good to see it wasn’t just me, and will definitely try the one you recommended!
thank you!
Laís @thediabeticviking
(Just watched the video, and WOW, the man is amazing!)
CWilliams
I rarely try the food I see. I think for this one I will make an exception.