Italian Doughnuts

• 4 cups of Plain Flour
• 1/4 cup of Granulated Sugar
• 1 cup of Milk, warmed up to about 110 degrees
• 2-1/4 tsp of Active Dry Yeast or 5 heaped teaspoons of fresh yeast
• 1/4 cup of Unsalted Butter, softened at room temperature
• 2 Eggs
•  2 tsp of Vanilla Extract

• Granulated Sugar
• Nutella
• Tin of Carnation caramel
• Teaspoon of salt.

Preparation

1) Sprinkle the yeast and one teaspoon of sugar over the warm milk, give it a gentle stir and set aside to activate.,I used fresh yeast but I don't weigh I just use heaped teaspoons.

2) Add the flour, sugar, salt and vanilla to the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, once the yeast is ready, add it to the flour mixture along with the butter and eggs and knead on medium speed for about 5 minutes or until your dough comes together.

3) Roll out the dough onto a floured surface to about 1/2 inch thick, cut out your donuts using a 3” biscuit cutter then place them on a lightly floured baking sheet keep them a couple of inches apart from each other) sprinkle a little flour on top, cover with a lint free kitchen towel and place them somewhere warm to rise for about an hour and a half.  

4) Preheat some vegetable oil in a heavy duty pan fill the pan only half way up the side with the oil) to 350 degrees, fry the donuts until golden brown on both sides, then drain them on a paper towel lined plate,quickly cover them in granulated sugar and finally fill them with nutella/salted caramel/jam using a piping bag fitted with a star tip or a new children medicine syringe.

If you don't like filled doughnuts there is always the good old ring.

For the salted caramel I heated up the caramel in a pan and added roughly 1\2 a teaspoon of Pink Salt,tasted it then added some more,repeated,1 teaspoon was ideal for our palate but its wise to gradually add the salt.You can add but you can't take it way!

This make LOTS! Ideal for school cake/biscuit sales if you want to show off a little.

    I used the lid from my Vanilla Extract bottle as I didn't have anything small enough.

Lovely Rings 

Half nutella and the rest salted caramel