Berliner Donuts

Elena Butuc

I'd say they are the perfect donuts - ideally fluffly, soft and tender. A tourist travelling through Germany will surely see these Berliner donuts everywhere so there must be a reason why they are so popular. I've never eaten tastier donuts, and the recipe is relatively easy - just follow the steps and the result will certainly be a great success.

NB: The recipe is for 20 donuts, but I think they were a bit too big. Next time, I'd like to make 30 smaller donuts - so it's up to you if you want 20 big donuts or 30 smaller ones.

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Ingredients

Metric US

●

Milk

270 ml

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Sugar

60 g

●

Bakers yeast

25 g

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Egg yolks

2 pieces

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Brandy or cognac

1 tbsp

optional

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Vanilla Extract

1 tbsp

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Salt

0.25 tsp

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Butter

45 g

softened at room temperature

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White flour

500 g

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Sunflower oil

1 l

for frying

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Powdered sugar

2 tbsp

and jam - if you want filling too

Step by step

Step 1

Combine the warm milk with sugar and yeast.

Step 2

Then stir in the egg yolks, cognac/brandy, vanilla and salt, whisk well.

Step 3

Add in the butter, whisk to combine.

Step 4

Flour is the last one - stir well with a whisk or a spoon.

Step 5

Turn dough onto the floured table and knead for a bit until smooth.

Step 6

Place dough into a bowl.

Step 7

Cover with a lid or a cloth and allow for 1 hour to rise.

Step 8

Meanwhile, cut some parchment paper into 20-30 squares of about 10x10cm - you'll see what we need them for.

Step 9

After 1 hour, dough looks like this.

Step 10

Cut into 20-30 small pieces.

Step 11

Shape them into balls and place each of them on a parchment paper square.

Cover with a cloth and let rise for 1 hour.

Step 12

After this time, pour oil in a pot or a deep frying pan, heat well.

Carefully take a paper square and smoothly place the dough ball in the oil.

Step 13

Place the first donut and wait for the moment to add the next ones to the pan - here it's not the right moment yet.

Step 14

When it turns to golden brown and it is surrounded by foam, you can start adding in more dough balls, until the pan is filled.

Step 15

Set the heat to medium and fry the donuts well on both sides.

Watch out, they cook very fast.

Step 16

When done, remove from the oil and place on paper towel to drain excess oil.

Step 17

You can fill the donuts with jam or favourite cream - you'll need a special confectionary syringe and a bag for this.

Step 18

This is what they look like inside - I filled them with milk cream.

Step 19

But you can also serve them simple, dusted with powdered sugar.

They are something special which is worth trying. And even though you see more steps in the recipe, it's not complicated, I was just trying to make it more clear...

Enjoy!