Salted Caramel Doughnut Holes Food

SALTED CARAMEL DOUGHNUT HOLES

Steps:

• Add the pastry cream and 1 cup of the salted caramel sauce to a bowl and beat with an electric mixer on medium-low speed until fully incorporated, creamy and smooth. Refrigerate until ready to use. Can be prepared up to 24 hours in advance.
• Pour the milk into the bowl of a standing mixer, and sprinkle in the sugar and yeast. Stir to combine and then let sit for about 5 minutes to let the yeast begin to come alive. Whisk in the egg, egg yolk, melted butter, vanilla, lemon zest, and nutmeg.
• Fit your mixer with the dough hook, add 5 cups of the all-purpose flour and mix on low speed (speed number 2 on a KitchenAid Mixer) until the dough begins to come together. Slowly add enough of the remaining cup of flour so that the dough comes together into a soft, slightly sticky ball. Depending on the humidity in the air, this might take the entire remaining cup or only a bit of it. What you're looking for is a soft, smooth ball of dough that clings to the dough hook, and does not stick to the sides of the bowl, but does stick slightly to the bottom of the bowl. If you stop the mixer and touch the dough, it should feel slightly sticky, but not so wet as to be confused with cookie dough.
• Once the dough has come together, sprinkle in the salt. Continue to knead in the mixer for about 8-10 minutes. The dough should look very soft and smooth.
• Butter a large bowl and dump the dough into the bowl. Butter a piece plastic wrap (or spray with non-stick spray) and use it to cover the bowl. Let the dough rise at room temperature for 1-2 hours, until it has doubled in size.
• Cover 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
• After the dough has risen, dump it out of the bowl onto a clean work surface and divide in half. Keep half covered while working with the other half. Divide the half portion of dough into 26 pieces and roll between your palms into golf ball sized balls. Place on a parchment covered baking sheet, spaced at least 1-inch apart. Spray a piece of plastic wrap with non-stick baking spray and cover the dough. Repeat with remaining half of dough.
• Allow the doughnut holes to rise at room temperature until nearly doubled in size, about 45 min to 1 hour.
• Heat a fryer to 375 degrees, OR pour enough vegetable oil into a large, deep saucepan to come up the sides 3 or 4 inches, and heat the oil to 350 degrees. Fry the doughnut holes, 6-8 at a time, for about 3 minutes, until a deep golden brown, using a slotted spoon to gently flip from side to side to encourage even browning. If large bubbles appear in the dough that prevent the doughnut holes from flipping over, use a sharp knife to gently pierce the bubble. Using the slotted spoon, transfer the doughnuts to paper towels to drain. Do your best to keep the temperature of the oil between 360-375 degrees.
• Let the doughnuts cool completely before filling with salted caramel pastry cream.
• Fit a pastry bag with a round or star tip and fill the bag with pastry cream. Insert the tip into the side of each doughnut hole and squeeze in some pastry cream, until you see the sides of the doughnut hole expand a bit. When you remove the piping tip from the doughnut hole, a bit of pastry cream should seep outside, which is how you know you've filled them enough.
• Drizzle the tops of the doughnut holes with additional room temperature salted caramel sauce and serve.

SALTED CARAMEL CRESCENT DOUGHNUTS

Steps:

• In deep fryer or 2-quart heavy saucepan, heat oil over medium heat to 350°F.
• Separate crescent dough into 4 rectangles. Firmly press perforations to seal. Stack 2 rectangles on top of one another. Fold in half widthwise to make tall stack. Repeat with remaining 2 rectangles.
• To make 2 doughnuts, use 3-inch biscuit cutter to cut 1 round from each stack; use 1/2-inch biscuit cutter to cut small hole in center of each round. Reroll remaining dough to cut third doughnut.
• Fry doughnuts in hot oil 1 1/2 minutes on each side or until deep golden brown and cooked through. Drain on paper towels. Cool 5 minutes.
• Carefully split doughnuts in half. Place pudding in decorating bag fitted with small round tip, and pipe some of the pudding onto bottom half of each doughnut. Top each with some of the caramel sauce; sprinkle with salt. Cover each with top of doughnut.
• In small bowl, mix powdered sugar and 1 teaspoon milk with spoon until smooth and spreadable. If frosting is too stiff to spread, add additional milk, 1/4 teaspoon at a time. Spread on tops of doughnuts. Drizzle with additional caramel sauce.

SALTED CARAMEL GLAZED DOUGHNUT HOLES

Steps:

• While you begin to put together the batter for the doughnut holes, pour the vegetable oil in the deep fryer and begin to heat it according to manufacturer's instructions. It won't take you long to prepare the batter.
• In a large mixing bowl, combine all the ingredients for the doughnut holes (flour, sugar, baking powder, nutmeg, vanilla extract, salt, egg, milk and melted butter). Blend with a handheld mixer or wooden spoon until all the ingredients until well mixed.
• Your oil should be ready now. When the oil is ready place teaspoon sized scoops of the doughnut hole batter into the hot oil and fry for about 2 minutes on both sides or until golden brown on both sides. Remove from oil when finished and place on paper towels to absorb all the excess oil. Repeat this process until all the batter is gone.
• Note about the salted caramel: You can buy salted caramel sauce already made, or you can make your own sauce, or you can buy regular caramel sauce and add 2 teaspoons of sea salt to the 3/4 cup of caramel that is required for this glaze. You can add more salt if that isn't enough balance of salt and sweet for you.
• Preparing the glaze: In a small bowl, add the powdered sugar, salted caramel sauce, and milk and stir until smooth. As your doughnut holes cool off, place them in the glaze and then on a cooling rack. I dipped my doughnut holes in the glaze twice. If you have enough feel free to do the same thing. Repeat this process until the holes are completely covered.

CHOCOLATE-CARAMEL DOUGHNUT HOLES

Steps:

• Sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a large bowl. In another bowl, whisk together sugar, buttermilk, butter, and eggs until thoroughly combined. Stir buttermilk mixture into flour mixture just until a smooth dough forms.
• On a lightly floured work surface, pat dough flat and lightly flour. Roll out dough to a 1/3-inch thickness. Cut into rounds with a 2 1/2-inch cookie cutter (to lift rounds from work surface, use a thin spatula). Reroll and cut scraps.
• Place a caramel in the center of each round, pinch dough closed around it, and gently roll into a smooth ball.
• Line a baking sheet with paper towels. Fill a wide shallow bowl with 1 inch sugar. In a large heavy pot, heat 4 inches oil until it registers 350 degrees on a candy thermometer. In batches of 4, fry doughnuts 5 minutes, turning once with a slotted spoon and adjusting heat as needed. Transfer doughnuts to prepared sheet; let rest 4 minutes. Roll in sugar to coat. Serve immediately.