Crueller Doughnuts Recipes

Steps:

• For the doughnuts: Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Spray two 6-well eclair pans with nonstick spray.
• In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and salt to combine. Add the milk, egg, vanilla and butter, and mix gently until combined.
• Fill the wells of the prepared eclair pans about halfway with the batter.
• Bake until the doughnuts spring back when touched and a toothpick comes out clean, 10 minutes. Transfer the pans to a rack set over a baking sheet; let cool for 3 to 5 minutes. Remove the doughnuts from the pans and let cool completely on the rack.
• For the glaze: Whisk the confectioners' sugar and milk together until smooth.
• Dunk the doughnuts in the glaze to coat completely. Transfer to a rack and let set for 10 minutes before serving.

Steps:

• 1. Place the water, butter, sugar, and salt in a heavy-bottomed pot and bring to a brisk boil over medium high heat. Add the flour and stir with a wooden spoon until the flour is completely incorporated. Continue to cook and stir for 3 to 4 minutes to steam away as much water as possible. The more moisture you can remove, the more eggs you can add later and the lighter your pastry will be. The mixture is ready when a thin film coats the bottom of the pan.
• 2. Move the mixture to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Although you can mix the pâte à choux by hand, this can be rather arduous, so use a mixer if you have one. Stir the mixture for about 1 minute to allow it to cool. Then mix on medium speed and add the first egg. Let it mix in completely and then scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the remaining eggs, one at a time, and mix in completely. Add the egg whites, a little at a time, until the paste becomes smooth and glossy and will hold a slight peak when pinched with your fingers. Be careful not to add too much egg white or your crullers will become heavy. Transfer the batter to a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch star piping tip.
• 3. To fry the crullers, heat at least 2 inches of oil in a heavy-bottomed pot until a deep-fat thermometer registers 370°F. While the oil is heating, cut out twelve 3-by-3-inch squares of parchment paper and lightly grease them. Pipe a ring onto each square. When the oil is hot, place one cruller at a time in the oil, paper side up. Remove the paper with tongs. Fry on each side until golden brown, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on a paper towel for at least 1 minute. Once cool to the touch, the crullers can be glazed.
• Crullers also bake very well, although they will have slightly firmer crusts than the fried versions. Preheat the oven to 450°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and pipe the crullers onto it, at least 2 inches apart. Bake for 5 minutes, then reduce heat to 350°F and bake for another 15 minutes. Turn off the heat, open the oven door slightly and let the crullers sit in the cooling oven for 5 to 10 minutes. Remove, dip in glaze, and cool on a rack until the glaze has set.
• Beignets, the classic New Orleans fried dough treats, use this same batter and are even easier to prepare. Simply drop rounded teaspoonfuls of the batter into the oil. As the dough puffs, the beignets will turn themselves over-but keep an eye on them and flip any that need a little help.

Steps:

• To make this French Cruller donut, bring the water, butter, sugar and salt to a brisk boil in a heavy-bottomed saucepan. Stir in the flour all at once and continue stirring until the flour is completely incorporated. Keep stirring over medium-high heat. The more moisture you can remove, the more eggs you can mix in later which will result in a lighter pastry. When you see a thin film start to coat the bottom of the pan, the batter is ready. Transfer the dough to the bowl of a stand mixer. Use the paddle attachment to stir the dough for a minute to help it cool. Turn the mixer to medium speed and add one egg. Don't add the next egg until the previous has been completely incorporated into the dough. Then add the egg whites a little bit at a time until the dough becomes smooth and glossy and holds a little shape (not much). Do not add too much egg white or else the crullers will become heavy. Transfer the dough to a large pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch star tip. Fry the crullers in 2 inches (or more) of vegetable oil in a heavy-bottomed saucepan. The oil should register 370 degrees. While the oil is heating, cut a dozen 3-x3-inch squares of parchment. Lightly grease the squares on one side (I brushed with vegetable oil) and pipe a ring of dough onto each of the squares. When the oil has reached temperature, carefully place a French cruller, paper-side up, into the hot oil. Do this one at a time unless you like the idea of hot oil burns and other disasters. After a minute or so, use tongs and a sharp knife tip to gently peel the parchment off the cruller. When the cruller turns golden (about 2 minutes), flip it over and let it fry for another couple of minutes before removing it to drain on a cooling rack or paper towels. Make the glaze: While the cruller donuts cool, mix the confectioners' sugar, honey, and milk together until smooth. When the crullers are cool to the touch, dip the top of each cruller into the honey glaze and set on a cooling rack to let the drips run off. When the glaze has set, the crullers are ready to serve. Crullers can also be baked. Preheat oven to 450°F. Pipe crullers onto a parchment-lined baking sheet at least 2 inches apart. Bake for five minutes then reduce oven to 350 degrees and bake another 15 minutes. Turn off heat, open the oven door a crack, and let crullers sit for 5 to 10 minutes. Glaze and serve.

Steps:

• In a mixing bowl using an electric mixer, cream shortening and sugar until fluffy.
• Separate eggs.
• In a small bowl, beat egg yolks well.
• Add beaten egg yolks to shortening/sugar mixture and mix to blend.
• Add vanilla extract and beat again.
• Into a separate bowl, sift flour, baking powder, salt, mace and nutmeg; set aside.
• Beat egg whites until peaks form.
• Add flour mixture and milk alternately to shortening/sugar mixture, beating after each addition, until well incorporated.
• Fold in beaten egg whites, but DO NOT BEAT.
• Add additional flour if required to make dough stiff enough to handle.
• On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to 1/2 inch thickness.
• Cut dough with a doughnut cutter reserving the holes to be deep fried as well.
• Gather pieces of dough, form into a ball and then roll out to 1/2 inch thickness.
• Cut out doughnuts again until all dough is used up.
• Preheat oil in a deep-fryer to 375°F.
• Drop in 3 or 4 doughnuts and deep fry for 1 to 1 1/2 minutes, turn over and fry for another 1 minute or until golden brown.
• Remove with wire spoon or slotted spoon onto paper toweling to drain and cool slightly.
• COATING.
• In a plastic bag, mix together sugar and cinnamon.
• Drop doughnuts into bag while still warm and shake to coat well.
• You may also use a medium size deep frying pan deep fry the doughnuts.
• Make sure the oil comes about half way up the doughnut.

Steps:

• Make the Crullers: Combine the water, butter, sugar, and salt in a large saucepan and bring to a rolling boil over medium-high heat. Immediately remove from the heat, add all the flour at once, and stir hard with a wooden spoon until all the flour is incorporated, about 30 to 60 seconds. Return the pan to the heat and cook, stirring, to evaporate some of the moisture, about 2 minutes.
• Scrape the mixture into a standing mixer fitted with a paddle attachment (or use a hand mixer or mix by hand), and mix at medium speed. With the mixer running, and adding 1 egg at a time, add 3 of the eggs, stopping after each addition to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Mix until the dough is smooth and glossy and the eggs are completely incorporated. The dough should be thick, but should fall slowly and steadily from the beaters when you lift them out of the bowl. If the dough is still clinging to the beaters, add another egg and mix until completely incorporated.
• Line a sheet pan with parchment paper. Using a pastry bag fitted with a star tip (use a large size, like #12), pipe the dough onto the sheet pan in rows of 2 1/2-inch rings. Freeze them for 30 minutes to make them easier to pick up.
• Meanwhile, make the Glaze: Stir together the powdered sugar and milk in a small bowl.
• Pour the vegetable oil into a large pot to a depth of 2 inches and heat to 325 degrees F. Working in batches, lift the dough circles off the sheet pan and carefully slip them into the oil. Fry, turning once, until lightly browned. Drain the crullers on a brown paper bag; then dip them completely in the glaze. Let the crullers cool and set before serving.

Steps:

• 1. In a 2-quart saucepan, combine the water, butter, salt, and sugar. Place the mixture over medium heat and bring to a simmer, stirring a few times. As soon as the liquid begins to boil (and the butter is completely melted), remove the pot from the heat. Add all the flour and stir very well and vigorously, until the mixture comes together as a dough.
• 2. Return the saucepan to low heat and stir until the mixture is very smooth, glossy, and begins to form a slight film on the bottom of the pan, about 3 minutes. (If using a nonstick pan, there will be no film formed as an indicator.)
• 3. Break the eggs, 1 at a time, into the dough, and, before adding the next, beat each egg in very well until it is incorporated into the dough and the dough has become smooth again. ( I use a handheld mixer because this is a tight dough and otherwise required considerable strength an stamina to beat it.) When all the eggs have been added, you should have a smooth, thick paste. It may be prepared a day ahead, but the zeppole should be fried within hours before eating them.
• 4. Cut the parchment paper into 12 4-inch squares.
• 5. Using a pastry bag or piping tube fitted with a 1/2-inch star tip (#6), pipe 3- to 3 1/2- inch circles of dough onto the parchment squares.
• 6. In a 10- to 12- inch skillet, heat 1/2 inch of oil to 375 to 380 degrees and fry the zeppole a couple or a few at a time, depending on the size of the skillet. Place the zeppole in the oil with the parchment on the top. Using tongs, remove the parchment paper after about 10 seconds. This will require a little up-and-down jiggling of the paper, and a motion of peeling the paper back and off the frying dough.
• The zeppole should not fry very fast. It should take more than a minute for the first side to become a medium golden. Do not let it get fully, deeply golden. You know the temperature is correct if, after turning the zeppole to the second side, the first fried, already golden side starts splitting open. This indicates that the center is cooking and expanding. Let the second side get golden, then turn over to finish the first side. If the temperature is correct - about 375 degrees - the whole process takes 3 to 4 minutes. Drain the zeppole well on absorbent paper before topping with pastry cream and serving.
• For the traditional St. Joseph's day presentation, arrange the zeppole on a serving plate. Pipe or spoon into the center of each a couple of tablespoons of pastry cream, then garnish with a small spoonful of sour cherry preserves or a candied cherry.