Salted caramel doughnuts to put smiles on everyone’s faces

When I’m cooking at home, the most important thing is that everyone will enjoy what’s being served up. There is something so comforting about cooking for your family.

I am using this current time as an opportunity to bake and cook every day at home. I use local ingredients where possible to support smaller businesses and the quality is often superior.

These doughnuts were a huge hit with my family. I filled half of them with the salted caramel and the other half with homemade blackberry jam, but feel free to be adventurous with the fillings.

At a time like this, it is so important to take care of our mental health and I find baking extremely therapeutic. Bringing a sweet treat to the table never fails to put smiles on people’s faces.

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Gráinne Mullins is Euro-Toques Young Chef of the Year and former pastry chef at Lignum in Galway and Ox in Belfast.

SALTED CARAMEL DOUGHNUTS

Makes 12

Ingredients
550g strong (bread) flour
60g caster sugar
55g softened butter
2 eggs
14g dried fast action yeast
10g salt
140g milk
90g water
Sunflower oil, for frying

Method

1. Warm the milk and water until tepid, add the yeast and the sugar to the liquid and leave for eight minutes to activate.

2. Add all the other ingredients to a stand mixer with a hook attachment. Mix until combined. Continue to mix for a further five minutes.

3. Lightly grease a bowl and place the dough into the bowl. Leave to prove for an hour, or until doubled in size.

4. Tip out the risen dough onto a lightly floured surface. Knock it back and roll it out until it is approximately 2cm in height.

5. Cut out rounds with a 5mm ring cutter (or a glass or mug).

6. Place on a prepared baking sheet and cover with oiled cling film, and leave for another 20-30 minutes, or until doubled in size.

7. Pour the sunflower oil into a deep fat fryer or a deep pan and heat to 180 Celsius.

8. Cook the risen doughnuts in small batches of two or three at a time, for two minutes on each side, until cooked through. Drain on a cooling rack with a tray underneath and leave until cool enough to handle.

9. Pierce the side of each warm doughnut with a skewer and fill with the filling of your choice.

SALTED CARAMEL

Ingredients
200g cream
50g milk
1 ½ vanilla pods
1 large pinch flakey sea salt
100g caster sugar
75g butter

Method

1. Heat the cream, milk, vanilla and salt together in a saucepan.

2. At the same time, heat the sugar until golden brown in colour, approximately 180 Celsius, if you have a sugar thermometer.

3. Very carefully add the warm cream to the caramel, off the heat.

4. Bring it back to the heat and allow to cook for a further two minutes.

5. Pass the mix through a sieve and allow to cool for five minutes.

6. Add the butter and blend using a hand blender.

7. Allow to cool completely before putting into a round-tipped piping bag and filling the doughnuts.

Kitchen Cabinet is a series of recipes from chefs who are members of Euro-toques Ireland who have come together during the coronavirus outbreak to share some of the easy, tasty things that they like to cook and eat at home #ChefsAtHome