For those of us with a sweet tooth, choosing between sugary treats has arguably never been harder. Cookies, brownies, blondies, cakes, biscuits, chocolates, ice cream - where do you start?
In the doughnut section, of course!
That's right, tempting as all the other options may be, nothing beats a good doughnut. Whether sprinkled with sugar or covered with confectionery, doughnuts come in all shapes, sizes and flavours. And if you love doughnuts like we do, you're in luck because May 7th-15th is officially National Doughnut Week!
What is National Doughnut Week?
National Doughnut Week takes place every year and sees schools and businesses selling doughnuts to raise funds for The Children's Trust, the UK's leading charity for children with brain injury.
Taking part couldn't be simpler - anyone interested just needs to fill in an online form (available here) and you'll receive a goodie bag to help you prepare and promote your efforts. After that, you just need to make (or buy) plenty of doughnuts, sell them and send the proceeds to The Children's Trust.
What is The Children's Trust?
The Children's Trust runs a range of specialist care, education and therapy services for children and young people across the UK, including:
Residential rehabilitation for children with an acquired brain injury
Therapy-led support in the community for children with an acquired brain injury
Special education for pupils with learning difficulties
Transitional care for children who are technology dependent
Palliative care
The Trust has helped countless families since its inception in 1984 and currently supports more than 1,200 children. As a charity, its incredible work is made possible by the support of the public and, with 100% of the funds raised during National Doughnut Week going straight into its pocket, every doughnut sold goes towards helping a truly fantastic cause.
How to make your own doughnuts
If you're planning to make your own doughnuts to sell, plenty of recipes are available online but here are a couple of our favourites - one for deep frying and one for baking.
Sugared doughnuts
Sweet, sugary and easy to eat on the go, these baked delights are impossible to resist.
Ingredients
To make 20 small doughnuts, you will need:
250g plain flour
1/2 x 7g sachet fast-action dried yeast
50g golden caster sugar, plus 50g extra
2 egg yolks
150ml milk, warmed
50g butter, melted, plus 2oz vegetable or sunflower oil, for shaping
Start by putting the flour, yeast, sugar and a 1⁄2 tsp of salt into a large bowl, mix, then make a well in the middle. Beat the egg yolks, milk and melted butter together, tip into the well, then bring together with a cutlery knife. Leave to stand for 10 mins, until the dough begins to firm.
Next, oil your work surface and your hands, then knead the dough for about 5 mins until it is smooth and springy. Place the dough in an oiled bowl, cover and leave in a warm place for about 2 hrs or until doubled in size.
Knead the dough again, then shape into small balls and place on baking sheets, leaving plenty of space between each one. Cover again, then leave for 1 hr until risen.
Finally, heat your oven to 190C/fan 170C/gas 5 and bake the balls for 12-15 mins until risen. Melt 50g butter in a pan and put 50g sugar into a large bowl. Let the doughnuts cool for a few mins, then brush with butter, roll in sugar and serve warm.
Jam doughnuts
Soft and oozing with jam, these light doughnuts are perfect for sharing.
Ingredients
To make approx 20 doughnuts, you will need:
500g strong white bread flour
60g golden caster sugar
15g fresh yeast, crumbled
4 eggs
½ lemon, zested
2 tsp fine sea salt
125g softened unsalted butter
2 litres sunflower oil, for deep-frying
caster sugar, for tossing
300g jam for filling
Put 150g water and all the dough ingredients except the butter into the bowl of a mixer with a beater paddle. Mix on a medium speed for 8 mins then leave to rest for 1 min. Set the mixer to medium speed and slowly add the butter to the dough – about 25g at a time. Once it's all incorporated, mix on high speed for 5 mins until the dough is smooth and stretchy.
Cover the bowl with cling film and leave somewhere warm until the dough has doubled in size. Leaving the dough in the bowl, knock the air out of it, then re-cover and leave in the fridge overnight.
Remove the dough from the fridge and cut into 50g pieces. Roll each piece into tight bun shapes and place them on a floured baking tray, leaving plenty of room between each one. Cover with cling film and leave for 4 hrs. Fill your deep-fat fryer or heavy-based saucepan halfway with oil and heat it to 180C.
When the oil is heated, carefully slide the doughnuts into it using a floured pastry scraper. Do 2-3 per batch, depending on the size of your fryer or pan. Fry for 2 mins each side until golden brown, then remove from the fryer and place them on kitchen paper. Remember to keep checking the oil temperature - if it's too high, the doughnuts will burn; if it's too low they'll become greasy.
Once fried, toss each doughnut in a bowl of caster sugar while still warm. Then make a hole with a small knife in the crease of each one, anywhere around the white line between the fried top and bottom. Fill a piping bag with your favourite kind of jam (or custard!) and pipe into the doughnut until nicely swollen – about 1 tbsp per doughnut. Serve warm.
The best doughnuts to have with coffee
All this talk of doughnuts has got us thinking - which doughnuts go best with coffee? Obviously we had to find out! Here are our top three doughnuts to enjoy with a fresh brew.
3. Sainsbury's apple and raspberry jam doughnuts
Yep, sometimes you can't see the wood for the trees and if you refuse to go anywhere but specialist doughnut shops for your favourite snacks, you're definitely missing a trick.
These soft, lightly sugar-coated treats have the perfect ratio of jam to dough, ensuring you get plenty of the delicious jam with every bite. They go brilliantly with a cappuccino for a mid-morning pick-me-up and you can get five for £1!
2. Anything from Doboy Donuts
Sometimes you just want something simple and classic with your afternoon coffee. Sometimes, however, you want a massive glazed doughnut that's filled with cream and piled high with chocolate.
With a menu that changes each week, Doboy eschews subtlety in favour of banoffee pie doughnuts covered in whipped cream, Biscoff doughnuts stuffed with Biscoff cream and topped with vanilla fudge or bright pink Jammy Dodger doughnuts that have a whole Jammy Dodger sitting on top.
Probably not the place to go if you're on a diet but if it's a special doughnut you're after, look no further.
1. Krispy Kreme's original glazed doughnut
Grabbing a coffee and a doughnut for breakfast is as American as apple pie so it's no surprise that Krispy Kreme knows a thing or two about it.
These no-frills doughnuts are simply perfect. Light, flavourful, not too dense, not too chewy, seriously tasty and somehow made even better when paired with a flat white coffee. If you've never tried one, trust us, now is the time.
Happy Doughnut Week!
While doughnuts will obviously be the stars of the show over the coming week, there's a reason coffee and doughnuts are such a beloved combo. If you'd like one of our trained baristas to bring you - or your customers - a coffee while you man your doughnut stall, you can get in touch with your nearest Cafe2U van here.