Friday 20 October 2017

Cinnamon Sugar Doughnuts with Citrus Chocolate Sauce.



Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu!

In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

I have the easiest doughnuts for your rainy weekend!
We've been having plenty of rain-filled, dark days around these parts at the moment and so I thought,  what better way to cheer ourselves up than with a pile of hot cinnamon sugar doughnuts with a citrus chocolate sauce to dunk?


The doughnuts are more like fritters because they contain no yeast and so need none of that pesky rising time meaning faster doughnuts for us all. A quick batter is made with baking powder to help it rise and then is dropped into hot oil to be fried until golden. They're a version of the Brazilian bolinho de chuva which translates as "rain scone" because the batter hitting the pan looks somewhat like a raindrop and the idea is that the doughnuts are a good rainy day project. I must say, I fully agree.
I first made these doughnuts last month for an impromptu afternoon tea thrown by my cousin. Half the gang over there is gluten-free so I actually made a gluten-free batch of these doughnuts too. All I did was replace the flour in the recipe with gf flour and they came out just fine. A little flatter than the normal batch but the gf gang didn't seem to mind one bit.
Guys, the doughnuts are great on their own but what really takes them over the top is the citrus chocolate sauce. It's a simple recipe for a chocolate sauce but is spiked with lime and orange and reminds me of of those chocolates with orange centres you get in chocolate boxes. The sauce makes the perfect dip for our hot cinnamon sugar doughnuts. You're going to love them. Have a great weekend!
A Simple List of Ingredients:

For the Doughnuts:
1. Plain Flour
2. Salt
3. Caster Sugar
4. An Egg
5. Water
6. Yoghurt
7. Baking Powder

For the Cinnamon Sugar:
1. Caster Sugar
2. Ground Cinnamon

For the Citrus Chocolate Sauce:
1. Lime
2. Orange
3. Caster Sugar
4. Orange Juice
5. Dark Chocolate
6. Single Cream

Bismillah, let's begin!

For the doughnuts, just under half fill a good, strong pan with enough Vegetable Oil to deep fry. Let it heat up over a medium-high heat until it is 180C.

Meanwhile, mix up the doughnut batter. Into a mixing bowl, place 135g Plain Flour, 1/4 teaspoon Salt and 25g Caster Sugar.

Whisk them all up!

For the wet ingredients, whisk together:
1 large Egg
100ml Water
100ml Yoghurt

Pour the wet into the dry.

And, whisk until well combined. You'll notice that our mixture is more of a batter than a dough but that is just what we're after for these doughnuts.

Just before frying, add in 1/2 heaped tablespoon Baking Powder.

Give it a final whisk through and we're ready to fry our doughnuts.

I always like to make one doughnut on its own first just to make sure that the temperature of the oil is correct. 

When the oil is just right (180C to be precise), carefully drop heaped teaspoons of the batter into the hot oil.

I tried using both a teaspoon and a mini ice cream scoop. For me, the ice cream scoop won hands down. I felt that it gave me more control over the batter which is always a good thing when you're working near hot oil.

Fry the doughnuts in batches rather than overcrowding the pan as this can result in the temperature of the oil dropping making your doughnuts greasy and full of oil. Not good!

Let the doughnuts fry gently for 3-4 minutes until golden brown all over and cooked through. You don't want to fry them too fast as they'll be brown on the outside and raw in the middle.

Drain the doughnuts really well.

And, place onto paper towels to continue draining.

Continue with the rest!

Once the doughnuts have drained on the paper towels (around 5-7 minutes), toss them in the cinnamon sugar. To make it, take 60g Caster Sugar and 1/2 tablespoon Ground Cinnamon.

Mix well and place in a shallow dish or bowl.

Throw in the doughnuts.

Toss or drown them in the cinnamon sugar.

Until they're well and truly coated all over. You can top up the cinnamon sugar with more, if you start to run out.

The doughnuts are great on their own but to take this dessert to even better things, serve them with a citrus chocolate sauce. A few notes to remember:
  •  The sauce can be made before the doughnuts and re-heated when it comes time to serve. 
  • This sauce recipe makes a double batch so feel free to halve, if you wish.

To start, Zest 1 Lime into a deep saucepan.

Along with the Zest of 1 Orange.

Then, slice the lime and orange in half.

And, squeeze in Their Juice.

The zest and juice of both will give the chocolate sauce its citrus flavour. It reminds me of those chocolates with an orange centre in a box of chocolates.

Then, add in 100g Caster Sugar.

Along with 50ml Orange Juice. The original recipe used rum which I don't drink so I just threw in more orange juice. A little extra citrus never hurt anyone!


Give everything a stir and place the pan over a high heat.


Let it start coming to a bubble.


We want it to reduce by one-third. So, basically around one-third of the liquid should evaporate and it should be a little thicker.


Once you remove it from the heat and the bubbles go down, you'll be able to see properly.


Next to the hot liquid, add in 200g Dark Chocolate, chopped. If you want a sweeter sauce, use milk chocolate instead.


Start stirring in the chocolate.


Keep stirring and the heat from the liquid will melt the chocolate.


Finally, pour in 100ml Single Cream.


Keep stirring it in until ...


... you have a smooth sauce on your hands. Make them doughnuts and serve them fresh with the sauce. 


Any leftover sauce is great with ice cream or any other dessert. Please note, that it will harden up like a soft ganache as it cools - just heat it in the microwave.


Pile the doughnuts into a serving dish and pour the sauce into a deep bowl to serve. Serve immediately as these doughnuts are best hot!



These cinnamon sugar delights will disappear really fast. Enjoy!

Cinnamon Sugar Doughnuts with Citrus Chocolate Sauce.

Prep Time: About 20 minutes.
Cook Time: About 20 minutes
Serves: About 4-5 people.

Ingredients

For the Doughnuts
135g Plain Flour
1/4 teaspoon Salt
25g Caster Sugar
1 large Egg
100ml Water
100ml Yoghurt
1/2 heaped tablespoon Baking Powder
Vegetable Oil, to deep fry

For the Cinnamon Sugar
60g Caster Sugar
1/2 tablespoon Ground Cinnamon

For the Citrus Chocolate Sauce (makes a double batch so feel free to halve)
Zest and Juice of 1 Lime
Zest and Juice of 1 Orange 
100g Caster Sugar
50ml Orange Juice
200g Dark Chocolate, chopped
100ml Single Cream

For the cinnamon sugar doughnuts:
Just under half fill a good, strong pan with enough vegetable oil to deep fry. Let it heat up over a medium-high heat until it is 180C.

Meanwhile, whisk together the plain flour, salt and sugar. In a small jug, whisk together the yoghurt, water and egg. Add the wet to the dry and whisk to combine. Just before frying, stir in the baking powder.

Test the oil with one doughnut. Once it is golden brown all over and cooked, make the rest. Carefully drop heaped teaspoons of the batter into the hot oil and fry the doughnuts until golden and cooked through - about 3-4 minutes per batch. Drain well on paper towels.

Mix together the ground cinnamon and sugar. Toss the doughnuts in the sugar. Serve immediately with the citrus chocolate sauce.

For the citrus chocolate sauce:
Zest and juice the lime and orange into a deep saucepan. Stir in the sugar and orange juice. Place over a high heat and let it bubble until it reduces by one-third. Then, take off the heat and stir in the dark chocolate. Finally, stir in the single cream until the sauce is smooth. Serve with cinnamon sugar doughnuts.

Recipe Notes

  • If you prefer a sweeter chocolate sauce, use milk chocolate instead of dark.
  • The sauce will thicken like a ganache as it cools. Just heat it up as needed.
{adapted from jamie's comfort food}

Keep me in your duas please, and enjoy your doughnuts!

Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu!


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