Best-ever Cinnamon Doughnuts

Ingredients

490g plain flour
55g caster sugar
3 tsp dried yeast
Pinch of salt
250mL milk, warmed
100g unsalted butter, melted
3 egg yolks
Canola oil to deep fry
1 cup caster sugar, extra
2 tsp ground cinnamon

Method

Combine flour, sugar, yeast and salt in a bowl. Make a well in the centre, mix in milk, butter and eggs until dough starts to come together – it may be sticky.

Knead on a well-floured surface until smooth. Place in a greased bowl, cover and prove for 90 minutes, or until the dough has doubled in size.

Punch down the dough. Knead on a lightly-floured surface for 2 minutes, or until smooth. Roll out dough until 1 cm thick, rest dough for 2 minutes.

Use an 8 cm round cutter to cut out discs; use a 3.5 cm cutter to cut out centres.

Place on a lined tray and set aside for 15 minutes to rise slightly.

Hints and tips:

For evenly shaped doughnuts, rest the dough after rolling and before cutting; this prevents the dough from shrinking.

Recipe Notes:

• Don’t throw out the centres. Re-roll them to make more doughnuts or make custard gems – deep fry the centres for 40 seconds each side, or until golden and puffed. Spoon 180g of bought thick vanilla custard into a piping bag fitted with a 5 mm nozzle. Push the nozzle into the gems and pipe in custard, toss in cinnamon sugar.

• Don’t have a deep fryer? Add oil to a large, deep saucepan to reach a depth of 8 cm. Heat to 180 C over high heat; when oil is ready, a cube of bread will turn golden in 15 seconds. Or test with a wooden spoon – when the oil bubbles around the spoon, it’s ready.