Doughnuts..the cure to life's problems.

You know you're sick when you put sea salt in your tea. Not in place of sugar. In place of the teabag. It was that kind of morning. BUT I wasn't going to let it stop me. While I pass this week, handing out CVs and waiting for the job fairy to whisper in a principals' ear, I continue apace with my fitness regime. Currently on day 2 of the 30 day squat challenge and I think my legs are about to fall off. Or explode. Or both. After a half hour of cardio, I returned to the kitchen defeated and more ill than I started the day. Having put the soda bread into the oven, I flicked through my (Rather large) folder of collected recipes. I wanted to cook something that would fix the sickness currently inhabiting my body. Nothing healthy would do,hell, I'd just possibly broke the squats while sick record. Damned if I was letting that go to waste. 

When I was in my final year in College, in Limerick  we had to take a module fondly called Ped Op (I think this stood for pedagogical option...I never questioned it, just accepted the wisdom of others). Anyway, it was a kind of curriculum specialisation, where us trainee teachers got to pick an area of the curriculum we particularly liked and study for our final semester. I actually can't remember the precise title of the module I chose but it was about history, geography and future studies. It was a great module, and would recommend it to anyone in Mary I. As part of our examination we had to do a study and group presentation on a country. Our group chose Mexico. It was fantastic, and as self appointed foodie, I took the culinary aspect of it. I did the usual talk about staple foods and traditional dishes but in a blatant attempt to gain extra kudos for our group I made Bunelos (Mexican doughnuts) They were friggin awesome. Smaller than normal doughnuts and flavoured with cinnamon sugar, light and fluffy as clouds, they seemed to go down well. 

So, while flicking through my folder I found a recipe for doughnuts. A light bulb went off in my head. Stuffed doughnuts... Perfect sick day food. So today's recipe is for  a basic doughnut recipe and I filled them with raspberry jam, home-made nutella and white chocolate.
For this recipe you will need TIME. It's bread dough. With YEAST. There's no two ways about it, you'll need an afternoon or morning so preferably when you're sick or the weekend. 

Ingredients:
450g strong white flour
75g caster sugar (you know me..vanilla sugar works well here, you will need extra for coating)
7g fast-action dried yeast
175ml lukewarm milk
1tsp salt
75g unsalted butter at room temperature
2 medium eggs beaten
4-5tbsp jam/nutella/squares of chocolate
sunflower oil for deep frying
(Make sure all ingredients are at room temperature)

1. Place 150g of the flour and 1tsp of sugar in a large (warmish) bowl and stir in the yeast. Mix in the milk to make a smooth, wet dough. 

Cover the bowl with cling film and set in a warm place for 30 mins until the dough is well risen and full of air bubbles. I tend to put it in the top oven, having left the main oven on for 30 mins at a high temp - the air rises and warms the top oven to a perfect temp)

2. sift the remaining flour into another ball with the salt and sugar. Rub in the butter. Make a well in the centre of the flour and pour in the egg and yeast mixture.

3. Use a spatula or your hands to draw the flour into the liquid, mixing till you have a smooth, soft dough. If it's too sticky dust with a little extra flour.

4. Turn the mixture out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 5-8 mins until smooth and elastic - it will be sticky. If you have a food mixed with a dough hook use it to knead the dough for 4 mins at a medium speed. 

5. shape the dough into a ball and put into a lightly oiled bowl and cover with cling film, put it back into the warm place for an hour - until it's doubled in size

6. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead for a few minutes to remove the air. Divide in two and roll into a sausage shape. Cut into 8 pieces (you can do more or less but be aware that cooking times will change)

7. To fill the doughnuts, use your thumb to make an indentation and spoon about 1 tsp of the filling into it (or two squares of chocolate) pinch back together and roll into a ball.

8. Dust a large baking sheet with flour and place the doughnuts on it, leaving space for the doughnuts to rise and expand. Let rise for 30-40 mins until doubled in size. 

9. Place a layer of caster sugar on a plate

. 
10. Heave about 2-3 inches of oil in a wide pan or wok until it reaches 180-190C (if, like me, you don't have a thermometer use a piece of bread to test if the oil is hot enough).

11. Cook the doughnuts in batches. Use a slotted spoon. Allow 2 mins each side. 

12. Remove from the oil. Drain on Kitchen paper , then roll in caster sugar. 
13. Cool and eat!