Homemade doughnuts are always worth the trouble. The freshness of a doughnut minutes after emerging from a vat of hot oil is simply incomparable. Biting into that crispy crust enveloping soft fluffy centre makes all the work of deep frying worthwhile. Every time I make doughnuts at home, I always tell myself that I should do it more often but it is easier said than done. That’s good news for my waistline.
When I made my Chinese New Year snacks last week, I planned out my schedule to incorporate a batch of cider doughnuts. I bookmarked the recipe for these cake doughnuts from smitten kitchen long ago but did not have a chance to try until recently. The use of apple cider reduction drew me to the recipe initially because it ensured a strong apple flavour without excessive liquid. However, it was simply another hurdle that caused me to procrastinate. Deep frying is already hard enough. Why would I want to add more cooking time by slowly reducing apple cider until it turns syrupy?
Lucky for me, other cooking projects left me with a jar of apple cider reduction and I was keen to get rid of it. Instead of making jelly doughnuts, I turned straight to this apple cider doughnut recipe without hesitation.
The beauty of cake doughnut is the ease of putting the dough together. It is not any different than making a simple buttermilk cake. I gently pressed the dough into a square on a silicone mat without even using additional flour. The dough was chilled briefly in the freezer so it was easy to stamp into rings and circles.
Lately I’ve been playing around with induction cooktop and exploring its advantages and disadvantages. Deep frying is one of the things it excels. Once the oil came to temperature, induction cooktop easily held the hot oil at the temperature steadily. Unlike a gas burner, I did not have to fidget with turning the heat up and down constantly to monitor the oil temperature. Now that I see the light, I cannot imagine going back.
The cider doughnuts fried quickly with only 2-3 minutes on each side. It never ceases to amaze me the difference of cooking time between oven and deep frying. Every doughnut puffed to incomparable lightness, just the way I like it. Thanks to the prominent cider flavour, it doesn’t even need any adornment. But of course I glazed some with apple cider icing and others with a dusting of icing sugar. It’s fun to indulge.
I am happy that I am getting more used to cooking with an induction cooktop because I will be working with one in the new kitchen. All of the appliances for the new dessert cafe/ice cream parlour are purchased and I cannot wait for the renovation to be completed. It will be really exciting to develop new recipes for the cafe and I’ve been jotting down creative ideas constantly. Another month of calm and I expect things to switch to high gear soon.
