It’s National Doughnut Day, so I made Brioche Doughnuts with Caramel Pastry Cream for the occasion.
I’ve been seeing a lot of posts lately about brioche doughnuts and I love brioche bread, so I definitely wanted to give it a try. I’m soooooo glad that I did. These are my new favorite doughnuts. These have to be the softest doughnuts I’ve ever made because of the brioche dough. Brioche dough has extra butter and eggs than regular sweet dough. These were absolutely delicious! They are extra moist, light and airy. I’ve never had a doughnut quite like this before.
I mixed the dough in the evening, let it rise for about 2 hours, then I cut out the circles and placed them on a baking sheet. I covered the dough with plastic wrap and placed them in the refrigerator overnight. In the morning, I took out the pan and let the doughnuts come to room temperature and rise. This can take a while because the dough is cold. To speed things up, you can place a pan of boiling water in the bottom rack of the oven, place the baking sheet with the doughnuts on a higher rack and close the oven door.
When the doughnuts have risen, heat vegetable oil in a pot and fry them on both sides. Place them on a baking rack to let the excess oil come off them for about 5 minutes, then roll them in sugar.
Fill a piping bag with the pastry cream and fill each doughnut.
Brioche Sugared Doughnuts with Caramel Pastry Cream
Ingredients
- 1 package yeast
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1 egg
- 1 egg yolk
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 3 cups flour
- 10 tbsp softened butter
- vegetable oil for frying
- sugar for rolling doughnuts in
Caramel Pastry Cream
- 1 1/2 cup milk or heavy cream or a combination of both
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup flour
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 4 large egg yolks
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1/4 cup caramel
Instructions
- Warm buttermilk in the microwave until slightly warm but not hot. Pour in a Kitchenaide bowl. Sprinkle yeast on top. Let it sit for 5 minutes. Add sugar, salt, vanilla, and eggs. Attach dough hook and turn on the machine. Add the flour a cup at a time. After the flour is in, add the softened butter a tbsp at a time. Let the dough kneed for a few minutes. Place the dough in an oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let it rise for 1-2 hours. Punch dough so it deflates. Roll dough out and use a round cutter to cut out circles. Place circles on a parchment lined baking sheet. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator overnight. The next day, remove pan from the refrigerator and let it come to room temperature and to rise. To speed the process, place a pan of boiling water in the bottom rack of the oven, place the baking sheet with the doughnuts on a higher rack and close the oven door. When the doughnuts have risen, heat vegetable oil in a pot and fry them on both sides until browned. Place them on a baking rack to let the excess oil come off of them for about 5 minutes, then roll them in sugar.
Caramel Pastry Cream
- Warm the milk in the saucepan until you start to see wisps of steam. It should not actually be boiling. In a medium bowl, whisk together the sugar, flour, and salt. Add the egg yolks and whisk them into the dry ingredients. This will form a thick paste. Pour a little of the hot milk into the eggs and whisk to combine. Continue pouring the milk slowly into the eggs, whisking continuously. When all the milk has been added to the eggs, pour everything back into the saucepan. Set the pan back over medium heat. Whisk constantly. At first, the pastry cream will look very thin and frothy, but it will start to thicken after a few minutes. When it has thickened to a pudding-like consistency, pause whisking every few seconds to see if the cream has come to a boil. If you see large bubbles popping on the surface, whisk for a few more seconds and then remove the pan from heat.Stir the vanilla and caramel into the pastry cream and then pour the cream into a strainer set over the bowl. Cover the pastry cream with a piece of plastic wrap pressed right up against the surface of the cream and chill completely.When ready to use, fill a pastry bag with a round tip with the cream. Push the tip of the pastry bag into the side top of one of the doughnuts. Fill each doughnut. Serve immediately.
