Chocolate and Coffee Custard Doughnuts

The earliest memory of having doughnuts was with my granny Marina, as many other treats she used to prepare for us, her splendid cinnamon and sugar coated doughnuts freshly made were the best treat for our little eyes , but I can't really say I have other memories of them while I was growing up apart from eating the odd franchise one and it was never the same.

Eating doughnuts was never a thing for me until I lived in New York, that was the first time I tasted an artisanal doughnut and what a difference that experience was! you just can’t compare the taste of an artisanal made doughnut to mass produce ones.

It feels bittersweet now thinking back about the lovely time I spent living with my little family in Manhattan and knowing how bad the circumstances are at the moment , I have so many precious memories of our time there. But if one thing we know is how resilient New Yorkers are and they will too get through this!

I will forever treasure the Union Square market days, train trips upstate specially during the fall, afternoon walks through Central Park in Spring, feeling the vibrancy of the city during the Summer and my new found love for the best doughnuts I ever tasted.

Moving back to England was a hard experience at the time for us, it took some time to adjust and feel at home again , but soon I remembered how amazing Borough Market was in London and the wonderful produce that they sell , here is where I spotted a little stall in the market selling amazing custard filled doughnuts, that place is Bread Ahead Bakery .

So of course when I found out they had a bakery school I was there to learn , if you live in London and have thought about trying this class I cannot recommend it enough, they have the best pastry and bread making chefs that show the technique and method to achieve the perfect doughnut, fluffy and with the right amount of filling. Once you learn the method It’s also fun to experiment with flavours, I have and orange and mezcal custard doughnut coming your way soon!

For this recipe I wanted to marry three of my favourite things into one coffee, dark chocolate and doughnuts, my husband, Bill was pretty happy with the result so I hope they will bring you and your family the same joy too. It’s a recipe that takes a bit of time to prepare but it’s a perfect little project to have during this time and the reward when you get to eat a freshly made one it’s heaven!

Note: This recipe is adapted from the Bread Ahead original doughnut recipe. You have to prepare your dough a day ahead for best results, so have that time in mind when you decide to make them.

Makes 10 doughnuts.

Ingredients:

250 grams strong flour.

30 grams caster sugar.

5 grams sea salt.

4 grams of instant dried yeast.

2 eggs.

lemon or orange zest.

75 ml of cold water.

63 grams of unsalted butter.

1 1/2 lt of vegetable oil.

3 cups of caster sugar.

Chocolate and Coffee Custard.

1 cinnamon stick.

250 ml of full fat milk.

1/2 of a cooled down Nespresso shot.

3 egg yolks.

65 grams of caster sugar.

40 grams of plain flour.

150 grams of dark chocolate ( at least 70% cocoa)

125 ml of double cream.

1 pipping bag with a large round nozzle (1.5 cm approx).

20 grams of dark chocolate .

20 grams of milk chocolate.

Method.

Note: For this recipe is important to let the dough prove overnight.

Night Before Steps.

Prepare this the night before by adding all of the doughnut ingredients (except butter) into the mixer, use the hook attachment and mix your ingredients on medium speed until all the ingredients are combined and form a dough, keep mixing until it stops sticking to the sides.

Add the butter little by little on a medium speed until it’s all integrated and forms a glossy soft to touch dough.

Place your dough in a bowl and cover it with a wax wrap or cling film, let it rest until it doubles in size. Then knock back (punch down) your dough to release the air, recover the bowl and put into the fridge overnight.

Morning Steps, ( see pictures below).

The next day get your dough out of the fridge and cut in 50 grams pieces, weight your dough into a scale to make sure your doughnuts are even size.

Then roll and form little buns with your hands from each piece, if your pieces of dough are too sticky you can add a bit of flour over your kitchen surface but be careful not to add too much as this will affect the recipe.

Place your buns over a floured baking tray covered lightly with cling film , make sure you leave enough room between them to let them double in size , this takes about 4 hours.

Chocolate- Coffee Custard

In the meantime, add the milk and one cinnamon stick in a small sauce pan and bring it slowly just to boil, remove from the heat and let the cinnamon stick infuse the milk for another 20 minutes.

Place the egg yolks and sugar into a bowl, whisk until the mixture becomes pale yellow then add the coffee and sifted flour and mix.

Take the cinnamon stick out of the milk and bring just to boil again, add a little bit to the egg-sugar mixture, whisk and add the rest of the warm milk little by little.

Return all the mixture into a clean sauce pan and on a low-medium heat, whisk constantly until it becomes thicker (5 min approx). Place your custard in a bowl, cover it with cling film touching the surface of your mixture and let it cool down in the fridge.

Melt the chocolate in a bain marie , and let it cool down. Whip the cream into your mixer until thick and fold in the melted cooled down chocolate , add this to your chilled coffee custard and your filling is ready, reserve in the fridge.

To make the doughnuts follow the next steps ( see pictures above):

1. Prepare a bowl with caster sugar to coat the doughnuts and a tray with kitchen paper to place your pastries after frying.

2. Heat up the oil in a heavy based sauce pan, it has to be 180 C, ( check with the help of a sugar thermometer).

3. With the help of a pastry scraper carefully remove the doughnuts from the tray and place them in the hot oil carefully, I recommend to do two at a time.

4. Fry your doughnuts until golden on both sides flip carefully with a slotted spoon.

5. Remove from the hot oil and place into kitchen paper to absorb any excess oil.

6. Coat with the sugar while they are still warm, repeat the same procedure with the rest of the pastries.

7. With a pairing knife make a whole on the side of each doughnut and make space inside for the custard filling.

8. Pipe in the chocolate-coffee custard filling into each doughnut.

9. Grate dark chocolate and milk chocolate on top of your doughnuts, enjoy!