These cookies and cream doughnuts are so good, that Kate’s colleagues loved them even when they had gone a bit stale. And if that’s not the sign of a good bake, then I don’t know what is.
I’ve never made actual proper fried doughnuts before, so this recipe was either going to be amazing, or hideous. And thankfully, it was the former. I’m not going to sugar-coat it, this is a seriously involved recipe, with a tonne of waiting around. The Oreo creme patisserie filling takes at least an hour to cool in the fridge, plus the doughnuts themselves will need to rise twice before you get to actually fry anything.
But if you’ve got a Saturday to kill, and you want to get out of your comfort zone, then this is the one for you.
Firstly, you need to make the creme patisserie, which you’ll be pleased to know is just a fancy word for custard. You’ve seen ‘creme pat’ made countless times in the Bake Off tent, and if they can do it under time pressure, then you can definitely handle it in the comfort of your own kitchen.
If you follow the steps below, you can’t really go far wrong. It is important to add the warm milk into the eggs in two separate additions, as you are trying to warm up the eggs slowly, so as not to cook them too fast. You don’t want a scrambled egg filling, after all. And make sure you cover the surface of the creme patisserie with clingfilm or plastic wrap, as this will stop a skin forming on the top. Don’t worry, as long as you’ve left it to cool for a couple of minutes, the plastic wrap won’t melt onto the custard. Trust me.
Then there’s the doughnut dough. A stand mixer is going to help you massively here, as there will be a lot of kneading involved otherwise. Dust off that dough hook that you hardly ever use, and use it to knead the dough without any achy arms. The dough will be a little sticky, but that’s just fine. Pop it in an oiled bowl, cover with yet more clingfilm, and leave it somewhere warm to rise. I use the boiler cupboard,which is the only place in this flat that gets anywhere near warm. Apparently the Georgians weren’t too keen on insulation.
Yes, frying the doughnuts is the scary bit. Make sure you use a candy thermometer to get the temperature of the oil spot on, and use a spatula or little frying net to lower your doughnuts into the oil. I don’t want anyone burning themselves on super hot oil, please. The doughnuts will take about 30 seconds on each side, so use a spatula to gently flip them over half way through. And dab off any excess oil using some kitchen paper.
You can re-use the frying oil a couple more times, but only for frying. Don’t even think about putting it in some muffins or granola, unless you want them to taste entirely like a doughnut. Maybe you do?
You will be very pleased to hear that the white chocolate glaze is incredibly easy. Just put the ingredients in a bowl, and microwave for 20 second bursts until melted. And dip away! Of course, to make sure that everyone knows that these are cookies and cream doughnuts, and not just any old boring ones, then sprinkle some more Oreo crumbs on the top. Eat your heart out Krispy Kreme.
COOKIES & CREAM DOUGHNUTS
Yields 20
Cookies and cream filled fried doughnuts, topped with a white chocolate glaze and sprinkled with Oreo crumbs.
| INGREDIENTS | INSTRUCTION |
| FOR THE COOKIES & CREAM FILLING 1. 80ml (1/3 cup) double or heavy cream 2. 300ml (1¼ cups) whole milk 3. 100g (½ cup) caster sugar (US granulated sugar) 4. 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 5. ½ teaspoon salt 6. 30g (¼ cup) cornflour (cornstarch) 7. 4 egg yolks 8. 10 Oreo cookies, crumbed | 1. Put the cream, milk, 50g (¼ cup) of sugar, vanilla extract and salt in to a medium saucepan, and heat on medium until it starts to bubble. Remove from the heat. 2. In a bowl, whisk the egg yolks, cornflour, and the remaining 50g (¼ cup) of sugar. Add half of the warm milk to the egg yolks, and immediately whisk well. Add the remaining warm milk and beat again. Pour the mixture back in the saucepan and return to a medium-high heat, whisking constantly until it thickens to a custard-like thickness. 3. Once it is thick enough, remove from the heat and whisk for a minute or two to cool it down. Pour the custard back into the bowl, and leave to cool for a further couple of minutes. Cover the top of the custard with clingfilm to stop a skin forming, and pop in the fridge to cool down for at least an hour, until completely cool. 4. Once cool, remove from the fridge and whisk to bring it back to a custard consistency. In a separate bowl, whisk the double cream to stiff peaks, and then fold in the custard. Add the Oreo crumbs, and gently fold until evenly distributed. Pop back in the fridge whilst making the doughnuts. |
| FOR THE DONUTS 1. 160ml (2/3 cup) whole milk 2. 2½ teaspoons active dry yeast 3. 110g (½ cup) unsalted butter 4. 495g (4 cups) plain or all-purpose flour 5. 70g (1/3 cup) caster sugar (US granulated sugar) 6. ¾ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg 7. 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 8. 2 teaspoons salt 9. 3 eggs 10. 1-2 litres of flavourless cooking oil (e.g. sunflower oil) | 1. Warm the milk in the microwave for 20 seconds, until slightly warmer than skin temperature. Pour the yeast in to the milk, with a pinch of sugar, and leave for five minutes to activate. 2. Melt the butter, either in the microwave or in a saucepan, and pour into the bowl of your stand mixer. Add the flour, sugar, nutmeg, vanilla extract, salt, and eggs, and then beat together on a high speed until it forms a dough. Replace the beater blade of your stand mixer with a dough hook, and then beat for 5 minutes. The dough will be a little sticky, but that’s okay. 3. Put the dough into a lightly oiled bowl and cover with a tea towel or clingfilm. Place the bowl somewhere warm and leave to rise for at least an hour (or overnight in the fridge). The dough should have doubled in size. 4. Knead the dough on a very floured worktop, until it is a little less sticky. Add more flour if necessary. Roll out to ¼ inch thick, and cut out 4 inch rounds using a circular cookie cutter. Put the doughnuts on a floured backing tray, making sure to leave adequate room between the doughnuts so they don’t join together when rising. Place the baking tray on the shelf of a cold oven, and put a bowl of boiling water in the bottom of the oven to generate some warm steam to help the doughnuts rise. Shut the oven door and leave them for 30 minutes. 5. Once the doughnuts have risen again, remove them from the oven. Grab a large saucepan and fill half way with sunflower oil. Using a candy or sugar thermometer, heat the oil on a medium high heat to 190°C / 365°F, and then gently lower a couple of the doughnuts into the oil using a spatula. The doughnuts should take about 30 seconds each side, although you will probably over cook the first one! Remove them doughnuts carefully from the pan using the spatula and place on some kitchen towel to absorb the excess oil. Be very careful not to burn yourself. Repeat the process with the remaining doughnuts. You may need to remove the pan from the heat when the temperature gets above 190°C, and then place it back on once it gets too low. Once all the doughnuts have been fried, leave them to cool completely. 6. Poke a hole in the side of each doughnut with a knife, and then pipe the cookies and cream filling into each doughnut. Be careful not to pipe too much or the doughnut may split. You will need to use a fairly wide round nozzle on your piping bag, otherwise the Oreo crumbs may block the nozzle. Once all the doughnuts are full, make the glaze. |
| FOR THE WHITE CHOCOLATE GLAZE 1. 200g (7 oz) white chocolate 2. 30g (2 tablespoons) unsalted butter 3. 2 teaspoons golden syrup or light corn syrup 4. 2 teaspoons water 5. 2 Oreo cookies, crumbled | 1. Place the white chocolate, butter, syrup, and water into a small bowl, and pop in the microwave for 20 seconds at a time, stirring in between, until melted and smooth. Dip the tops of each of the doughnuts into the glaze, and then place on a tray or plate. Sprinkle each of the doughnuts with crumbled Oreos, and leave to set. |
STORAGE | The doughnuts are best eaten the day they are made, although they will keep in the fridge for 2 days. |