Recipe: Salted caramel doughnuts

Ingredients

Doughnuts
20g active dry yeast
250ml (1 cup) craft beer, at room temperature
30g castor sugar
100g butter, melted
500g cake flour
3 large eggs
Canola oil, for deep-frying

Salted caramel (makes 700ml)
200ml golden syrup
150g butter
150g demerara sugar
150g castor sugar
250ml (1 cup) double-thick cream
20g Maldon sea salt
Various coloured salts, to serve

Method

1. Place the yeast, beer and sugar in a jug and set aside to let the yeast activate, 5 – 10 minutes. The mixture will start to foam.

2. Place the melted butter, flour and eggs in a large mixing bowl. Add the yeast mixture and knead to form a soft dough. You can do this in an electric mixer using the dough hook or by hand. Knead by hand for 15 minutes or for 5 minutes in the mixer.

3. Place the dough in an oiled glass bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Set aside in a warm place to rise. After 30 – 40 minutes the dough should have doubled in size.

4. Knead the dough back into a ball and roll out on a floured work surface until the dough is about 1cm thick. Cut out 8cm rounds with a doughnut cutter. You can also use a round cutter and use a smaller cutter to cut out centres. Cover with a tea towel and leave to rise, 20 – 30 minutes.

5. For the salted caramel, place the syrup, butter and sugars in a small pot over medium-high heat and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and add the cream and salt. Return to heat and simmer, 2 – 3 minutes. Pour into a container and refrigerate until thickened.

6. To cook the doughnuts, heat the oil in a deep-fryer or medium pot to 180°C and drop a small piece of dough into the oil to test. Cook the doughnuts until golden and cooked through, about 1 minute on each side. Drain on paper towel.

7. Dip one side of the doughnuts in salted caramel and serve warm, sprinkled with various coloured salts.

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