Strawberry + Custard Doughnuts

This recipe makes about 7-8 in total. I used a 3 x 3 inch heart-shaped cookie cutter.

Brioche dough:

100ml whole milk, cold

3 eggs, cold

50g sugar

1½ tsp Instant Dry Yeast

400g all purpose flour

½ tsp salt

125g unsalted butter, cubed + very soft

Canola oil, for frying

Custard:

250ml whole milk

75ml heavy cream

3 egg yolks

50g granulated sugar

1 Tbsp vanilla bean paste

15g cornstarch

Pinch of salt

15g unsalted butter

Strawberry sugar: Blend together 20g freeze-dried strawberries, 100g granulated sugar, 2 tsp cornstarch and a big pinch of kosher salt

120ml strawberry jam

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, mix together milk, eggs, sugar and yeast. Mix in flour and salt. Fit your stand mixer with a dough hook and knead on low speed for 5-8 minutes until a smooth dough forms. It should start to pull away from the sides of the bowl.

2. Slowly add the butter cubes, one at a time. Only add another cube once the first has been fully incorporated.

3. Once all of the butter has been incorporated, let the mixer knead on low for another 15-20 minutes.

4. Transfer the dough to a lightly greased bowl, cover tightly and allow to proof at room temperature (for 2 hours) or in the fridge overnight (up to 24 hours) until roughly doubled in size. 

5. In the meantime, make your custard by simmering milk and cream over medium-low.

6. In a medium bowl, whisk together yolks, sugar, vanilla bean, cornstarch and salt until smooth and light. Ladle about half of the warm milk mixture into the yolks, whisking constantly.

7. Pour the yolk mixture back into the milk and cook over medium until a few large bubbles form in the middle of the pot. Remove from the heat, whisk in the butter and then transfer to a bowl. Cover the surface with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge. Once chilled, fill a piping bag with the cream. Fill another piping bag with the jam. Set both aside.

8. Once the dough has risen, transfer it to a lightly floured work surface and roll out into a ¾-inch thick slab. Use a 3-inch cookie cutter to punch out your doughnuts.

9. Place each doughnut onto a greased square of parchment on a large baking tray. Cover and proof for an hour, until puffy.

10. Fill a large dutch oven about halfway with oil and heat until it reaches 340-350°F. 

11. Fry doughnuts one or two at a time, approx. 2 minutes per side, using the parchment to help you gently drop them into the oil. Place fried doughnuts on a wire rack lined with paper towels and allow to cool.

12. Roll both sides of each doughnut in the strawberry sugar. Make an incision along the equator of the doughnut with a sharp knife and then use the piping to fill it with the strawberry jam and then custard. Serve immediately.