Chocolate Donuts

Have you ever wondered why donuts taste so good?

It's because they are F.R.I.E.D.!
Yes. Fried. In oil. 

They are essentially you tiao (fried chinese dough sticks) with your favourite glaze, like chocolate.

No wonder it's hard to stop at one, especially when they're fresh.

This recipe is great if you don't have all day to make a batch of donuts.
The high proportion of yeast - yes, 5 teaspoons, it's not a typo - means that the dough rises really fast and gives you risen dough by the time you finish cutting out all your donut rings and are ready to start frying.

You HAVE to try these!!
Even if you are not quite a donut fan (like me), once you've had a taste of one of these donuts fresh from the pan, you'll change your mind forever.


DONUTS
Makes about 30 small donuts.

5 tsp instant yeast
1 cup warm milk
2 cups plain flour
1/2 tsp salt
50g sugar
1/2 cup mashed potatoes
2 tbs oil

Sprinkle yeast over warm milk; set aside 5-10 min till frothy. 
Combine flour, salt, sugar and mashed potatoes.
Then add yeasted milk and oil.
Knead till a dough forms.

On a well-floured surface, roll out dough till about 1/2" thick; cut out donuts rings.
Save the holes to make dough-balls or re-roll for more donut rings.  
By the time you are done cutting out the last donut ring, the first donut should have risen a little. If it hasn't, wait for a few more minutes. (Sorry about not having photos of the making; hubby took the camera out while I was making donuts. I promise to take some photos of the making next time.)

Pour vegetable, corn or peanut oil into a saucepan to about 1 to 1.5" deep.
Heat till about 185*C.  Or test by inserting a wooden chopstick into the hot oil. If bubbles appear around the chopstick, the oil is ready. (I learnt this from Yan Can Cook.)
Fry donut rings till golden brown and cooked through on both sides.
Cool on a wire rack with newspaper below the rack to catch any oil drips.


CHOCOLATE GLAZE

300g chocolate
1 cup whipping cream

Heat cream.
Pour over chocolate.
Stir gently till well combined. 
Dunk cooled donuts into chocolate and let the excess drip back into the bowl. 
The glaze should set after half hour or so. 

Now impress your friends and family with home made delicious donuts  :)