Top Pot Hand-Forged Doughnuts - Mark Klebeck [7]
Measure Correctly
To measure dry ingredients, such as flour and confectioners’/icing sugar, use the “spoon and level” method: first spoon the ingredient into the measuring cup, then level it with the back of a knife. Always sift ingredients after measuring.
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Roll Out the Dough Evenly
When you roll out dough, do measure it with a ruler—1/2 in/12 mm may be thicker or thinner than you think. For simplicity, you can mark a toothpick or wooden skewer at the thickness you need, and poke it into the dough to judge its depth as you roll it out.
Cut Doughnuts Without a Mess
When you cut out doughnuts, flour the cutter itself, especially for sticky cake doughnut dough. To get the doughnut out of the cutter, tap the side of the cutter against the palm of your hand.
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Proof Yeast-Raised Dough
Our oven-proofing method for yeast doughs adds warmth and moisture to the air around the dough. You can also let the dough rise in a warm place, leaving it covered for both rises instead of just the first rise, but it may take a bit longer. If you have a proofing box, use that instead of our method, letting the dough rise for about 45 minutes each time on the low setting.
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Don’t Always Double Recipes
Cake doughnut, old-fashioned doughnut, glaze, and icing recipes may be doubled, but yeast-raised recipes must be made in single batches, or the dough will climb out of the mixer during kneading.
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Transport Doughnuts Gently
Although all doughnuts are best fresh, we realize that you may have to take them somewhere—and you might not have the same doughnut boxes we do. If you don’t have a large, sealable container, line a shoebox or square-bottomed shopping bag with the top and handles cut off with waxed/greaseproof paper and stack the doughnuts inside (once the glaze or icing has dried completely), on their bottoms or sides.
FRYING DOUGHNUTS
Mention deep-frying anything at home, and many cooks panic. Hot oil requires care, of course, but doughnuts are simpler to make than you might think. If you have a deep fryer, consult the manufacturer’s directions before beginning. Use fresh oil that comes up to the recommended level, usually about 3 in/7.5 cm above the frying basket. If you don’t have one, don’t worry— you can do it in a large, heavy-bottomed pan at home, using the following tips. Note that thermometers and stove settings vary; the times listed here are approximations.
Finding the Right Oil
At Top Pot, we fry in saturated fat-free palm oil, which starts as a solid. It gives a great flavor, and its solid state makes it easy to transport. But since it’s not readily available for home use, we recommend frying in canola or vegetable oil, because it has a neutral flavor and because it can handle the temperatures used for doughnut frying.
If you have some on hand, peanut/groundnut oil, safflower oil, and corn oil are also suitable for frying doughnuts, but may leave a slight taste. Coconut oil, hemp oil, olive oil, sesame oil, and lard will smoke at the temperatures called for in this book and should not be used.
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Preparing Your Frying Space
It’s true: Frying can be messy. But a few quick steps can make clean up a snap. Line the area around your frying pan with aluminum foil, and drain doughnuts on a cooling rack set over paper towels/absorbent paper, on top of the foil. Set all utensils on foil when they’re not in use during frying.
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Choosing a Vessel
Since doughnuts are less likely to break if they have plenty of room to be turned over, fry them in something you can fill with oil to a depth of at least 2 in/5 cm, with at least another 2 in/5 cm of room left at the top, so there’s no risk that the oil will splash over the sides.