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Baked yeast doughnuts with hibiscus glaze.

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★★★★★

4.5 from 2 reviews

Ingredients

Scale
  • for the dough:
  • 3/4 cup milk
  • 1 1/2 tsp yeast
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tsp vinegar
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 3/4 cups (about 350g) all-purpose flour
  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • pinch freshly ground nutmeg (optional)
  • 2 tbsp butter
  • for the glaze:
  • 1/2 cup dried hibiscus flowers, divided (you can order them here in a small amount or here in bulk)
  • 2 cups water
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream
  • 1 cup powdered sugar

Instructions

  1. The night before or several days ahead, for the glaze: Make the hibiscus concentrate by combining 1/4 cup hibiscus flowers and 2 cups water in a small saucepot and bringing it to a boil over medium heat. Simmer for 15 minutes, then let cool completely and refrigerate until needed. Make the hibiscus cream by combining the cream and remaining 1/4 cup hibiscus flowers in a small saucepan over medium heat. Warm the mixture until just the edges begin to simmer, then immediately remove from heat. Let sit until completely cool, then refrigerate until needed. In about an hour, the cream should turn a bright, pretty magenta, almost like paint. Both the cream and the concentrate will keep for a good while, at least a week or more.
  2. The night before, for the dough: Heat the milk until just warm to the touch but not hot, about 110 degrees. This takes me about 15-20 seconds in the microwave. Sprinkle the yeast over the milk and let sit for 5-10 minutes, or until foamy. (See Notes if your milk is having trouble foaming.)
  3. Meanwhile, whisk together flour, sugar, salt, and nutmeg (if using) in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg, vinegar, vanilla extract, and milk-yeast mixture. Pour the egg mixture into the flour mixture and stir with a spatula or wooden spoon until a wet dough forms.
  4. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead 4-5 minutes, adding flour only as necessary to keep the dough from sticking. It should be a fairly sticky dough. Once the dough forms a semi-elastic ball, add the butter in two batches, one tablespoon at a time, kneading until incorporated after each addition. The butter will make the dough quite messy at first but should eventually incorporate into a light, silky dough. Continue to knead for 4-5 minutes. Place back in the bowl, cover with plastic wrap or a damp towel, and let rise in the refrigerator overnight, until well-doubled. (If you’d like to make the dough the day of, this should be fine — it will need about 1-2 hours at room temperature to double.)
  5. The day of: Turn the cold dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Roll it to a half-inch thickness and stamp out rounds using a 4-inch cookie cutter, re-rolling the scraps as needed. (At a certain point, I just twisted the remaining scraps into a makeshift cruller, but do whatever you like!) Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and transfer the rounds to it. Using a 1-inch cutter, cut holes in the doughnut rounds. Let proof for another hour, or until doubled. In the last 20 minutes of proofing, preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
  6. Bake the doughnuts and doughnut holes together until the bottoms are barely browned, about 9-10 minutes. The doughnuts will look comically pale — this is fine. As long as the bottoms are golden, they should be cooked through. You can break open a doughnut hole to test.
  7. For the glaze:  Strain out the flowers from the concentrate and hibiscus cream.  Combine the powdered sugar with 1 1/2 tablespoons of the hibiscus concentrate and 1 1/2 tablespoons of the hibiscus cream, and whisk until smooth. You may want to add a bit at a time, until the glaze reaches your desired consistency. When the glaze looks about right, dip the fully-cooled doughnuts in the glaze, sprinkle with a few additional hibiscus flowers, and enjoy immediately. Doughnuts will keep, but are best enjoyed within a few hours of baking.

Notes

For the glaze, you can opt to make only a hibiscus-infused cream or a hibiscus concentrate, or you can use a mixture of both, like I did. For a creamier glaze, use about 3 1/2 to 4 tablespoons cream and no concentrate; for a tart glaze, use 2 1/2 tablespoons or so of concentrate and no cream. If your milk and yeast will not foam, you may need to scald the milk first (see this thread for more information). Heat the milk in a small saucepan just until the edges begin to simmer, then remove from heat and let cool to lukewarm, add the yeast, and proceed. To fry these like regular doughnuts, heat about one inch of neutral-flavored oil in a pot over medium heat to 375° or when small piece of dough bubbles cheerfully when dropped into the oil. Use a fish spatula or slotted spoon (or both together) to gently pick up a donut and place it in the oil. Cook, flipping once, until puffed and dark golden brown, 1 to 2 minutes per side. Drain on napkins or a baking sheet and let cool until just warm to the touch.

Find it online: https://tworedbowls.com/2015/09/01/baked-yeast-doughnuts/