As promised, this past weekend I busted out the new deep fryer and spent the better part of Sunday constructing the winning Donut submission in Blognut’s recent The Simpsons Movie soundtrack giveaway. I still suck at cooking anything that’s not a grilled meat and I probably should’ve picked a simpler winner like the Red Velvet Cake, or maybe the Chocolate topped with ham and made things easy on myself. But Sumintra’s ginger-raised Donut filled with ginger cream and topped with lemon glaze sounded too good not to mess with. Now I have to admit I modified the recipe slightly, choosing not to impregnate a perfectly good Donut with the vile glop that resulted from me trying to make ginger-flavored cream (anyone have a good recipe?). I instead made a lemon pudding filling and added candied ginger to the glaze to make up for lost spice.

They turned out pretty well. The dough was airy and light and had just enough spongi-ness. It could’ve used a kick of cinnamon and nutmeg but the ginger and lemon zest came through well enough to save it from tasting like a bland slab of Wonderbread. The lemon pudding filling tasted like lemon pudding which I guess is expected and the lemon glaze - which at first I made too thick and called a “frosting” - had a tart citrus bite which got along well with the candied ginger. Have a look:

Dramatically lit kneading.

Raw Donuts.

Frying Donuts two at a time.

I forgot to get a picture of the Donuts actually getting filled so here’s a shot of Donuts waiting to get filled.

Candied ginger.

Finished Donuts with “glaze.”

Finished Donuts with “frosting.”

Filling.

Ginger-raised, Lemon-filled Donuts with Lemon Glaze and Candied Ginger

INGREDIENTS:

* 1 1/2 cups milk
* 1/2 cup sugar
* 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
* 1/4 cup butter
* 1/2 cup warm water
* 2 packages active dry yeast
* 2 eggs, beaten
* 6 1/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour (about)
* 2 teaspoon grated lemon rind
* 4 cups cold milk
* 2 packages instant lemon pudding (3.4 ounces each) (homemade lemon creme would be better but I didn’t have it in me)
* And like I said, try throwing in a few teaspoons of cinnamon and one of nutmeg

PREPARATION:

Scald milk in saucepan; stir in sugar, salt, and butter. Remove from heat and cool to lukewarm. Measure warm water into a large mixing bowl; sprinkle in the yeast and stir until dissolved. Stir in lukewarm milk mixture, eggs, and half of the flour; beat until smooth.

Stir in lemon peel and remaining flour to make a soft dough; mix well.

Turn dough out onto floured surface and knead for about 8 minutes, until smooth and elastic. Place in a buttered bowl, turning to grease all sides. Cover and let rise in a warm place, free from drafts, for about 45 minutes, until doubled in bulk. Punch down and turn out onto lightly floured surface. Divide dough in half. Roll out half into a large round, 1/2 inch thick. Cut with floured doughnut cutter, with center section removed. Place doughnuts on baking sheet. Repeat with remaining half of dough. Cover and let rise in a warm place, free from draft, until doubled in bulk, about 30 minutes. Fry in deep hot fat, 365°, until golden brown, turning once. Drain on wire rack with Village Voices underneath; cool thoroughly before filling.

While doughnuts are cooling, pour milk into a deep bowl. Add pudding mix and beat until well blended, about 1 minute. Refrigerate for at least 5 to 10 minutes. Spoon pudding into a pastry tube with wide nozzle and pip into the cooled doughnuts. Apply glaze to your liking (recipe below).

GLAZE:

* 1/2 cup powdered sugar
* 1 tablespoon fresh squeezed lemon juice

Let the fun begin. Blognut’s Cuisinart CDF-100 Compact 1.1-Liter Deep Fryer has arrived. So this weekend I plan to put on some frying music – something deeply southern like Elvis or Skip James or Dolly’s Jolene – and churn out homemade Doughnuts two at a time. The charcoal filter supposedly means my apartment won’t reek of oily friedness for two weeks like it did last time.