Blood Oranges Give Doughnuts Such a Delicious Flavor!
Blood Oranges are definitely my favorite winter fruit. There’s just so many amazing things you can make with it.
These Blood Orange Brioche Doughnuts were the best. Fluffy, buttery fried Brioche dough filled with rich blood orange pastry cream.
Start with making the dough the night before so it has an overnight rise in the refrigerator.
Traditional brioche dough is made with all purpose flour. I decided to try using half all purpose and half bread flour because it worked so well with my cinnamon buns. The texture was phenomenal.
Make the pastry cream either the night before as well or before you take out the dough to start shaping the doughnuts. I make my pastry cream a little thicker than most recipes so the filling doesn’t drip out of the doughnuts so easily. I add cornstarch in the recipe to insure the thickness, but you can leave it out if you want the traditional consistency.
And after refrigerating, if the cream is too thick, squeeze extra blood orange juice in it and mix.
After rising in the refrigerator, divide the dough into equal portions and fry until golden brown. In the past, I just heated the oil until I felt it was hot enough. This time, I decided to take the plunge and buy a candy thermometer to get the perfect oil temperature. I read online that the best temperature is between 350 and 375. I can now say, Do Not Skip This Step! Before, I realized that my oil was not hot enough. Turn up the flame and let it heat. The doughnuts are so good when fried at this temperature. They don’t stay in the oil as long and do not absorb so much oil.
Sprinkle the doughnuts with sugar soon after they come out the oil, then fill them with the pastry cream. You can use a long piping tip made specifically for filling baked goods or use a regular piping tip after opening an area of the doughnut with a chopstick or something else long.
These are a great winter doughnut recipe that everyone will enjoy!
Blood Orange Brioche Doughnuts
Ingredients
Doughnuts
- 1 package yeast (approx. 1 tbsp)
- 1 3/4 cups milk
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 2 1/2 cups bread flour
- 3 eggs
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup butter, softened
- Granulated sugar (to coat when done)
Pastry Cream
- 3/4 cup heavy cream
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup flour
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 4 large egg yolks
- 1 cup blood orange juice, strained (from 4-5 blood oranges)
Instructions
Doughnuts
- Warm milk in the microwave to about 110 degrees Fahrenheit. Add milk, 1/4 cup sugar and yeast to a standing mixer bowl and let it sit for 10 minutes. Add eggs, vanilla, salt and flour. Put on the dough hook attachment and let dough mix until blended. Add butter one Tbsp at a time until it is fully incorporated. Continue to allow dough to knead for 2 minutes. Remove bowl from standing mixer. Cover with a towel and let dough proof for 1 1/2- 2 hours. Transfer dough to a smaller bowl, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.The next day, divide dough into 12-14 equal pieces and roll each piece into a ball. Cut out parchment paper squares for each doughnut and place them on top. This will make it easier to place them into the oil. Heat a large pot of oil to about 360-375 degrees. Use a candy thermometer to get the exact temperature. Gently place each doughnut into the oil using the parchment squares. Fry until golden brown turning once. Cool on a baking rack. Completely cover each doughnut with sugar. Place sugared doughnuts on a baking sheet. Use a knife or wooden spoon handle to make a hole in the side of each doughnut. Place pastry cream in a piping bag with a piping tip attached. Pipe pastry cream in each doughnut until filled. Top with a small wedge of blood orange
Pastry Cream
- Warm the cream and blood orange juice in the saucepan until you start to see wisps of steam. In a medium bowl, whisk together the sugar, flour, cornstarch and salt. Add the egg yolks and whisk them into the dry ingredients. Pour a little of the hot liquid into the eggs and whisk to combine. Continue pouring the liquid slowly into the eggs, whisking continuously. When all the liquid has been added to the eggs, pour everything back into the saucepan. Set the pan back over medium heat. Whisk constantly. When it has thickened to a pudding-like consistency, remove the pan from heat but keep stirring until the mixture is smooth. Pour into a bowl and cover or into an air tight container. Place into the refrigerator overnight or for 2 hours. When ready to use, stir. If the mixture seems too thick, squeeze the juice of another blood orange into it and stir until smooth.
