5 POUNDS OF FLOUR LATER…

As you all know, I’ve been on the search for the doughnut of my childhood memories for 40 years. It’s a yeast doughnut that has large air holes, crispy, with a clear sugar glaze. I’ve searched in every country we have traveled to, every city, town and village in the USA we’ve gone to with no luck. Doughnuts vary but most places don’t even make their own doughnut dough anymore. And they call them DOnuts!

So for our next cookbook club dinner I have been experimenting with different flours, yeasts, eggs/no eggs, water vs milk, etc. I’ve changed the ratios, followed advice from everyone I’ve talked to (and no, I am not interested in re-creating the Krispy Kreme donut…).

So far, I’ve gone through about 5 pounds of flours (bread flour, gluten flour, cake flour, all-purpose flour), 3 kinds and brands of yeasts, AND a new KitchenAid Mixer!! This is turning into a $500 doughnut! Now I understand why desserts at restaurants are $7-12 each!

If you own an old “Classic” Professional KitchenAid, the motor is only 325 volts and the gears are nylon. Kneading dough in just not possible on this machine. I stripped the gears on it twice…fixed it the first time but the second time, I decided to upgrade and buy the Professional model with 575 Volt motor. Definitely LOOKS more hefty! Like my old one on sterioids. FYI: KitchenAid’s email customer service is fabulous and I got answers to all my questions.

So on to what I’ve been trying. I’ve got the taste and the crispy exterior part finally figured out after trying 5 different ratios, ingredients, frying temperatures, etc. Now I am trying to get the air holes in the inside and working on the glaze.

• I am learning about yeast and how it depends upon what kind of weather we are having because the same recipe comes out differently on different days.
• I have found that chop sticks work best to turn the doughnuts over in the oil.
• Important not to overfry them to keep the crust thin but crispy.
• 225º-350º is the best temperature for the oil because any higher and the dough turns dark brown too fast and the interior stays goopy.
• I now know why there’s a hole in the middle of the doughnut…

Whether I will create the right recipe by the time we have our dinner is another question but you WILL get doughnuts…they just may not be the doughnut of my childhood. Maybe I just remember a doughnut that never was?