Daring Bakers: October 2010, Donuts!

I'm a little delayed on this post.  In fact, I am over a month behind on this post and I have a bunch of others.  I'll do it one at a time.

Donuts were the daring cooks challenge for October.  I put it off since I had no one to make them for until the Weirstrass potluck (October 31).  And I wasn't looking forward to it.  And this was probably my least favorite thing I've done in the kitchen.  It was extremely hard to clean up, and I only had one size of round cookie cutters so the were more like beignets, pumpkin shaped beignets.  But I made the sour cream, er buttermilk, donuts because that is the only kind of donut I find at all decent.

The October 2010 Daring Bakers challenge was hosted by Lori of Butter Me Up. Lori chose to challenge DBers to make doughnuts. She used several sources for her recipes including Alton Brown, Nancy Silverton, Kate Neumann and Epicurious. 

Old-Fashioned Buttermilk Cake Doughnuts: 

Preparation time: 

Hands on prep time - 25 minutes 

Cooking time - 12 minutes 

Yield: About 15 doughnuts & 15 doughnut holes, depending on size 

Ingredients 

Sour Cream ••• cup / 60 ml / 60 gm / 2 oz 

All Purpose Flour 3 ••• cup / 780 ml / 455 gm / 16 oz + extra for dusting surface 

White Granulated Sugar ••• cup / 180 ml / 170 gm / 6 oz 

Baking Soda ••• teaspoon / 2.5 ml / 3 gm / .1 oz 

Baking Powder 1 teaspoon / 5 ml / 6 gm / .2 oz 

Kosher (Flaked) Salt 1 teaspoon / 5 ml / 6 gm / .2 oz (If using table salt, only use ••• teaspoon) 

Nutmeg, grated 1.5 teaspoon / 7.5 ml / 9 gm / .3 oz 

Active Dry Yeast 1 1/8 teaspoon / 5.6 ml / 3.5 gm / .125 oz 

Buttermilk ••• cup + 2 Tablespoon / 210 ml / 225 gm / 7 ••• oz 

Egg, Large 1 

Egg Yolk, Large 2 

Pure Vanilla Extract 1 Tablespoon / 15 ml 

Powdered (Icing) Sugar ••• cup / 120 ml / 65 gm / 2.3 oz (Used for decorating and is optional) 

Directions: 

1. In a small stainless-steel bowl set over a pot of gently simmering water, heat the sour cream until just warm. 

2. Heat the oil to 375°F/190°C. 

3. Over a large mixing bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt, nutmeg; make a large well in the center. Place the yeast in the well; pour the sour cream over it. Allow it to soften (if using packed fresh yeast), about 1 minute. 

4. Pour the buttermilk, whole egg, egg yolks, and vanilla extract into the well. Using one hand, gradually draw in the dry ingredients. The mixture should be fairly smooth before you draw in more flour. Mix until it is completely incorporated. The dough will be very sticky. Wash and dry your hands and dust them with flour. 

5. Sift an even layer of flour onto a work surface. Don’t be afraid to use a lot of flour. You don’t want the doughnuts sticking to your counter. Scrape dough out of bowl onto the surface; sift another layer of flour over dough. Working quickly, pat dough into an even 1/2-inch (12.5 mm) thickness. Dip cutter in flour and, cutting as closely together as possible, cut out the doughnuts and holes. Place holes and doughnuts on a floured surface. Working quickly, gather scraps of dough together, pat into 1/2-inch (12.5 mm) thickness, and cut out remaining doughnuts and holes. 

6. Drop three to four doughnuts at a time into the hot oil. Once they turn golden brown, turn them and cook the other side. Cooking times may vary, but with my oil at 375 °F/190°C, I found they only took about 20 to 30 seconds per side. 

7. Once cooked, place on a baking sheet covered with paper towels to drain.