Welcome back to another lactose free recipe. One of the best things about cooking is being able to instantly make any dish that you have a deep craving for. The past two weeks I have been longing for a batch of fresh and fluffy doughnuts. I have made it my mission and quest to make a batch of delicious doughnuts that use only lactose free products. The quest has been full of so many bad batches of rock-hard misshapen lumps of dough. Thankfully with some perseverance I have discovered the best recipe.
As always, I have tested this recipe many times and found it to be successful providing you keep to the recipe. Plus, it works amazing with lactose free products. This recipe is lactose free providing you use the right ingredients. Always make sure your ingredients are safe.
This recipe comes from the one and only Paul Hollywood who is one of my top baking inspirations. His knowledge and skills are so amazing, I hope to reach his level one day.
Cooking with oil always makes me a little anxious. There are so many things that can go wrong, and you always see so many horror stories regarding deep frying. Please read these tips before you attempt this recipe.
- Keep kids away.
- Always stay in the kitchen when you are frying.
- Keep an eye on the oil, if you see wisps of smoke or the oil smells turn off the burner / stove immediately and very carefully remove the saucepan to the side. Smoke is a danger sign that the oil is too hot.
- Heat the oil slowly.
- Add the food gently to the pot so the oil doesn’t splatter and burn you.
- Always keep a lid beside the pan. If you have a fire slide the lid on top of the pan and turn the stove off. Let the saucepan cool down. Don’t remove the lid or it may ignite again. Call for help if you feel uncomfortable. DO NOT USE WATER ON AN OIL FIRE. Seriously please watch the following video.
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3F4c5o4J7M
- If there is a fire that can not easily be contained evacuate from the house and call the fire department in your country.
- Oil is very dangerous when used incorrectly please respect it.
Ingredients
- 250g Plain flour
- 25g Caster sugar
- 20g lactose free margarine
- 1 egg
- 7g Yeast
- 5g Salt
- 75ml Lactose free milk (warmed)
- 3 tbsp Warm water
Steps
Place all of the ingredients into a large bowl. Mix until it forms a rough dough.
Add another tablespoon of water and mix.
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface.
Knead until the dough becomes smooth and elastic.
Place the dough into a lightly oiled bowl and leave in a draught free place for 40 minutes to an hour to rise.
Tip the dough out onto a freshly floured surface. Press down to gently release the air.
Prepare two baking trays with baking paper.
Roll the dough out to about 1cm thick.
Sprinkle the top of the dough with flour.
Grab your cookie cutter. I chose to use a medium sized heart cutter.
Gently press the cookie cutter into the dough and cut out as many hearts as you can. Place the cut-out hearts onto the baking tray leaving some space in-between for them to rise again. I would not recommend gathering the dough pieces and re rolling and cutting, this can effect the second rise leaving you with hard bits of dough.
Place the trays in a warm draught free place so they can rise again for a good 30 to 45 minutes.
Place some sunflower oil in a large saucepan and heat to around 180C.
Keep an eye on the oil, if you see wisps of smoke or the oil smells turn off the burner / stove immediately and very carefully remove the saucepan to the side. Smoke is a danger sign that the oil is too hot.
Heat the oil slowly.
Always keep a lid beside the pan. If you have a fire slide the lid on top of the pan and turn the stove off. Let the saucepan cool down. Don’t remove the lid or it may ignite again. Call for help if you feel uncomfortable. DO NOT USE WATER ON AN OIL FIRE.
Very gently drop each doughnut into the oil. Cook until you can see the bottom is starting to turn golden brown.
Use a slotted spoon and turn the doughnuts over. Cook until golden.
Place the doughnuts onto a tray lines with paper towels to remove the excess oil.
Continue this process until you have cooked all the doughnuts.
Leave the doughnuts to cool down completely.
Decorating
I will be using a simple royal icing for decorating. I used the same thickness for flooding cookies.
Ingredients
- 450g Pure icing sugar
- 2 Egg whites
- Pink food colouring (gel works best)
Steps
Sift the icing sugar into a mixing bowl.
Add two egg whites to the sugar.
Min on a very low speed until the mixture just comes together.
Change the speed to high and mix for five minutes.
The icing mixture will be very thick.
The next step is to add in water until it reaches the desired thickness. For this recipe we will be using the icing for flooding. The mixture should be thin but able to stay in shape. I use the ten second rule to judge if the icing will be good for flooding.
The ten second rule is when you can run a knife through the icing to create a ripple. It should take between 6 to 10 seconds for the icing to return to being smooth. If it takes longer than ten seconds you need to add in a tiny amount of water. If it is less than 5 – 6 seconds the icing is too runny, and you need to add in more icing sugar.
To make the icing ready for flooding you will need to add a teaspoon of water at a time. Mix. Check for the ten second rule. If it is too runny add another teaspoon. Repeat until the icing is ready.
Take a few spoons of the white icing out and place in a small bowl. Immediately cover the top of the icing with clingwrap to avoid drying out.
Add a few drops of pink food colouring to the rest of the icing. Stir to combine. Transfer the pink icing to another clean bowl.
Gently place the doughnut into the icing.
Lift the doughnut out and leave for a few seconds so the excess icing drips off.
Place the doughnut onto a clean tray for a good 30 minutes so the icing hardens completely.
Finish all the doughnuts by repeating this process. If you find the icing is too runny simply add more icing sugar.
Use the white icing that was reserved and drizzle over the hardened pink icing.
Add some sprinkles and leave aside for another 30 minutes to harden.
Serve and enjoy.
