It’s National Doughnut Week from 7th-15th May, a very special week where businesses including bakers, coffee shops, offices and take part and sell lots of delicious doughnuts to raise funds for The Children’s Trust. It’s really easy to get involved and there is no charge to take part! All you have to do to register is complete the online registration form here and you will receive a pack of goodies to help organise and promote the week. So whether you’re a baker, a school or a business that wants to get involved and raise funds for The Children’s Trust get involved – 100% of the funds raised go straight to the charity so rest assured all your hard work directly benefits the children involved in The Children’s Trust.
Independent Hertfordshire bakery, Simmons Bakers, said: “For National Doughnut Week last year we produced an extra range of hand-finished luxury doughnuts, the sales of which we donated a portion of. We sold over 3,500 doughnuts, donating 25p each and raising £900. It was a fantastic way for us to offer support in the way we know best – sweet treats! We are honoured to have been able to contribute to such a worthy cause and will continue to do so each year.”
Welsh bakers, Jenkins Bakeries, commented: “David Jenkins Ltd is proud to participate in National Doughnut Week. It is a seasonal event that our staff in the bakery and our retail teams look forward to during the year. Not only is it a great opportunity to showcase our superb range of doughnuts but also to support The Children’s Trust. We look forward to supporting again in 2022.”
If you fancy making your own doughnuts to sell for the charity, we’ll tell you how to do it. It’s a bit tricky, but this method from Joy the Baker gives you all you need to know.
“Making homemade doughnuts isn’t as hard as you might think. It’s about activating yeast, throwing all of the ingredients in a mixing bowl and having the guts to heat oil to over 300 degrees. It’s that last part that usually gets people caught up but I think you’re here because you have the guts. I mean… just look at the rewards!”
INGREDIENTS
• All-purpose flour
• Active dry yeast and warm water to activate it
• Unsalted butter, at room temperature
• Egg yolks for richness
• Whole warm milk
• Salt and granulated sugar
• Ground cinnamon
• Chocolate, powdered sugar, and cinnamon sugar for toppings
You’ll also need a round cookie cutter and fry thermometer.
METHOD
- First activate the yeast. In a small bowl sprinkle yeast over warm water. Add a tiny pinch of granulated sugar and let the mixture sit for 5 minutes. It will foam and froth once it comes to life.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, stir and combine the rest of the ingredients. Flour, sugar, salt, milk, butter, egg yolks and the yeast mixture.
- Use a stand mixer with a large bowl and a dough hook attachment for this relatively soft and slightly sticky dough. You can certainly bring this dough together by hand, just try not to add too much additional flour as you hand knead it.
- Knead the dough on a mixer for 3 to 5 minutes until a soft and cohesive dough forms – pillowy soft and moist but not sticky.
- You may find that you need to add a few tablespoons of extra flour to make the dough less sticky. Lean towards keeping the dough sticky rather than adding a lot more flour.
- For same-day doughnuts – cover the bowl with plastic wrap and allow to rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 1/2 hours.
- For overnight doughnuts – cover and refrigerate the dough and refrigerate for 8 to 12 hours.
- Next we’ll shape the doughnuts. For same-day doughnuts, roll the dough to 3/4-inch thickness just after its rise using a 3-inch round biscuit cutter and a 1-inch round for the centre holes. Cover with a clean kitchen towel and let the doughnuts rise for 30 minutes until they’re slightly puffed.
- For overnight doughnuts, bring the dough out of the refrigerator and allow the dough to come to a cool room temperature. Let the dough rest at room temperature for about 45 minutes before flopping it out on a floured surface, rolling to 3/4-inch thickness and cutting with the rounds. Allow the shaped doughnuts to rise for 30 minutes.
- While you let the dough rise, slowly heat the fry oil over medium heat. You’ll only need a couple of inches of oil in your pan – enough that the doughnuts will float as they fry. Use a neutral oil like canola oil or peanut oil.
- Clip a fry thermometer to the edge of the pan and heat the oil to 360 degrees F. Really keep an eye on the temperature. The oil is our oven and we want the oil to be at a consistent heat to evenly fry the doughnuts to golden brown.
- The oil temperature will drop to about 350 degrees F when the doughnuts are added. That’s natural. Allow them to fry on both sides and wait for the the oil to come back up to temperature before adding the next batch. Fry doughnuts for a minute on each side and flip with either a slotted spoon, tongs or a ‘spider’.
- Fresh out of the oil, allow the doughnuts to rest on a baking sheet on paper towels and coat doughnuts in either powdered sugar or cinnamon sugar. Allow the doughnuts to cool just a bit before coating in chocolate doughnut glaze.
See also: Sourdough Panzanella Salad for Earth Day
