Last Mother's Day, my husband and my kids decided to surprise me with 2 beautiful Cookbooks from 2 Masterchiefs of Australia. One Cookbook is from the first MasterChief winner, Julie Goodwin and the other is from Gary Mehigan.Gary's Cookbook is deservedly called "Comfort Food". The recipes are basically easy to do and there's one recipe you must try and it's to die for; English Doughnuts. Your children will love them and it is just too easy.
Ingredients
50g unsalted butter, chopped
22ml milk
30g caster sugar
1 x 7g sachet dried yeast
2 free range eggs
300g plain flour
pinch of salt
1 litre of vegetable oil
100g raspberry jam
double cream to serve
Lavender Sugar
10 unsprayed lavender flowers
150g caster sugar
Method
- Heat the butter and milk in a saucepan over low heat until it's just warm. Pour into a bowl, then add the sugar and yeast and stir until dissolved. Whisk the eggs in the milk mixture.
- Put the flour and salt into a large bowl. Create a well in the centre, then tip the egg mixture into the well. Whisk the egg and flour mixture together, starting from the centre and drawing in the flour until a smooth, thick batter forms. Cover the bowl with a tea towel or plastic film and place it in a warm spot to rise for 1 hour or until half the volume again.
- Transfer the dough to a piping bag fitted with a large nozzle. Tie the end of the bag, allowing enough room at the end for the dough to double in volume, then leave for 45 minutes or until the bag is firm and taut.
- Rub the lavender flowers with the sugar until the leaves have broken up and the sugar is fragrant; discard the stalks and set aside.
- Heat the vegetable oil in a large heavy-based saucepan or fryer. The temperature must be at least 185 C. Working in batches and not over crowd the pan, pipe out small balls of the dough directly to the hot oil and cook for 4 minutes or until it is golden brown. Take out the doughnuts and drain on a paper towel.
- Prick a hole in each doughnut with the tip of a small sharp knife, then pipe a little raspberry jam into each one. Roll each doughnut in the lavender sugar. Serve immediately with the double cream.
