Vanilla Cream-Filled Doughnuts
I’m sure that I must have mentioned here at some point that I didn’t really grow up in a doughnut-loving household. I know for some people they were a tradition, maybe a Sunday-morning-after-church thing. They really weren’t ever a thing at my house; I’m not sure if it’s because my parents didn’t care for them or if they didn’t want us to get hooked on fried dough, but we hardly ever ate them. As a result, anytime they were offered to me, they never really knocked my socks off. I could take them or leave them and, usually, I left them. The lone exception was if I managed to find one that was filled with cream. Not icing, but cream. Bonus if it was Boston cream, but I would happily devour any cream-filled doughnut that crossed my path. It was only a matter of time before I made them appear in my kitchen!
I first began experimenting with doughnuts at home almost as a challenge to myself… I was practically willing myself to love doughnuts. As it turned out, like with many things, I found the doughnuts that I fried up at home to taste significantly better than the ones I was offered as a kid. I started off with easy buttermilk doughnuts (the sugar coated ones were my favorite!), then moved on to beignets and apple fritter doughnuts. The apple fritter ones were the first that I tackled in the “yeasted doughnut” category and I really loved the light and fluffy texture that the interior of the doughnuts had, so when I saw that these cream-filled doughnuts were yeast-based I was elated.
They turned out exactly as I had hoped – a thin, crisp exterior that gives way to an airy and tender center filled with a pastry cream that has been lightened up by whipped cream. The doughnuts are rolled in a coating of granulated sugar while they’re still warm, which causes it to just sort of melt onto the exterior of the doughnut. When you bite into them, they’re crisp, a little crunchy from the sugar and smooth and creamy inside. Basically, they are cream-filled doughnut perfection. They are a bit time-consuming (almost all of it is non-active prep time, though), so just be sure to plan ahead and accordingly. They are well worth it!
Next up… cake doughnuts!
One year ago: Texas Sheet Cake and Peanut Butter and Jelly Cupcakes
Two years ago: Moon Pies
Three years ago: Asiago Bagels
MY OTHER RECIPES
Vanilla Cream-Filled Doughnuts
A recipe for sweet, yeasted doughnuts that are tossed in sugar and filled with a light vanilla cream.
Ingredients:
For the Dough:
- 2½ teaspoons active dry yeast
- ⅔ cup whole milk, at room temperature
- 3½ cups all-purpose flour
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 3 eggs
- 7 tablespoons (3½ ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature, cut into 8 pieces
For the Pastry Cream:
- 1½ cups whole milk
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup cake flour
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 4 egg yolks
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 6 tablespoons heavy cream
For Frying:
- 1 gallon canola oil
For the Coating:
- 1 cup granulated sugar
Directions:
- Make the Dough: In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment, stir together yeast and milk; let stand until yeast is dissolved, about 1 minute. Add the flour, sugar, salt and eggs; mix on low speed until the dough comes together, about 3 minutes. Add the butter, two pieces at a time, mixing after each addition and until butter is fully incorporated and dough is soft, a total of 5 to 6 minutes. Remove the dough from the bowl and wrap tightly with plastic wrap. Refrigerate at least 6 hours and up to 15 hours.
- Make the Pastry Cream: While the dough is chilling, make the pastry cream. In a small bowl, whisk together the sugar, flour and salt. In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks until well combined, about 30 seconds. Slowly whisk in the flour mixture until thick and pasty. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, warm the milk until bubbles just start to form around the edges (do not let the milk boil).
- Remove the milk from the heat and slowly drizzle into the egg mixture, whisking constantly. Scrape the egg mixture back into the saucepan and place over medium heat, whisking constantly until the mixture thickens and comes to a boil, about 3 minutes. Boil, whisking, for 10 seconds (the cream will become thick and glossy and won’t have any foam on top), then immediately remove from heat.
- Pour the pastry cream through a fine mesh sieve set over a small bowl and whisk in the vanilla. Cover with plastic wrap, pressing the plastic wrap against the surface of the pastry cream to prevent a skin from forming. Refrigerate until chilled, at least 4 hours and up to 3 days.
- Prepare the Doughnuts: Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and spray lightly with non-stick cooking spray; set aside. Place the refrigerated dough on a well-floured work surface and gently roll into a 12-inch square (it should be about ½-inch thick). Cut the dough into 9 doughnuts using a 3½-inch round cutter. Transfer the doughnuts to the prepared baking sheet, cover with a piece of plastic wrap that has been sprayed with non-stick cooking spray, and place in a warm spot until they’ve doubled in height and feel poufy and pillowy, 2 to 3 hours.
- Fry the Doughnuts: Fill a large, heavy-bottomed pot with 3 inches of oil and place over medium-high heat until it reaches 350 degrees F on a deep-fry thermometer. While the oil heats, line a baking sheet with a double layer of paper towels for draining the doughnuts. Place the sugar in a small bowl and set aside.
- Working with three doughnuts at a time, carefully lower the doughnuts into the hot oil and fry until golden brown on the underside, 2 to 3 minutes. Carefully turn the doughnuts over and fry for an additional 2 to 3 minutes, or until the other side is golden brown as well. Using a slotted spoon or a spider strainer, remove the doughnuts to the paper towel-lined baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining doughnuts.
- As soon as the doughnuts are cool enough to handle, toss them in the sugar one at a time to evenly coat them. Return the doughnuts to the paper towel-lined pan and allow to cool completely, 30 to 40 minutes.
- Fill the Doughnuts: While you’re waiting for the doughnuts to cool, beat the 6 tablespoons of heavy cream on medium-high speed until still peaks form. Whisk the chilled pastry cream to loosen it up, then gently fold in one-third of the whipped cream. Fold in the remaining whipped cream until no white streaks remain.
- Transfer the cream to a pastry bag fitting with a small round decorating tip (a Wilton #12 would work well for this). Poke a hole in the side of each doughnut and fill with pastry cream. The doughnuts should be served as soon as they are filled. They are best the same day they are made.
Did you make this recipe?
Leave a review below, then snap a picture and tag @thebrowneyedbaker on Instagram so I can see it!
(Recipe adapted from Flour, as seen on Martha Stewart)
All images and text ©
Holy Hannah… how did you know this lady needed more donuts in her life. I owe you one!
Anything that involves 1 gallon of oil is going to be good :) And oh yes vanilla pastry cream doesn’t hurt! Seriously, they’re stunning, Michelle! I don’t fry at home (4 days later I can still smell it!) but if I did, these would be the donuts to try. I love that you have challenged yourself w/ donuts and have made yeast & filled versions. Pinned!
I.LOVE.DONUTS! Especially the yeast based types. I think they are in another league to cake ones, although they clearly take more time! This cream sounds so good, I have never had a cream filled donut, so I guess I will have to make these!
Woohoo! Funny, i also came from a non-donut acquiring family, but I wound up with the opposite relationship. Whenever they showed up at school bake sales or Channukah parties, I was ON THAT in a hot second. I still love taking my car to get serviced because there’s always a box of donuts in the waiting area. :) But, for sure, homemade beats anything out of a box, and these look amazing!
Also, I just want to give you a shout out for how incredibly prolific you are. I am amazed at how often you manage to post new, fantastic content. As a reader, it totally makes my day. Hope you are feeling better – cheers, my dear!
I never could say no to a doughnut as a kid, and still can’t.
They look delicious! 1 have to try them!
These donuts are soooooooo perfect! I need to find my fryer so I can make these! The cream inside looks amazing!!!!!!
They look amazing! thanks for posting. This is a recipe for when my youngest comes homes from college.
We have donuts at my church and the very best (everyone thinks so) are the red velvet cake donuts! These look delicious as well!!
Boston cream filled donuts are one of my favourites but your vanilla cream filling sounds delicious and your donuts look wonderful!
Cream-filled doughnuts are the BEST, and yours look absolutely perfect!
We were definitely a donut eating family, we would head to the grocery store for a dozen on special weekends. (aka, the weekends that mom had to work and dad had to feed us!) I’ve got to get over my aversion to frying, because these look amazing.
Mmmm! LOVE good donuts – and I have some pastry cream in the fridge, too. This is gonna be gooood!
I had my share of donuts when I was younger. I always loved chocolate old fashioned, blueberry cake donuts, and cream filled. Forget the jelly, it was cream! I almost never eat them now, but yours look so good I’m kind of thinking that’s going to change soon. They look gorgeous!
Holy Moly, those doughnuts look INSANE. I’m always a bit intimidated by pastry cream but after your reading your recipe I think I can do it! I usually make a high-calorie treat every Saturday morning so I’ll add this to my list!
These look amazing! But I’m pretty sure if I made them I would eat every single one in a matter of hours.
Ok these look amazing! I have got to try and make donuts. These look even better because they are creamed filled! Yummo!
Well, I’m an icing-filled doughnut lover and Boston cream typically makes me gag, so while these look delicious, I can’t figure out what to make of that cream-filled center. The inclusion of the whipped cream into the pastry cream makes me think it might be sweeter and lighter than I’m imagining. Is the cream thick and pudding like or sweet and with more of a whipped consistency?
Hi Melinda, This cream sort of falls in the middle. It’s definitely not as thick as a true pastry cream, but it’s not as light and pillowy as plain whipped cream.
Thanks, Michelle! I think it’s worth trying, especially seeing as how it’s surrounded by fried dough ;)
Also it’s worth noting that the whipped cream you make to fold into the pastry cream is only heavy whipping cream, with no sugar added. If you’ve ever made whipped cream from scratch the whipping cream itself isn’t actually sweet (which is why most whipped cream recipes call for adding confectioners sugar to it), so I would imagine this would tone down the sweetness of the pastry cream a little, as well as lightening it. I’m very excited to try this recipe!
I love, love, love donuts! I never turned one down when growing up (in fact, they were my after-school snack of choice), although even stranger – I didn’t like the taste of butter or avocado growing up! Imagine that!
This month’s issue of Saveur is dedicated to donuts, so this post is especially timely. I can add this recipe to the many I’m going to try in the coming weeks. Thank you for sharing!
I, too, have been trying to decide which of the recipes in this month’s Saveur to try. As far as the donuts are concerned. Too many choices! My family loves donuts and I like to make them once in a while since there are no donuts near where we live.
I need to try making donuts at home. These look incredible!
These look mouth-watering! Pinned! We always grew up with homemade fried donuts. So with me, the ones in the local grocery bakery does not even come close to the ones you make from home! (Especially when I asked the “baker” in the store one morning if she had sugared donuts out yet. With some inconvenience of getting one from the back, she had given me a frozen donut and thought that she’d do me the favor and NUKE it for me into rubber-ness!)
Wow! That woke me up! My favorite donut popped up on screen before the coffee kicked in!
LOVE!!!
ooooooohhhhhhhhh…….
Is it possible to just bake the doughnuts and not fry them? I would love to make doughnuts, but cringe when I have to fry them.
Hi Trang, There are a lot of doughnut recipes out there created specifically for baking, but these should be fried for optimum flavor. You could always try baking these, but I have no idea how they would turn out.
You know, you can use palm shortening for frying and there are actually some good health benefits with it!
These look like a Portuguese donut called “malasada”. I grew up eating those as a kid in Hawaii.
My husband loves cream filled donuts, he would love it if I made these for him!
One of the things that keeps me from frying is that I never know what to do with all that oil when I’m done. Do you keep it for future frying or do you dispose of it somehow?
Hi Rebecca, I’ve done both, depending on how soon I know I’ll be frying something again (if I can use it within a couple of weeks).
I am with you, I only eat doughnuts with cream in them. Bavarian cream is my favorite. I would love to make these, however I do not deep fry things. Do you happen to know of a way to make these by baking in the oven?
Hi Laura, I don’t. I do know that there are tons of doughnut recipes out there created specifically for baking (not frying), though!
Swoon…..
I made these as a birthday treat for myself a few years ago and absolutely loved them even though I had a few minor issues. Mine didn’t look anywhere near as good as yours, they’re total perfection!
I woke up to this recipe in my inbox this morning. Now if only I had woken up to a plate of them in my kitchen. Saturday can’t get here soon enough! Thanks for another great one!!
Michelle! These caught my eye right away on Facebook. :) They are gorgeous! I love cream filled doughnuts – but not as much as my fiance. He will just die when I show him these. And then beg me to make them. :)
I have been wanting to make these ever since I got the Flour book! I think I will be making these soon!
Michelle – these look AMAZING!! Seriously…probably the prettiest donut I’ve ever seen. :)
Whoa! Ten hours! I’ll just enjoy the pics and go to Krispy Kreme. These look scrumptious though!
Dana, That’s the total time, almost all which includes letting the dough rest, i.e. no work is required from you. There’s probably a total of 15-20 minutes of actual active time before you fry them!
Ugh, YES!!! Those look like MALASADAS, a dessert we eat in Hawai’i. Can’t wait to try out this recipe! Thanks for posting it!
Oh my gosh your photos! Of that cream filling in those donuts! They look amazing, I want to reach right into my screen and grab one! Yum! :-)
These look amazing! It’s probably a good thing I don’t own a fryer!!
A M A Z I N G !!!
Filled doughnuts are one of my favorite things in the world. These look absolutely perfect!!
I am addicted to cream filled donuts!!!
I am going to try and make these tonight. If I can get them to look like this I wll love you forever!
Thank You
Most beautiful donut I have ever seen. If it tastes half as good as it looks it’s a keeper.
Thanks!
The look like a lot of work, but they also look TOTALLY worth it. Maybe next time I have a few days i’ll surprise my family with some homemade doughnuts. YUM!! Pinned…
The cream filled doughnuts were always my favorite!! These look better than any doughnut I’ve ever eaten!
Holy moly. I know you’re just getting started, but you could stop here and the world would have its perfect homemade doughnut. ;) These look amazing.
Holy moly these look Fantastic!! Great job Michelle:)
I am in doughnut heaven right now! Omgggggggggggg
We think alike, I have this cookbook and have been meaning to make this recipe. This cookbook is sooo good.
I love doughnuts but it’s so hard to find super yummy ones. I keep wanting to make some at home and these might have to be the first recipe I try!
Oh wow yum, your doughnuts look incredible!
Yippee! So happy you posted this recipe as I have been looking for a custard donut recipe for a while now and have found one that I like the look of!! I have a great recipe for jam doughnuts, but can’t wait to try this one. Will let you know how I get on.
This looks great – question, do you think I could fill them with jam/jelly? Thanks!
Any tips for someone who does not have a mixer? I m new to “dough” and would love to make these!
Hi Keshia, Not using a mixer would be difficult when incorporating the butter. You could definitely mix by hand with a wooden spoon and/or knead by hand, but be sure the butter gets fully incorporated.
my fiance would love if I knew how to make doughnuts!
I have never had good tasting Boston Cream filling and I’m over 65 years of age. I also prefer cake type doughnuts as yeast doughnuts are not my specialty either. Can you come up with a recipe for a cake type doughnut that can be creme filled?
These look amazing!! I’d love to make them but fear they would cause an addiction for me :)
This is the second recipe of yours that I’ve clicked on from Pinterest in the last few minutes so now I’m following you on FB, Twitter and Pinterest! These doughnuts look irresistible!
Hi Michelle
I made these a few days ago, they were so great! Thank you so much. I especially fell in love with the cream, I never expected it to turn out as good as it did. I did have 3 issues; when I tried to put the cream through the sieve it was a nightmare, is it supposed to be easy to do or is it difficult because of its thickness? Also, the doughnuts didn’t rise even after 3 hours of resting time, I covered them with a towel (maybe it was too heavy and didn’t allow them to rise?) and put them in the oven (switched off of course). Lastly, the dough was very very sticky, I had to add a significant amount of flour to even handle it, could that be the reason I had a lot more than 9 doughnuts at the end?
I would love to get feedback, because I can’t wait to make them again, thanks a lot
When pressing the cream through a sieve, it will be a little thick, but using the back of a large spoon to press it into the bottom of the sieve should do the trick. The dough should definitely rise – make sure you are using fresh yeast that has not expired or been sitting in a cabinet for a long time. It’s possible that the towel could have been too heavy; try using plastic wrap that’s just gently laid overtop, not secured down. The number of doughnuts would have more to do with the size. Unless you added a drastically large amount of flour, that wouldn’t have caused the quantity to change.
WOW!!! I made these puppies over the weekend and they were amazing. Thank you so much for this recipe. Mine were gluten free. If you want to see them, here is the link…http://www.goingcavewoman.com/gluten-free-vanilla-cream-doughuts.
You recipes are so reliable and your photography a delight. Thanks Brown Eyed Baker.
I have the Flour cookbook and have been meaning to make these since I bought it; they look divine. I recommend the book Top Pot Hand-Forged Doughnuts, which I bought almost solely for the photo of their Pershing doughnut. I made them last month and they were *unbelievable*, better than any I’d had from a bakery.
Oh my Hannah these are delicious.
I love cooking, especially baking. I got this gene directly from my mommy :) I love Doughnuts. But this Creme filled doughnuts I have never cooked before. It looks yum and I’ve pinned it in my cookbook for the next try :) Thanks Michelle
this is the same recipe I found in marthastewart.com… you could have just given the link… instead of copying it..
Deborah, The recipe is actually from Flour’s cookbook (it’s a bakery in Boston), which is the recipe I used. You’ll see that Martha Stewart uses the same recipe and credits Flour in her headnote. I wouldn’t have directly linked to Martha Stewart, because that’s not the original source of the recipe.
oh yum! they look great!
Wow,,, way to much work!!!! Sounds very tasty !!!!! Cheaper to buy!! Thank- you for the recipe!!! Have a great day.
These look fabulous and I can see using it as a base for some creative doughnuts by either replacing the vanilla extract with another extract such as peanut butter or maple or by infusing the milk with either herbs or tea (chai or earl grey come to mind but I have a chocolate mint tea by Harney and Son’s that would probably be fantastic) before adding it to the cream filling ingredients…. anyway I can’t wait t see the next recipe ;-)
Do you think baking these at 350°F would be an acceptable alternative to frying them? Or would some component of the doughnuts be majorly compromised via baking?
Thanks,
Diana
Hi Diana, I have never baked doughnuts, so I’m not sure how they would come out. If you try it, please stop back and share the results!
I just made these and omg! They are gorgeous!
I made these for our Christmas Eve party !! They were surprisingly easy ! They were beautiful and insanely delicious ! Thank you for the amazing recipe !
These look lovely! I was just wondering what size eggs I should use – medium or large? Also, are there any alternatives to canola oil and kosher salt? Just a bit tricky to get hold of them. Thank you!
Hi Hayley, Use large eggs (always large unless stated otherwise). You can substitute vegetable oil for canola oil, and any coarse sea salt should work in place of kosher salt. Enjoy!
hi! this recipe is amazing!!!! i have some leftover vanilla filling…can i freeze it?? thanks!!!
Hi Melissa, I’m so glad you enjoyed the doughnuts! I would not recommend freezing the pastry cream, but you can refrigerate it for up to 5 to 7 days.
Hey, omg, i made these perfect, soft, creamy donuts two days ago and even today they still taste fresh and spongy. This is one of those must try foods for everybody! It takes a while, but it’s worth it.
Is it possible to fry the donuts and make the cream one day prior and then fill the donuts the day of or do you need to fill the donuts the same day they are fried???
Hi Dayna, I recommend eating these (and, thus, filling them) the same day that you fry them. However, you can make the cream a day or two in advance.
I Googled “pastry cream” and among the list was BEB’s recipe. Of course, I clicked on yours, because I love and trust your recipes. When this post popped up…… OMG!!! 1) I could have licked the screen! 2) I thought, “where was I, that I missed this post?” Ahhh — in the hospital — Well, not now! I have printed the recipe and will make these little round bundles of luscious vanilla cream, coated with damp sugar crystals. Heaven on the tongue!! Thank you, lovely lady!!
Could this be dough be refrigerated for less than 6hours?
Hi Shaniqua, Unfortunately not, it needs that time to rest and chill.
i tried this recipe today its perfect!
Oh I just have to try these…they look so yummy…
Hi. Thank yo SOOOO much for this recipe! As I’m waiting for my doughnuts to cool so I can add the cream, I thought I’d ask for tops on making the dough rise. Mine are a bit flatter than what’s pictured in this post so I’m pretty sure I dropped the ball somewhere with the process, although I did follow the recipe closely.
Thanks again!!!
made these yesterday for hanukah, and they were soooo good!!
thanks for the recipe!
Can you use the same dough/cooking times to make both filled donuts, and ones with holes? So I can have a mixed batch with the same recipe
Don’t know if you’d see this comment as I just came across your recipe two years after it was published, but what do you do with the oil after using? I usually don’t fry anything because it seems like a waste to buy one gallon of oil for 12 donuts, or whatever the recipe calls for. Do you re-use the oil or just pitch it?
Hi Susan, It depends on what I’m making and how much oil was used. We save the oil from our Thanksgiving turkey, but if it’s a smaller amount, then I’ll just discard it if I don’t have anything else planned to fry. You could definitely save and re-use it, though.
Thank you for the recipe although I did have some issues. I’d never made donuts or yeast products before and it was not as easy as your recipe sounded! About 2 hours active prep for me. Filling was easy and delicious but there was so much leftover and i had 15 donuts, smaller recipe would be good. Also, brand new yeast but they never seemed to rise – left for almost 4 hours and they only grew a little. A picture of what these should look like as pillowy would really have helped. Fried OK but some were flat bottomed with a white circle in the middle when I flipped them, not sure why. Taste pretty good just a bit yeasty for me. Happy for an experiment but not sure if I’d try again
To be honest I’ve never been a fan of doughnuts probably because I never had a good one. But your pictures look so good, I definitely want to try some homemade ones.
In Hawaii we have these. They are called cream filled malasadas.
I’m an old geezer (71) and have had a love affair with custard-filled donuts since I was about 5 yrs old. Growing up in Pittsburgh there was a wonderful Jewish bakery called The Waldorf. We’d get a dozen every Sunday. Now as a golden oldie i live near a bakery that makes them too. I’ve seen them called custard-filled ,cream-filled and the disgusting mis-spelling CREME-filled. They have an official name however. They are called BISMARKS.
Hi, im intrested in making these donuts- i was just wondering- the dough needs to rise twice? the first time after making it and the second time after cutting to donuts shapes? if so- at the first time ,you wrote to wrap the dough tightly with plastic wrap- if wrapped tightly, will the dough be able to rise?
secondly, is it possible to make the dough and the filling a day before frying it? im really busy at work right now and dont have the time to make it in one day.
Thank you so much in advance, I would be very glad if you couls please answer as soon as possible because im planning on making these donuts for my boyfriend’s birthday. (which is in four days from now)
Danielle
Hi Danielle, Refrigerating the dough isn’t meant for it to be a big rise, but rather a slow development of the gluten. Wrapping in plastic wrap is perfectly fine. And yes, you can make the dough and filling the day before! Happy birthday to your boyfriend (he has the same birthday as my son!) :)
Best doughnuts I ever tasted! Worth every second of prep/proofing/frying/cooling time!
I can’t believe I spent so many years of my life not liking cream filled donuts/doughnuts – I’m sure if they were all homemade and looked this delicious I would totally have liked them a lot more. Absolutely mouthwatering!!
Hello! I have actually never made doughnuts and thought I’d make your recipe. I do have a question about the dough.. are we making a soft dough like we do for cinnamon rolls? This is my assumption, but I wanted to make sure as you didn’t mention the feel of the dough. (I always do dough by feel, sorry)
Hi Christine, Yes, it’s a soft dough. Enjoy!
I absolutely love this recipe, so much so I included it in my Ultimate Homemade Donut Recipes Roundup! Great post, have a great day xo
http://dreamingofleaving.com/2017/01/01/the-ultimate-homemade-donut-recipe-roundup/
Hey! I have the doughnuts proofing right now, I cant wait until I can fry them and try them.
I have a question, can I re-roll the excess dough that I used to cut the first 9 doughnuts?
I can probably get about 4-5 more, or would that make that batch tough?
Thanks! :)
Hi Alyssa, You can, they just won’t be QUITE as good as the first pass :)
I have some pumpkin puree and I’d love to make the creme filling pumpkin flavored, any tips on how I can do that? Thank you!
Hi Chrissy, You could whisk some of your pumpkin puree into the vanilla cream.
Bravo!!!!
Vanilla cream are the mother of all donuts.
Hi! Can I make these and save them for the next day? Everytime I’ve tried a recipe they get tough after a day????
Hi Carmen, Yeah unfortunately doughnuts are one of those things that are definitely best served the day they are made. You can still eat them the next day, but as you’ve found, they’re not as fresh.
They were to die for… I would not make them again though. Out of curiosity, I timed myself during the five steps of preparation and cleanup time after each step. Over a period of thirty-six hours I spent seven hours of kitchen time on these doughnuts. Ie: Time to heat the oil then cool the oil and store it then, cleanup. Can’t leave hot oil unattended… kids and all. Piping bag and cleanup. Flour on counter and cleanup. Preparation of pastry cream then chill then cleanup. I am an “instant gratification” type of cook. This recipe has too many steps for my patience. Overall, h-mm-mm. I’d rather spend $15 in a doughnut shop when they are freshly made. Not quite as good but who has the time? This is not meant as a put-down for your recipe, it was great. It is a scathing remark about my desire to work that long for that much difference in flavor.
They look so crispy on the outside – bet they taste like heaven on the inside!
Hi Michelle! I love your blog and have made several of your recipes! I’m thinking about trying doughnuts for the first time on Christmas and this recipe looks great! I’m hoping you can help me with the cream. I’ve had “cream-filled” doughnuts that have a more yellow, custardy-filling and ones with a pure white, creamy filling. What’s the difference and which one is this filling? My husband loves the white-creamy filling so I want to make sure to get it right for him!
Hi Janelle, I think the white filling is usually a soft icing, not pastry cream or custard. This particular recipe gets you the custard filling. I hope that helps!
I see many recipes that call for kosher salt. Now what if you don’t have kosher salt can you use sea salt or table salt?? Also are you able to use regular butter instead of the unsalted??
Thank you for your posts I’ve found some great recipes on here and plan on making these as well as the Krispy Kreme copycat doughnuts, and the nut rolls. I’m excited to try them… THANK YOU.
TINA
Moon Twp PA
Hi Tina, You can substitute table salt, but use less – cut out about 25% from the kosher salt measurement. And if you use regular butter, then you can omit the salt in the recipe. Enjoy! :)
Would you please clarify what “½-inch” is? Re-read #5, I want to make sure my dough is the proper thickness before I overindulge on these bad boys. Thanks for the recipe!
Hi Amelia, I’m so sorry for that little glitch. It is 1/2-inch. Enjoy the doughnuts!