Chocolate Filled Doughnuts

thegirlwithspoon
Jun 8, 2021
5 min read

Updated: Jun 15, 2021

I've been meaning to make chocolate filled donuts ever since I first saw a friend on instagram selling them. This was almost two months ago. Something or the other came up every time I decided to make these beauties.

These donuts are also called bombolinis or brioche donuts. I have filled them with a smooth and silky milk chocolate ganache but you can do lemon curd, white/dark chocolate ganache, orange curd, custard, creme anglaise or thickened mango puree!

I didn't want to make a huge batch because I knew that one donut itself was going to be so heavy, what am I going to do with the rest? Sure, I could eat them (trust me to finish them in one sitting) but that also meant double workout for the next day or probably the entire week. So I decided to cut down the recipe and make a small batch. Now the smallest batch will make around 6-7 of these. For a family of 4 like mine, finishing these didn't seem like a huge task!

Making these donuts are super easy. You just need to have a lot of patience. Being a small batch you really gotta give it a lot of time to proof to achieve the soft and fluffy goodness of a regular donut.

Because I had to shoot these early in the day, I made the dough a night before and let it proof in the fridge overnight. It makes your job easier for the next day. You can start from step 5 from the method mentioned below if you're thinking of making the dough a night before too. I also made the chocolate ganache a night before the shoot. Planning ahead while making yeast-based desserts or breads is always a good idea.

Here are a few tips that can be helpful, especially if you're making them for the first time :

1. To achieve a rich dough, adding egg is very important. The egg not only gives it richness, but also makes it pliable and gives a good shine to the dough. If you do not prefer using eggs, you can add milk powder instead. Around 15 gm of it and you'll be good to go.

2. Unlike other bread doughs, I have used castor/powdered sugar instead of granulated sugar here. Being a small batch, we want to make sure everything combines as fast as possible and you do not end up overkneading the dough.

3. The recipe calls for unsalted butter. If you do not have unsalted butter, you can add salted butter and eliminate adding salt in the recipe.

4. Because the dough is going to be sticky, I'd recommend you to avoid kneading by hand and use a hand mixer instead. This will also make the process quick and easier.

5. Add more flour only if it is very very necessary. Your dough has to be a little sticky but also must not have the consistency of a regular bread dough. It must leave your fingers easily.

6. While frying, oil should be medium hot. If your oil is too hot, your donuts will achieve a good colour outside too fast leaving the inner dough uncooked and if your oil is not hot, it will end up absorbing a lot of oil making it greasy.

7. Heat up your oil upto 160 C and keep it over medium heat while frying.

8. Always let your donuts cool off before adding them in the cinnamon sugar. If you touch them while they're hot, they might puncture and deflate.

Donuts always taste better when eaten on the day of cooking. With time the donuts will loose their freshness and will become dry. If you have any leftovers, store them in an airtight box at room temperature only upto 1 day.

For cinnamon sugar - Combine cinnamon powder and castor/powdered sugar in the ratio 1:2 respectively.

For chocolate ganache - Pour 50 gm of warm fresh cream over 150 gm of milk chocolate (or any chocolate of your choice) and mix. If you still have some chocolate chunks left, melt it in the microwave for 20 seconds and mix in intervals. Leave it in the refrigerator to set overnight. Transfer the thickened ganache in a piping bag and pipe it into the donuts once ready.

CHOCOLATE FILLED DOUGHNUTS

Prep time : 35 mins

Proofing time : 2 hours

Total time: 2 hours 35 mins

Yields : 7 donuts

Ingredients :

Instant yeast - 1/2 tsp

Warm water - 4o ml

All purpose flour - 120 gm

Castor / Powdered Sugar - 1 tbsp (15 gm)

Salt - 1/4 tsp

Egg - 1 no

Softened Unsalted Butter - 30 gm

1 lt vegetable oil for frying

Method :

1. In a bowl, mix together the yeast and 40ml warm water.

2. Combine together the flour, sugar and salt. Add the yeast mixture followed by the egg. Mix on medium speed for 5 minutes until it forms a dough. If you're doing it by hand, knead for about 15 mins until the dough is sticky.

3. Knead while adding the butter, 1 tsp at a time. Once it is all incorporated, increase the speed to high and mix for 5 more minutes, until you have shiny and stretchy dough.

4. Shape it into a ball, return to a greased bowl, cover with clean, damp cloth and leave in a warm place until double in size (about an hour).

5. Once the dough has risen, knead it in the bowl to knock it back.

6. Divide the dough into 6-7 equal pieces.

Or you can also use a kitchen scale. Each piece should be about 40 gm.

7. Roll each portioned dough into a ball and space out on a floured baking tray. Cover with damp cloth and leave in a warm place until doubled in size (1- 2 hours).

8. While they are proving, fill your piping bag with chocolate ganache and keep it ready in the refrigerator,

9. Once the doughnuts have proved, half-fill a medium, heavy-based kadhai or pan with oil and heat it up to 160 C over medium heat.

10. Line a plate with tissues and a plate with cinnamon sugar.

11. Once the oil is ready gently lower the donut into it. Cook in batches of 2 or 3, for 2-3 minutes on each side, until golden brown. Use a pairing knife to flip the donut. Use a perforated spoon to lift onto the tissue.