Fromage blanc and jam doughnuts

Makes 10 DOUGHNUTS Desserts and puddings

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Method

The day before, make the mousse. Scrape the seeds out of the vanilla pod. In a small pan, warm the first 85ml cream, the sugar and the scraped vanilla seeds. Add the scraped pod too to get all the vanilla from it, but take it out and discard once infused. Stir to melt the sugar as it is warming, so it doesn’t catch, then turn off the heat. Add the bloomed gelatine and mix it through, then transfer to a medium bowl and allow to cool for a few minutes.

In a separate bowl, whisk the fresh white cheese for 1-2 minutes to loosen until smooth, then add in the cream mix and incorporate well. Whisk the soured or further 85ml single cream to soft peaks and fold it through the cheese mix with a whisk. Cover and put in the fridge to set overnight. Meanwhile, make the dough. Combine the yeast with the milk to activate for 5 minutes.

Add the lemon zest to the sugar and rub together. In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the flour with a pinch of salt and add the sugar mix. Using the dough hook, start mixing on a low speed. Add the eggs to the flour mix gradually, around half at a time, until incorporated. You may have to stop the mixer to scrape the sides down. Slowly add the soft butter, around 15g at a time, to incorporate, and knead until smooth, glossy and very elastic. Lightly grease a bowl and store the dough, covered, in the fridge overnight.

The next day, roll the dough into 50g balls and prove on a lightly floured tray lined with baking paper for around 3-4 hours until puffy.

Heat the oil in a large stainless- steel pan to 175-185C. The dough balls are very fragile and soft at this stage, so gently pick each doughnut up and gently lower one at a time into the oil. Fry them for a minute or two on each side, being careful not to overcrowd the pot. Flip them often so as not to colour them too much and keep the oil at the right temperature. If the oil isn’t hot enough, the doughnuts will become greasy and oily; too hot and they will get too browned.

Lift them out with a slotted spoon and drain lightly on kitchen paper, then allow to cool for around 1 hour. Meanwhile, put the mousse in a piping bag. If it is too stiff, whisk to soften, but it will need to be firm to stay inside the doughnuts. Mix the sugar and whey powder, if using, in a large bowl, then toss each cooled doughnut in the mix and return to the draining rack. If they are still hot and oily when they are coated, the sugar mix will dissolve and become greasy.

Make a small slit in the side of each doughnut, and pipe in the mousse followed by the jam or other filling. Squeeze the filling in until you feel the doughnut blow up, but not too much or it will ooze back out. If the filling isn’t pipeable, give it a whisk to loosen it slightly before piping. Dust with a little more sugar, if using, and serve.

COOK’S NOTE

The soft cheese should have the consistency of labneh. You may need to ‘hang’ it by ladling into a muslin-lined colander to drain for a few hours before putting in the fridge.

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