The year is 2013, it’s a Sunday, I’m on my way to meet a couple of friends in town, life’s good, no traffic. But I AM HUNGRY. I know we’ll be walking around town for a while, and to be honest I am not about to roam around the CBD starving.
So immediately I get off the jav, my first instinct is to get into the first shop that’s open and grab a cold coke, and maybe a samosa. The bakery I walk into didn’t have samosas and the only kind of pastry they had was donuts. So I get myself three. The kind lady heats the donuts up for me and I find me a bench to enjoy my meal.
To be 100% honest, I really hate food that tastes like other food. These particular donuts tasted like samosas. They’d probably been deep-fried in the same oil but I was too hungry to care one bit. But lo & behold, the donuts were stale.
I mean despite the donut being warm and all, it was really hard and tasted tooo bland. I tried to finish the first one but i couldn’t and I was feeling guilty to throw the rest away, so when I gave one of my friends, he just bit into it and asked me why I am giving him spoilt pastries. We laughed about it but I knew I had to get home and learn how to make better donuts cause life’s too short for bad pastries.
So here we are.
Why buttermilk and not regular milk?
Buttermilk (maziwa mala), in my opinion, gives the dough a softer and lighter finish and the dough is somewhat more airy.
I wanted a light pastry (although I only ate one), and there’s nothing better than an airy donut that will leave you licking your fingers!!
Ingredients
- 2 cups all purpose flour (plus extra for kneading and rolling)
- 1 cup Pradip Corn Starch
- 1/4 cup Granulated White Sugar (add or reduce to your liking)
- 10 grams Yeast
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup warm buttermilk
- 1/3 cup vegetable oil.
- 1 teaspoon Pradip Vanilla Essence
For the Glaze (Optional)
- 50 grams White/Dark Chocolate
- 8 tablespoons icing sugar
- Water
- 2 tablespoons margarine
- Sprinkles
Method
In a bowl, sift together the corn flour and the all purpose flour to remove any lumps.
Add the yeast, followed by the sugar, then stir, to incorporate them together.
Add the Pradip Vanilla Essence, then the oil and the eggs, and mix in to combine.
Once combined, add the warm buttermilk – The buttermilk should just be warm enough that you can dip your finger and not get burnt. If its too cold, there will be no reaction and the dough will not rise. If it’s too hot, the yeast will be killed immediately and thus be unable to react. the eggs may also start cooking especially if they were not well mixed in.
Combine everything with a wooden spoon and mix in until it forms a dough. if its sticky while you knead, add a little all purpose flour and continue kneading until the dough no longer sticks to your hands or to the counter top.
Grease a clean bowl and place the dough, cover the bowl with either a towel or cling film. Let the dough rise for 20 to 30 minutes (or more if necessary!).
For a visual tutorial, here’s the step by step video on our channel.
When the dough is ready, punch the center of the dough. It helps release the air that is in the dough.
Featuring Cynthia’s hands
Dust your surface with flour and roll the donut dough to your desired thickness.
Using a donut cutter, cut into shape and then deep fry the donuts until golden.
If you’re going to glaze the donuts:
Make the Glaze
In a double boiler, melt the chocolate and the margarine together.
In a second bowl, sift the icing sugar and add water, a little at a time, until the mix is thick and a little runny.
Add the icing sugar to the melted chocolate and dip the doughnuts. If adding sprinkles, sprinkle on to the glazed doughnut immediately as it dries quickly.
DIG IN!!
