Description

Delicious Homer Simpson-inspired donuts made with a sweet, pillowy donut dough that gives perfect results every time.

Ingredients

DOUGH

½ cup (130 ml) whole warm milk
2 tsp (6 g) active dry yeast
1 tsp (4 g) granulated sugar
1 egg
1 egg yolk
1 tsp (5 ml) vanilla paste
2 ½ cups (300 g) all-purpose flour
¼ cup (47 g) granulated sugar
¾ tsp (5 g) sea salt
Slightly under ¼ cup, 3.5 tbsp (50 g) unsalted butter, room temperature

FRYING

6 ½ cups (1.5 l) sunflower oil, or any other neutral oil

COATING

2 tbsp (28 g) cacao butter
1 cup (150 g) white chocolate callets
3-4 drops red food coloring
Colored sprinkles red, yellow, white, green, and blue.

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Instructions

Prepare the donut dough. In a stand mixer bowl, mix ½ cup (130 ml) warm milk, 2 tsp (6 g) active dry yeast, and 1 tsp (4 g) granulated sugar. Let it sit for 15 minutes; the mixture should have a layer on top with foam.
To this mixture, add 1 egg, 1 egg yolk, 1 tsp (5 ml) vanilla paste, 2 ½ cups (300 g) all-purpose flour, ¼ cup (47 g) granulated sugar, and ¾ tsp (5 g) sea salt.
Attach the dough hook to the stand mixer and knead on a medium-low speed for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, you can add the room temperature slightly under ¼ cup or 3 ½ tbsp (50 g) unsalted butter. Knead for 10 more minutes.
Proof the dough covered with plastic wrap in a clean bowl for 2 hours at an ambient temperature of 80F (27C).
After 2 hours, the dough should double in size. Roll out the dough to a 0.4-inch (1 cm) thickness and cut donuts using a round cutter or a donut cutter.
Line a tray with parchment paper and place the donuts on top with a little separation so they can grow. Cut the paper into squares so each donut has its little parchment paper base.
Proof the donuts covered with plastic wrap again at about the same temperature for 1 hour.
While the donuts are proofing for about 40 minutes, you have 20 left, so start preparing the oil. In a large pot, add 6 ½ cups (1.5 L) of sunflower oil or any other neutral oil of your choice. Heat it at a medium- low temperature.
Once the temperature reaches a temperature of 356F (180 °C), start frying your donuts, do it in batches of 2 at a time. When you remove the donuts, check that the temperature is above 345F (175 °C) as it will go slightly down when you add more donuts. The donuts need about 2 minutes on each side and an internal temperature of 190F (88C).
Have a cooling rack on top of a tray and a slotted spoon to remove the donuts and drain the oil.
Fry all of the donuts, and then we will start with the coating.
In a pan, melt 2 tbsp (28 g) of cacaobutter. Once melted, turn off the stove and add 1 cup (150 g) white chocolate callets. Stir to melt. Then add 3-4 drops of an oil-based red food coloring and mix.
Use a spoon to coat each of the donuts. Then, add the red, white, green, yellow and blue sprinkles. I recommend you don’t go one by one; instead, you follow a pattern, adding all the red ones, then the white ones, etc. You could just sprinkle them on top instead.

Notes

Ideal milk temperature for the yeast mixture is 110F-115F (43C-46C).

You don’t want the oil temperature to drop from below 345F (175 °C), and you don’t want it to be higher than 374F (190 °C).

I normally let the oil recover to the temperature for about 2 minutes after we remove the donuts.

If we want to follow the same pattern as the show, we will need 63 sprinkles of each color mentioned, approximately.

With the leftover dough, you can prepare donut holes that are perfect for a little snack.