Reynolds - Doughnuts: 60 easy, delicious recipes: a classic treat reinvented

These are not your average doughnuts...

Baked or fried, rolled in sugar, topped with meringue, filled with cream, custard and jam, iced, dipped in chocolate or piled in glorious heaps and drizzled with toffee sauce doughnuts are a seriously good treat.

These mouth-watering recipes are easy to make and transform the humble doughnut into a bake to be proud of. Doughnuts are perfect for celebrations try a chocolate doughnut tower instead of a birthday cake or minty candy cane doughnut sticks for Christmas. Also included are delicious doughnuts from around the world, from fruity Dutch olibollen to Mexican churros with chocolate sauce.

Its time to give the doughnut a much-needed makeover.

Rosie Reynolds trained as a cook and recipe writer first at Westminster Kingsway College and then at Leiths School of Food and Wine. She excelled at Leiths and secured a job working for BBC Good Food and Olive magazines. Since then Rosie has also worked on TV programmes, including BBCs One Show, and for supermarkets, such as Waitrose. She is an integral member of Bill Grangers food team, working as a food stylist and recipe developer for his book range, magazine columns and features.

Rosies passion is for fuss-free, tasty food, prepared and shared with love! She enjoys nothing more than discovering new flavour combinations, drawing influences from all over the world, to create delicious recipes for home cooks.

This is a collection of 60 recipes to celebrate the doughnut, whether it be round or ringed. There are loads of flavour combinations here, inspired by my favourite childhood treats and the many yummy things Ive eaten along the way since then its surprising how many things taste even better when turned into a doughnut!

For a long time doughnuts were, for me, either the piping hot, sugar-rolled rings eaten on New Brighton Beach, or the sweet treats bought in multi-packs at the supermarket by my mum to keep my sisters and me quiet while she shopped! More recently, Ive indulged in some more extravagant flavours offered by a few of Londons top foodie destinations: beef-cheek doughnuts anyone?

Most countries have some variety of doughnut in their regional cuisine, from the Italian bombolone, stuffed with everything from custard to chocolate and hazelnut spread, to the Indian gulab jamun, often fragranced with rose water but here soaked in spiced Chai tea syrup. It turns out the doughnut is much more versatile and interesting than I previously thought

If youre put off by the idea of fried dough, well, try baked doughnuts instead. Freshly made and either drizzled with icing or brushed with a little melted butter and rolled in sugar, they are absolutely delicious. There are fried doughnuts here, too, because homemade and eaten still warm, they are really, really good and frying with a vat of oil isnt as scary as it sounds.

What about doughnut cakes? They look like a doughnut but taste like a cake! Ive made these with yogurt and oil instead of butter, which gives them a dense texture that holds a good ringed shape.

Cupcake towers and croquembouche have been around for a while, so what about a doughnut tower instead? Baked, stacked and drizzled with chocolate, they make a great birthday cake alternative try Rocky Mountain in

Theres even a chapter on virtuous doughnuts. Worry not, Im not suggesting you fill deep-fried fresh air with jam. Rather, these doughnuts have a bit of fruit or veg, use wholemeal flour or are gluten- or dairy-free they still pack a flavour punch.

Doughnuts have been over-looked for too long and its time to give them a rebranding. They are so versatile whatever tickles your fancy, there should be a doughnut for everyone in this book. Enjoy!

Rosie Reynolds

Typically, doughnuts are made from enriched, yeasted dough, which is then often deep-fried, rolled in sugar and filled. Youll see that throughout this book Ive used a basic enriched dough, The Classic, as the starting point for most of the doughnut recipes. I suggest you make The Classic first, get used to the method and then try the rest of the recipes.

There are other variations here some arguably not doughnut-like at all e.g choux buns and doughnut cakes. Choux buns look like posh doughnuts and the pastry is made using basic ingredients and a not-too-difficult method. You dont even have to get your hands dirty: water and butter are brought to the boil, plain flour is added then eggs are beaten in. Eggs cause the pastry to puff up rather like a doughnut, and choux pastry can also be baked or fried. Do not be afraid of choux pastry, give it a try.

Whichever doughnut you decide to make, the most important thing is to have fun and give it a go.

Heres a list of equipment you will need to make the doughnuts in this book:

LARGE MIXING BOWL

SMALL BOWLS for icings and fillings

MEASURING JUG

SET OF DIGITAL SCALES

SET OF MEASURING SPOONS ranging from teaspoon to 1 tablespoon

SET OF ROUND CUTTERS (not essential)

WOODEN SPOON, TEASPOONS, DESSERTSPOON AND A SLOTTED METAL SPOON (for frying)

ELECTRIC HAND WHISK (makes beating so much quicker)

SHARP KNIFE, A ROUND-ENDED KNIFE AND A SMALL SERRATED KNIFE

SMALL AND MEDIUM-SIZED SAUCEPAN

COUPLE OF BAKING SHEETS AND LOTS OF NON-STICK BAKING PAPER

KITCHEN/SUGAR THERMOMETER very important to achieve the correct temperature of the frying oil

DOUGHNUT TIN available online and from cooks shops, these have six ringed holes perfect for making ringed doughnuts and doughnut cakes.

DOUGHNUT MAKER not essential for this book, but a lot of fun! Available online and from cooks shops, doughnut makers are easy to use, producing high yields of tasty, pretty little doughnuts really quickly. Throughout this book, recipes for doughnuts that can be made with a doughnut maker will state Makes 6 large or 30 mini doughnuts. Follow the method on , as well as the manufacturers instructions for your doughnut maker to make 30 mini doughnuts.

PIPING BAG AND NOZZLES 0.5cm round, 1cm round and star-shaped, and 1.5 cm round and star-shaped nozzles are used in this book.