Bomboloni (Italian Doughnuts)

These are absolutely delicious. You will want to have more than one! I'm usually not a big doughnut fanatic. But I loved these. Sooo good! You can get the original recipe HERE from The Baking Fairy. They are a little more time consuming and you will want to make them early in the day and eat them the day you make them. The key is to not rush the rising process. The original calls for bread flour but I just used all-purpose for all of it. Bread flour has more gluten and makes a more chewy doughnut. I liked how they turned out without it. The recipe was also originally done in metric so there is a conversion with it. 

Ingredients

250g (2 cups) bread flour

250g (2 cups) all-purpose flour

75g (heaping 1/3 cup) granulated white sugar

100g (7 Tbsp) unsalted butter, at room temperature

20g fresh cake yeast or 1 package (7g) dry instant yeast

7g (1 1/2 tsp) salt

150g (3) whole large eggs

40g (2) egg yolks

110g (1/2 cup) lukewarm water

zest of 1 orange (I didn't do this but I'm sure it's good)

1 tsp vanilla extract

granulated sugar, for coating

Instructions

1. First, dissolve the yeast in the lukewarm water, and allow it to sit until it blooms. (With instant you don't have to worry about this too much).

2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, combine all ingredients except for the whole eggs, and beat on medium speed for 5 mins, then high speed for 5 more mins. 

3. Add in the remaining egg, and beat on medium speed until a smooth and elastic dough forms (you may have to add some flour if it's too sticky) - you may have to beat it for awhile to combined together. 

4. Knead by hand for a couple of mins, then place the dough in a large, lightly oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and allow to rise in a warm place for at least 2 hours until tripled in size. 

5. After the first rise, lightly knead the dough, roll it out to 1.5 cm/0.5 inch thickness, and cut out rounds. I found a regular water glass to be the perfect size. 

6. Transfer all your rounds to baking sheets lined with wax paper, spray lightly with water, and cover with plastic wrap or a tea towel Allow the bomboloni to rise another hour and a half until they triple in size once more. 

7. When ready to fry, heat vegetable oil in a large, deep pan to a temperature between 170-180C (a frying thermometer comes in handy).

8.Fry the bomboloni a few at a time, making sure to not crowd the pan. Fry them for about 3 mins on each side, until they are golden brown, then drain off the excess oil, and set them on a wire rack to cool. 

9. While they are till warm, pour some granulated sugar in a small bowl, and roll the bomboloni around until completely coated in the sugar. 

10. Fill as desired. (I used a Bavarian cream)

*note - Apparently you can bake these at 350F for about 20 mins instead of frying but I haven't tried that.