Donuts

Eggless Donuts

So is it Donuts or Doughnuts? I have often wondered which is the actual spelling. But then who cares..right? Donuts or Doughnuts..its nuts!! All I care about is the sweet rings of dough fried or baked, plain or sugared, with chocolate or sprinkles..MMMM I love Donuts in all forms. 

Donuts are pretty easy to make too. The only precaution I have to take is to make them when nobody is at home. with hubby and sonny around by the time I am done with the frying the Donuts stack is considerable lessened. I have to either keep swatting away their hands or shooing them out of the kitchen. So the only criteria for me is Solitude. 

This time I faced a major problem while making the Donuts. I have recently shifted base. From a desert region i have climbed the mountains to a height of almost 11, 000 ft. Lovely experience all around except for the temperature. With an outside temperature of -5 degrees Celsius I found it very difficult to proof the yeast.

 Yeast blooms well in a hot and humid environment. Here not so. I first did a trial run to know whether yeast will work in such cold temperature.  I swathed the container in layers of woolens like a wee new born, ran around in the sun looking for a warm spot and kept checking every few seconds. Finally it bubbled and so did my happiness. 

Ingredients

2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup butter
2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp yeast
1/2 tsp salt

Warm the milk to lukewarm. Melt the butter. Take a big bowl and mix together flour, sugar  salt, yeast and melted butter. Make a soft dough using the milk. You might not need all of the milk. So use a tablespoon to add the milk as you knead. Knead the dough for about 10 minutes. Roll out the dough to 1/2 inch thickness. Cut out shapes using a doughnut cutter.

 Put them on a greased tray. Cover with a damp cloth and leave to rise for about an hour. 

Heat some oil really well. Turn down the heat and then deep fry the donuts. 
You can decorate the donuts as you wish. I have done it two ways: roll them in castor sugar or dip them in chocolate ganache.