Cream-Filled Donuts

Is there anything better than a cream-filled donut? 

No, there really isn't. 

These donuts are my dream donuts. They're fried...

...tossed in sugar...

...and filled with pastry cream. 

How could you even go wrong with those elements? Fried, sugared, and filled??? Sign me up! 

These donuts are yeasted, which makes them perfectly chewy-- it also makes them take a little bit longer with the rise time. There are two options for the recipe: you can make the dough the night before, or you can make it the day you want to fry them. 

The sugar on the outside gives them the perfect sweet crunch, and the whipped pastry cream adds a delectable rich filling without being overly sweet. 

Cream-Filled Donuts

Yields: 12 donuts

Time: 2 hours (or overnight)

Donuts:

1 tbsp active dry yeast

2/3 cup milk, warm

3 1/2 cups flour

1/3 cup sugar

2 tsp salt

3 eggs

7 tbsp butter, softened and cut into cubes

Pastry Cream:

1 1/2 cups whole milk

1/2 cup sugar

3-4 tbsp flour

1/2 tsp salt

4 egg yolks

1 tsp vanilla

6 tbsp heavy cream

Oil for frying (enough to go 3 inches up the side of your pan)

1 cup sugar for coating

1. Combine milk, yeast, and a pinch of sugar. Let it sit for 5 minutes to activate. Add flour, sugar, salt, and eggs. Using a dough hook, mix until combined, about 3 minutes. 

2. Add the butter, a little bit at a time, and knead (in the mixer, if you want) for 5-6 minutes, or until combined. At this point, you can wrap the dough and let it sit overnight. If you want the donuts sooner, let the dough rise, covered, in an oiled bowl in a warm place. Let rise until doubled, about 30-45 minutes. (I turn on my oven and put the dough bowl on top of the oven to get some heat). 

3. Make the pastry cream: Put the milk in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. While it's heating, combine sugar, flour, salt, and egg yolks until thoroughly combined. Once the milk is simmering but not boiling, remove the milk from the heat and spoon a few tablespoons into the egg yolk mixture while stirring. Continue to add the milk slowly. Once it's all been added, return it to the saucepan. Cook until it comes up to a boil and reaches the desired consistency. Add the vanilla and refrigerate, covered with plastic wrap. 

4. Roll out the risen donut dough and cut into 3" circles. Place on a greased cookie sheet, cover, and let them rise in a warm place until almost doubled in height. They will be pillowy when they're ready.

5. Heat the oil over medium-high heat until it reaches 350 degrees fahrenheit. Put the coating sugar in a shallow bowl to dip the donuts after they're fried. Use a spatula to get the donuts off of the cookie sheet into the oil. I did them one at a time. Flip after 2 minutes or so. Place the donuts on a paper towel-lined plate. 

6. Once the donuts are still hot but cool enough to handle, dip them in the sugar and place on a cooling rack. I would have one in the oil at all times, and while another was cooking I would dip another in sugar. Don't let them cool too much or the sugar won't stick well. 

7. Whip the cream until very stiff. Combine it with the cooled pastry cream. Poke a hole in the donuts with a chopstick and fill using a pastry bag and a round tip (or a bag with the corner cut off). 

They're best the same day (but definitely still tasty on day two). 

Pumpkin Cheesecake Bread

Yup. That's right. Pumpkin. Cheesecake. Bread. It has the best of all worlds.

I mixed this recipe up a little bit. This is my favorite pumpkin bread recipe. I love it! I found this recipe years ago. It's called "Pumpkin Pie Bread." This bread tastes like pumpkin pie, people. Pumpkin pie. In bread form.

Also, I'm kind of obsessed with cheesecake swirls, so I added one of those. Delish.

Pumpkin Cheesecake Bread

Yields: 2 loaves (either 8x4 or 9x5-- I did one of each!)

Pumpkin Bread Batter

3 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 tbsp pumpkin pie spice
2 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup veggie oil (or canola oil)
4 eggs
1 (15 oz.) can pumpkin purée
1/2 cup water

Cheesecake Swirl

1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese, room temperature
1/3 cup sugar
2 tbsp flour
2 eggs

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit. Grease two loaf pans (8x4 or 9x5 will work perfectly).

2. Whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and pumpkin pie spice. Set aside.

3. Beat together in a large bowl (a stand mixer works well) the sugar with the veggie oil. Add the eggs one at a time, beating between each egg. Add the pumpkin.

4. Add the dry ingredients slowly alternating with the water. Mix until combined.

5. Beat together the cheesecake swirl ingredients until smooth.

6. Pour a little more than half the batter between the two pans. Spread all of the cheesecake swirl batter in the two pans. Try to spread it out evenly, extending almost to the edges. Pour the remaining pumpkin batter on top and completely cover up the cheesecake swirl.

7. Bake for 55-70 minutes, or until a toothpick or cake tester comes out clean.

8. Let the bread cool in the pans for 15 minutes, then remove them and let them finish cooling on a cooling rack. Store in plastic wrap.

Happy autumn! 

Interested in more pumpkin recipes? Click the pictures!

 

Lemon Blackberry Cupcakes

I have some pretty awesome friends. After driving for about four days from Provo to Idaho, then Idaho to Denver, then Denver to Texas, I'm finally home! Yesterday was my friend Haidyn's birthday. She's the best. We've been friends forever. We fluently speak in movie quotes, ride elephants together, and eat ridiculous amounts of food from her family's catering business. 

I love that Haidyn is not at all a picky eater. She loves the weird food I like, so when I knew I'd be making her cupcakes for her birthday, I knew I could be as creative as I wanted to be. 

I wanted something with berries, and when I came home, there were some scrumptious-looking blackberries in the fridge that I just couldn't resist. 

We had some lemons and I immediately knew I wanted a light lemony cupcake filled with sweetened mascarpone. The frosting would be lemony blackberry cream cheese buttercream topped with a blackberry. I love dreaming up cupcakes. 

Lemon Cupcakes

Yields 18-20 deliciously full-sized cupcakes

• 1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
• 1 cup cake flour (I used 1 cup minus 2 tbsp all purpose flour, then added 2 tbsp corn starch. This is my go-to cake flour recipe. Make sure to mix the flour and corn starch together really well.)
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup milk
• 4 large egg whites, room temperature (I put my cold eggs soaking in warm water for 3 minutes or so)
• 3 teaspoons lemon juice
• zest of one lemon

1. Preheat oven to 375 fahrenheit (If you're at high altitude, preheat to 385). Line cupcake tins with adorable cupcake liners.

2. Mix together flours, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. Whisk until incorporated.

3. In a medium bowl, whisk together sour cream, milk, and egg whites. Set aside. 

4. In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar for about 5 minutes, or until light and fluffy.

5. Add the vanilla extract to the butter mixture. While the mixer is on low, add the flour mixture in 3 parts alternating with the milk/sour cream mixture. (You'll start and end with flour mixture).

6. Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. (If you make mini cupcakes, they take about 13 minutes.)

Mascarpone Filling

1/2 cup (4 oz) mascarpone cheese

1 cup powdered sugar

1/2 tsp lemon juice

Beat it all together and pipe into cupcakes.

Blackberry Cream Cheese Buttercream

4 oz cream cheese

6 tbsp butter

4 cups powdered sugar

1/2 tsp clear vanilla extract

1 tsp lemon juice

1/4 cup blackberries plus some for topping

Heat the blackberries in the microwave to help release the juices. Mash them through a sieve to get the seeds out. Beat the cream cheese and butter in a mixer. Add the powdered sugar until it's smooth. Add vanilla and lemon and beat until it's fluffy. Add the blackberry juice and make sure it's beaten until it's fully incorporated. Pipe onto cupcakes and top with a blackberry and some sugar crystal sprinkles. 

Bon appétit!