• 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.