Sourdough Doughnuts Recipe with Blood Orange Curd
I’m always looking for ways to use up Sourdough discard. I never make enough bread to keep my starter active all the time so I find myself having to give it extra feeds before making a loaf. I don’t like the idea of throwing it out every time so I try to re purpose it as much as I can. And what better excuse to make doughnuts? These Sourdough Doughnuts are insanely fluffy and light and filled with a smooth and tangy Blood Orange Curd. If you don’t have any sourdough discard, increase the yeast by 5 grams to compensate. The Blood Orange Curd can also be made with any other citrus fruit if you prefer.
So tell me alll about these Sourdough Doughnuts with Blood Orange Curd…
This recipe is broken down into 3 steps;
–Sourdough Doughnuts Dough
–Frying
–Blood Orange Curd
Sourdough Doughnuts Dough
To start off the Doughnut Dough you need to activate the year. To do this, begin by melting the butter in a microwave safe bowl/jug. Next, add the milk to the same container and return to the microwave for another 20 seconds until slightly warm to the touch. Add the sugar and dried yeast to the warmed milk and butter and whisk. Leave for 5-10 minutes until bubbling.
In a large mixing bowl, add the flour, salt and sourdough discard. Add the yeast liquid and mix till you form a shaggy dough. Tip out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until you get a smooth dough. If you are using a stand mixer, mix with a dough hook for 3-4 minutes until you form a smooth dough. Lightly grease a large bowl and put the dough back in. Cover in cling film and leave in a warm place to rise for 40-60 minutes or until the dough has doubled in size.
When the dough has doubled in size, turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Roll out the dough to about half the height of your pastry cutter. Using a medium sized round pastry cutter, cut the dough out and place onto a lined flat baking tray. Take any leftover pieces and gently knead together and repeat this process until all the dough has been used. Cover the doughnuts loosely with cling film and leave in a warm place to rise until they have doubled in size. This can take anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours depending on how warm your kitchen is. Watch them carefully.
Frying
When the doughnuts have doubled in size, heat a heavy bottomed saucepan half filled with oil to 170°c-180°c (340°f-360°f). I use a food thermometer to check if the oil is ready and to make sure it’s not getting too hot while cooking all the doughnuts. A sugar thermometer would work well here too as it can stay in the oil rather than periodically checking like I do.
When the oil has reached the right temperature, very gently peel a doughnut off and carefully drop into the hot oil. I have a small saucepan so I could only fry one at a time, if you have a larger pot you might be able to do a few at once. Cook on the first side for 2-3 minutes until the bottom has turned golden brown. Flip over carefully and cook for a further 2-3 minutes until both sides are golden brown. Remove carefully from the oil with a strainer, I use a spider, and place onto a kitchen towel to drain slightly. Toss in caster sugar immediately while still hot and leave on a cooling rack. Continue this process until you have fried off all the doughnuts.
Blood Orange Curd
To make the Blood Orange Curd, add the fresh blood orange juice and sugar to a small saucepan. Heat on medium until the syrup starts to boil. Mix the cornflour with the water until no lumps remain- this is called a “slurry” and can be used to thicken a multitude of sauces. Add the slurry to the syrup and continue to cook for 2-3 minutes while constantly whisking. Once the cornflour has been cooked off and the mix has thickened, remove from the heat. Add the egg yolks and whisk briskly. Finally, add the blood orange zest and butter and whisk until everything is fully incorporated and the curd is smooth and silky. Pour into a container and place clingfilm directly onto the curd to prevent a skin forming while it cools. Allow to cool completely before filling doughnuts.
To fill the doughnuts, fill a piping bag fitted with a small round piping nozzle with the cooled blood orange curd. With a small, sharp knife make a small hole in one side of the doughnut. Push the knife about 3/4 the way into the doughnut and wiggle the knife a little bit to create a small pocket for the filling. Fill by piping in the curd.
Got some leftover Blood Orange Juice? Why not try out my Blood Orange Whiskey Sour Cocktail Recipe?
Sourdough Doughnuts with Blood Orange Curd
Equipment
- Large mixing bowl
- Microwaveable bowl/measuring jug
- Rolling Pin
- Medium sized round pastry cutter
- Flat baking tray
- Large Saucepan
- Food thermometer
- Slotted Spoon/Spider
- Medium sized mixing bowl
- Small saucepan
- Whisk
- Piping bag and straight nozzle or plastic squeezy bottle
Ingredients
Doughnuts
- 50 grams butter
- 250 ml milk
- 10 grams dried yeast
- 50 grams caster sugar
- 100 grams sourdough discard
- 1 whole egg
- 550 grams strong flour
- 1/2 tsp salt
Blood Orange Curd
- 150 ml blood orange juice
- 150 grams caster sugar
- 30 grams cornflour
- 50 ml water
- 50 grams egg yolks (approx 3)
- 20 grams butter
Instructions
Doughnuts
- In a microwaveable bowl/measuring jug add the butter. Melt in the microwave. Add the milk and heat on medium for another 20 seconds.
- Add the sugar and dried yeast and whisk briskly. Leave to stand for 5-10 minutes until bubbly before using..
- In a large mixing bowl, add the flour, salt and egg. Pour over the activated yeast mix. Mix until you form a shaggy dough.
- Lightly flour a flat surface and place the dough on. Knead gently until you form a smooth dough.
- Lightly grease the large mixing bowl and pop the dough back in it. Cover with clingfilm and leave somewhere slightly warm for 40-60 minutes or until doubled in size.
- Take the dough from the bowl and gently place onto a lightly floured surface. Roll out gently, about 1/2 the height of your pastry cutter.
- Using the pastry cutter, cut medium sized circles out and place gently onto a flat lined baking tray with lots of space in between. Continue until all the dough is used, gently rolling the scraps again and cutting.
- Lightly cover in cling film or a tea towel and leave in a slightly warm place until doubled in size. Depending on the temperature of your kitchen, this could take as long as 2 hours.
- When your doughnuts are ready to fry, heat up a saucepan full of oil (or fryer if you have one!). I use a food thermometer stuck into the oil to gauge the temperature. You're looking for a temperature around 160-180°c (320-360°f).
- When the oil has reached the right temperature, very gently and carefully transfer one doughnut to the hot oil. My saucepan is small so only allows one or two at a time, if you are using a larger one you may be able to fit more.
- Cook on one side for 2-3 minutes until the bottom half turns golden brown. Flip over carefully and cook on the other side for another 2-3 minutes until evenly golden brown all around.
- Remove from the oil carefully and place onto kitchen towels to drain off the oil.
- While still hot, toss in caster sugar and leave on a cooling rack to cool while you continue cooking the rest of the doughnuts.
Blood Orange Curd
- In a small saucepan, combine the blood orange juice and sugar. Heat on medium heat until it starts to bubble.
- Whisk together the water and cornflour until all the cornflour is dissolved. Add this to the hot syrup.
- Cook for a further 1-2 minutes until thick, stirring constantly.
- Remove from the heat and whisk in the egg yolks vigorously. Add in the butter and whisk again.
- Transfer to a container and cover the surface with cling film to avoid getting a skin and allow to cool fully.
- Allow the doughnuts to cool slightly for 10-15 minutes before taking a sharp small knife and make small cuts in them to fill. Bring the knife down into the dough about 3/4 of the way down and wiggle it a little to create a hole to fill.
- Transfer the blood orange curd to a piping bag with a straight nozzle attached. A plastic squeezy bottle will work too. Gently with even pressure, use the blood orange curd to fill the doughnut. Serve immediately.
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