Classic Bismark Doughnuts Recipes

BIG-BATCH BISMARKS

Steps:

• In a large bowl, dissolve yeast and 4 teaspoons sugar in warm water. Add the milk, eggs, oil, salt, remaining sugar and 8 cups flour until blended. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough. Divide dough in half. , Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes. Place in two greased bowls, turning once to a grease tops. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour., Punch the dough down. Turn on a floured surface; roll out to 1/2-in. thickness. Place on greased baking sheets. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 30 minutes., In an electric skillet or deep-fat fryer, heat oil to 375°. Fry bismarks, a few at a time, for 1 minute on each side or until golden brown. Drain on paper towels. Cool for 2-3 minutes. Cut a small slit with a sharp knife in one side of each bismark; fill with about 1 teaspoon jelly. Decorate with frosting and sprinkles if desired.

LONG JOHNS

Steps:

• In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add milk, butter, sugar, salt and egg and 2 cups flour. Beat until smooth. Stir in enough flour to form a soft dough. , Do not knead. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour. , Punch dough down. Turn onto a lightly floured surface; roll into a 12x8-in. rectangle. Cut into 3x1-in. rectangles. Place on greased baking sheets. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 30 minutes. , In an electric skillet or deep-fat fryer, heat oil to 400°. Fry doughnuts, a few at a time, until golden brown on both sides. Drain on paper towels. Combine glaze ingredients. Dip tops in glaze while warm.

FILLED BERLIN DOUGHNUTS (BISMARKS)

Steps:

• Soften the yeast in the warm water and let stand for 5 minutes or until it "blooms" or proofs.
• Put a half cup of sugar, the salt, butter, orange juice and rum extract in a large bowl.
• Pour the scalded milk over the ingredients in the bowl.
• Stir until the butter is melted.
• Cool to lukewarm.
• When cool, blend in 1 cup of the unbleached flour and beat until smooth.
• Stir in the yeast and add about half of the remaining flour, beating until smooth.
• Beat in the eggs.
• Then beat in enough of the remaining flour to make a SOFT (should be slightly sticky and light in weight).
• Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured board and let rest for 5 to 10 minutes.
• Knead until smooth and elastic (about 8 to 10 minutes).
• Form into a ball and put into a greased bowl, turning to grease the top of the ball of dough.
• Cover and let rise in a warm draft free place until doubled in bulk.
• Punch the dough down, kneading lightly to remove all of the air pockets, and turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface.
• Roll to 1/2-inch thickness.
• Cut the dough into rounds using a 3-inch biscuit or cookie cutter.
• Cover with waxed paper and let rise on the rolling surface away from drafts and direct heat, until double in bulk, (30 to 45 minutes).
• About 20 minutes before frying, heat the fat.
• Fry the doughnuts in the heated fat.
• Put only as many doughnuts at one time as will float uncrowded in a single layer deep in the fat.
• Fry 2 to 3 minutes or until lightly browned; turn the doughnuts with a fork or tongs, being careful not to pierce the doughnut, when they rise to the surface.
• Do this several times during the cooking.
• Lift from the fat, draining for a few seconds over the fat before removing to absorbent paper toweling.
• Cool.
• Cut a slit through the center in the side of each doughnut.
• Force about 1/2 ts of jam or jelly into the center and press lightly to close the slit. (A pastry bag and tube may be used to force the jelly or jam into the slit.) Shake 2 or 3 bismarks at one time in a bag containing granulated or powdered sugar. (Your choice.) Shake lightly to remove the excess sugar.

HOMEMADE YEAST DONUTS

Steps:

• In the bowl of a standing mixer, pour warm milk, sugar and yeast. Let stand until yeast starts to foam. About 10 minutes. Attach dough hook to standing mixer while yeast is activating.
• In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the flour and salt.
• Add flour mixture, butter and egg yolks to the yeast mixture and beat on medium speed until it comes together and forms a ball. Just about 3-5 minutes. Cover the bowl and and allow the dough to rise in a warm place for 1 hour.
• Spray a sheet tray with non stick cooking spray and set aside. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface and roll out to a 1/2″ thickness. Using a 2″-3″ donut cutter (you can also use a drinking glass or biscuit cutter to cut out your donuts and a plastic bottle cap to cut out the holes), cut out donuts and transfer them and their holes to the prepared baking sheet, spacing them 1″ apart. Spray the tops of the donuts and holes with nonstick cooking spray and cover with plastic wrap. Let stand in a warm place until they have almost doubled in size, about 30 minutes.
• Using a deep fryer or dutch oven, heat oil to 350º. Line a baking sheet with paper towels or brown paper and set aside.
• Working in batches, fry the donuts and donut holes until lightly golden brown, about 1 minute per side. Transfer to the paper lined baking sheet and let cool for 10 minutes before glazing.
• To make the glaze: In a large mixing bowl using a hand mixer or whisk, mix all ingredients together. Mixture should be thin. Add more hot water if needed to thin out the glaze. Keep glaze warm until ready to use.
• Dip the donuts, one at a time, into the warm glaze, covering the top half of each donut with glaze. Dip glaze side down into a bowl filled with your favorite sprinkles and place on a tray to set for
• 10 minutes. Serve immediately.

LEMON FRIED DONUTS

Steps:

• Set a medium saucepan with water to simmer. In a small heatproof bowl, whisk together the lemon juice, zest, sugar and eggs until well combined.
• Add in the butter pieces and set the bowl over the simmering pot of water. Whisk the mixture continuously (don't ever stop whisking!!) while cooking until it's thick, about 10 minutes.
• Remove from heat and pass the curd through a fine-mesh sieve. Cover the curd with plastic wrap, directly on the curd and let cool. Chill for a few hours or overnight.
• In a small bowl, combine the yeast and warm water. Mix until yeast dissolves and let stand for 5-10 minutes until foamy. (If yeast is not foamy, do not continue. Start again with new yeast and save yourself the heartbreak.)
• In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the hook attachment, mix the flour, milk, butter, egg yolks, sugar, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and yeast mixture on low speed until dough comes together. Knead dough for 3-5 minutes until elastic and smooth. (Alternatively, mix the ingredients in a medium bowl with a wooden spatula until dough comes together. Turn dough onto a well floured surface and knead for 7 minutes until dough is smooth and elastic.)
• Transfer dough into a lightly oiled large bowl and sprinkle lightly with flour to prevent a crust from forming. Cover the bowl loosely with a kitchen towel and let rise until double in size, about 2 hours in a draft-free place at room temperature. (Alternatively, you can let dough rise in refrigerator for 8-12 hours or overnight).
• Lightly flour a surface and turn out the dough. Roll dough out to about half-inch thick. Using a biscuit cutter or round cookie cutter (mine was 3-inches in diameter), cut out as many rounds as possible. Transfer the donuts to a lightly flour baking sheet. Cover the baking sheet loosely with a kitchen towel and let donuts rise at room temperature until slightly puffed, about 30-45 minutes. (Don't re-roll the scraps. You can fry them up if you like)
• When ready to fry, heat up the vegetable oil in a deep heavy bottomed pot over medium-high heat. The oil should be at least 2 ½ inches. If you like you can check the oil with a thermometer, should be about 350 degrees F. This is where you need to be very CAREFUL, it's hot oil.
• Fry donuts, 3-4 at a time, until puffed and golden brown about 1-2 minutes. Make sure you turn the donuts occasionally as they fry. Remove from oil with a slotted spoon and transfer to a paper towel lined plate.
• Let donuts cool completely. To fill donuts, use a long-tipped pastry bag to poke a hole in each donut and fill with lemon curd. Roll donuts generously in granulated sugar or powdered sugar. Enjoy!