As week one of this corona-cation is coming to an end, I hope we are all still in faithful spirits! I’ve been doing tons of cooking and EATING. Thankfully, the grocery stores near me are relatively stocked up pretty well and I haven’t had to be worried about not having enough food. Although, potatoes and ginger have been pretty hard to come by… what recipes are people using all these potatoes and ginger for?
I’ve also been doing a looooot of baking, mostly recipe testing but my favorite part is eating, of course! All the amenities are closed at my apartment, including my gym (I guess I’m not that sad about that HA!). It’s times like this I realize how privileged we are to have access to almost everything on the internet, especially my prime source of entertainment, Netflix and Youtube.
One of the things I baked this week is Brioche Donuts filled with a Honey Lavender Custard. They are so fluffy and plush, just like how I will be if this corona-cation doesn’t end soon (◠‿◠✿)
Fluffy Brioche Donuts filled with Honey Lavender Custard
Ingredients
DONUTS
- ⅔ cup whole milk
- 2¼ tsp instant yeast
- ¼ cup organic honey
- 4 cups all purpose flour plus more for dusting
- 4 large eggs
- 1 tsp salt
- 4 tbsp unsalted butter softened
- neutral oil for frying
HONEY LAVENDER CUSTARD FILLING (makes 3 cups)
- 3 cups whole milk
- ½ cup sugar
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 tsp honey
- 1 tsp lavender extract
- ¼ cup cornstarch
- 4 large egg yolks
- 4 tbsp unsalted butter
Instructions
FOR THE DONUTS
- Using a bowl for a stand mixer, combine the milk, yeast , honey, eggs, flour and salt. Using a dough hook, mix on low speed first, then increase speed until the flour is completely incorporated, about 5-6 minutes. The dough should appear smooth and have elasticity when pulled with your hand. Add the softened butter and mix until fully incorporated, about 3-4 minutes.
- Transfer the dough to a lightly greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let it sit at room temperature for about 1 hour or until doubled in size. I like to leave it in warmer place in my kitchen, like near the stove if I am cooking.
- Once the dough has doubled in size, punch the dough down and transfer onto a lightly floured surface. Divide the dough into 6-8 equal balls, depending on how many you’d like. Shape the dough pieces into round balls.
- Set aside the dough balls onto a parchment lined sheet pan, leaving about 2-inch spaces in between each dough ball. Lightly grease one side of a piece of plastic wrap. Cover the sheet pan with the greased side facing down, to prevent the dough from sticking to the cover. Let it rest for about 15 minutes.
- In a shallow pan, pour enough oil to cover the surface, about 3-inches deep. Heat the oil to 350ºF. Carefully remove the dough from the sheet pan and drop each dough ball into the oil. Fry for 3 minutes on each side until golden brown. Remove the donuts from the oil and place on a sheet pan lined with paper towels. Set aside to cool before filling.
FOR THE FILLING
- In a medium-size, heavy bottomed pot, combine together the milk, 1/2 of the sugar, salt, honey. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar.
- In another bowl, whisk together cornstarch, egg yolks and remaining sugar.
- Whisk some of the hot milk mixture with the egg yolk mixture to temper them. This will prevent the yolks from turning into scrambled eggs when you add them to the simmering milk.
- Pour the egg/milk mixture back into the remaining simmering milk. Bring to a simmer, stirring constantly with a whisk, until the mixture thickens or a nappe stage (when the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon). Take off heat and add butter and lavender extract, stir until the butter is completely incorporated. Strain this through a strainer for a smoother consistency. Cool to room temperature before filling the donuts. (*Adding the lavender extract in the last step prevents any of it from cooking off.)
TO FILL DONUTS
- Roll each donut in sugar. Fill a piping bag with the custard filling and generously fill each donut. Serve immediately or store in airtight containers. Since these donuts are custard filled, make sure to store any leftovers in the fridge if you plan to store them for more than a day. Enjoy! • ‿ •
