An experiment in donuts. . .

Donut or Doughnut?  Which one do you choose?  I cannot decide, and I keep switching back and forth.  After drooling over this waffleizer post, I decided that I HAD to have these doughnuts.


Note: One batch, really is enough.  At the same time, if you have problems with scale (read: me), then you make two batches.  My eyes are still watering from the oil in the air.  


Ingredients:
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate
3 tablespoons butter
3 cups (12.75 ounces) flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa
2 eggs
2 egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup sour cream
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 cup strong coffee, cooled--as I do not drink coffee, so don't have it on hand, we mixed water with cocoa and added it in.
Canola oil for frying

Directions:
1. In a glass bowl or measuring cup, combine the bittersweet chocolate and butter. Microwave, stirring every 30 seconds or so, until the chocolate and butter have melted and are combined. Set aside.  
2. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cocoa. Set aside.


Note: this made the house smell like a chocolate lover's dream.  


3. In the bowl of a stand mixer, or in a large bowl using a hand mixer, beat together the eggs, egg yolks and sugar until lightened in color, 2 to 3 minutes. Beat in the sour cream, vanilla and melted chocolate.
4. Gently beat half of the flour mixture, a spoonful at a time, into the egg mixture, then beat in the coffee. Continue to beat in the rest of the flour mixture, a spoonful at a time, until all of the ingredients are combined and a sticky dough is formed.  


Note: if you are using a stand mixer, you should have used the bread hook, if you are using a hand mixer, about halfway through the flour, you will have switched to a spoon--and then your hands (picture coming shortly). It will be sticky.  

5. On a well-floured surface, roll the dough into a round just over one-half inch in thickness. Using a doughnut cutter, or 2 biscuit cutters (a larger one measuring 3 to 3 1/2 inches in diameter, and a smaller one measuring about 1 inch in diameter), cut the dough into doughnuts, spacing the doughnuts as close as possible. Collect the scraps and roll out to form another batch of doughnuts (note that this batch may be a little tougher than the first as the dough has been worked).


Note: Use a lot of flour on the surface you are rolling--in fact, roll on parchment or wax paper--it will make your life easier.  Also, with a double batch, we rolled out a few times, and it got easier. We also rolled it between wax paper, to make it less sticky, kind of.  Also, we tried a few different sizes.  The size of a goblet with middle of the vanilla cap was the best size, though the donut holes were delicious!


6. Fill a deep fryer with oil, or fill a large pot to a depth of at least 3 inches, and heat to a temperature of 350 degrees.
7. Gently place the doughnuts in the fryer, being careful not to crowd. Fry the doughnuts on each side until puffed and golden, about 4 minutes, flipping every 30 seconds or so.


Note: this is an experimental process.  Because the dough is dark, you have to make sure the oil isn't too hot, and that the donut is cooked all the way through (though we didn't mind some of the doughy in the middle ones--it is like brownie batter, so not a lot of bad there). It puffs on the side in the oil, so make sure you flip them well. These will not hold onto the oil, so you really just need paper towels to drain onto.  

8. Drain the doughnuts on a rack and cool slightly, then frost and decorate as desired.


Note: See the next post for the glaze.  LOVE the glaze. . . 


My thoughts:
I'd definitely make these again.  They are extremely dense, so you cannot eat a lot of them.  Well, you can, but, you know. . .  Also, the recipe says they take an hour, but they take more than an hour if you double the recipe.  I recently watched an episode of Top Chef Masters where they made a honey bacon donut, so that may be next in the donut experiment.  


I'm still trying to get the smell of the fair out of my house, so I am not loving that, but when you bite into one you've just glazed, and it all melts together in a smooth lusciousness of chocolate, you kind of don't mind.   I cannot wait to have them for breakfast tomorrow.