Fluffy Oven baked Donuts- Tang Zhong method
For the dough
2½ cups flour, all-purpose/ Plain (315g)
4 tbsp sugar (50g)
3 tbsp butter (45g)
½ tsp salt
½ cup milk, lukewarm (120ml)
1 egg, at room temperature
2 tsp yeast Minute
100g tangzhong
For tangzhong
50ml milk
50ml water
20g flour Plain
For the glaze chocolate hazelnut praline *
50g dark chocolate, chopped
50g or nutella nutella
30ml milk, hot
1 tbsp butter
hazelnuts, grated (optional)
For the vanilla icing *
1 cup caster sugar (115g)
2 tbs milk or water (30g)
½ tsp vanilla extract or vanillin minimum
For the cinnamon-sugar coating *
¼ cup peanut butter or melted butter
¾ cup granulated sugar (150g)
1 tsp cinnamon
1. To make the tangzhong, in a saucepan mix the milk, water and flour. Heat the mixture over low heat, stirring constantly with whisk. Slowly the mixture will begin to thicken like a thick bechamel sauce. When it has thickened enough to be able to see the lines marks left by the whisk. Then remove from heat and let cool, covered with a clingfilm.
2. Continue with the dough. In mixer or in a bowl, dissolve the yeast in warm milk. Add the egg, flour, sugar, salt and tangzhong, having become lukewarm. Mix with mixer until combined materials and add the melted butter. Knead with the hook, for about 10 minutes, until a smooth, soft and elastic dough. If you knead by hand wants a little more effort because the dough is wet and sticky at the beginning too. As we continue kneading develops the gluten and dough elasticity and becomes less sticky. To achieve this we need to work the dough for about 15 minutes. (To check if the dough is well kneaded, take a piece of dough with fingers to our stretch. If the dough stretches without punctures, so that the light passes through, it means that it is ready. It is called the windowpane test .)
3. We shape the dough into a ball, cover the bowl with cling film and place it in a warm place until the dough to rise and double in about 45 minutes. Then, press the dough to deflate and let rise a second time for another 30-45 minutes. Start to prep the glaze during the second proof.
4. Place the dough on a lightly floured work surface and knead a little to deflate. With a rolling pin roll the dough into a rectangular sheet having a thickness of approximately 1 cm. With a round cutter with a diameter of approximately 7.5 cm (or a glass) cut disc of dough. With a smaller cup appl diameter approximately 2.5 cm (or a lid) do well in the center of each disc.
5. Transfer the donuts on baking sheet lined with parchment paper, allowing space between each donut because it will swell. Then cover loosely with cling film and let it rise and doubled, about 45 minutes.
6. Preheat the oven to 190ºC ( i reduced mines to 180ºC as its a fan oven) and bake the donuts for 6-8 minutes. We want to get a light golden color and not browned. Therefore the monitor continuously, do not want to over cook or it will become dry. Remove them from the oven and glaze. (Remember to prep the glazes before hand)
For the glaze chocolate hazelnut praline: Melt the chocolate with the butter in a saucepan over very low heat or in a bowl in the microwave on low heat. Add the warm milk and mix well. Finally, add the hazelnut praline (nutella) and mix until homogenous. Dip the donuts into the glaze to cover uniformly the surface and rests on the grate. Sprinkle with grated hazelnuts. Do not heat the glaze too long, as it will separate.
For the vanilla icing: Place in a bowl of icing and vanilla. Add the milk (or water) little by little with stirring until a smooth glaze achieve the desired density. The more dilute the glaze is more transparent is the coating. Dip the donuts into the glaze to cover uniformly the surface.
For the cinnamon-sugar coating: Mix in a bowl the sugar with the cinnamon. Brush warm donuts with a little peanut butter and dip in the above mixture, or only one side or both. If we do not like peanut butter can be smeared with melted butter, and then dipped into the sugar.
* The amount of glaze is enough to cover about ⅓ of the total quantity of donuts, if you want to make donuts in three distinct flavors. In any other case, adjust the quantities of materials accordingly.