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Listen, I’ve eaten my fair share of donuts in my life. We actually have a whole holiday dedicated to frying everything in sight called Hanukkah, and the star of the show is always the donut, AKA sufganiyot. This time, I filled them with pastry cream, but I gave it a festive twist by adding Christmas essence, since these two holidays often overlap. I spiced up the pastry cream with eggnog and a touch of nutmeg, creating an irresistible filling you’ll want to pipe on everything. But the real showstopper is the caramel crust. I melted sugar and water in a pan (without stirring) and then dipped the filled donuts, letting them cool to form a crispy caramel shell. Breaking that caramel on top is not only satisfying but also absolutely delicious, pairing perfectly with the eggnog pastry cream and the light, airy donuts. Make these for your loved ones—they’ll never forget them, I promise!
Start with the donut dough: In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the ingredients in this order—milk, yeast, sugar, eggs, vanilla, flour, butter, and salt.
Set the stand mixer to the lowest speed and knead the dough for 10 minutes. It will be slightly sticky, which is perfect—it ensures soft, airy donuts.
Shape the dough into a tight ball and place it in a lightly oiled bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let it rise until it doubles in size, about 1.5 to 2 hours.
Meanwhile, let’s prepare the eggnog pastry cream. In a medium-sized pot, combine the milk and eggnog and bring them to a simmer. While that heats, whisk the egg yolks and sugar in a bowl until well combined and airy, about 3 minutes. Add the cornstarch and mix just until combined.
It’s time to temper the eggs. Tempering involves slowly adding a hot liquid to an egg mixture while stirring constantly to prevent the eggs from cooking. Here’s how: Add 2 tablespoons of the hot milk-eggnog mixture to the egg mixture, stirring constantly. Once combined, gradually add the rest of the hot liquid in a slow, steady stream, continuing to mix. After everything is incorporated, pour the mixture back into the pot.
Set the pot on medium heat and whisk constantly and cook over medium-low heat until the mixture boils and thickens, stirring constantly. Once thickened, remove from heat and add the vanilla, nutmeg, and salt. Whisk until combined.
Transfer the eggnog pastry cream to a shallow dish and cover it with plastic wrap, pressing it directly onto the surface to prevent a skin from forming. Refrigerate immediately and let it cool completely. Once it has cooled- transfer to a piping bag.
Back to our donuts—once the dough has doubled in size, divide it into 75-gram pieces and shape each into a tight ball. I used just a little flour on my hands to prevent the dough from sticking, but be careful not to use too much! Place each dough ball onto a square of parchment paper, seam side down. This will make it easy to transfer them to the hot oil for frying once they’ve proofed.
Cover the dough balls with a towel. To prevent them from drying out and forming a crust, you can lightly brush them with oil. Let them rise until they’ve doubled in size, about one hour.
In a medium size pot, add the canola oil and heat to 340F or 170C.
Gently transfer the dough balls to the hot oil, keeping the parchment paper underneath and placing them seam side down. The parchment will detach from the dough, and you can carefully remove it using tongs. Fry the donuts for 2 minutes on one side, then flip and fry for another 2 minutes on the other side. If the donuts darken too quickly, the oil is too hot; if they don’t brown much after 2 minutes, the oil is too cold.
Transfer the cooked donuts to a sheet of parchment paper to cool to room temperature. Once cooled, use a chopstick to make a hole in the side of each donut, creating space for the filling. Pipe the eggnog filling into each donut.
Preparing the Caramel Crust: In a small pan, add the sugar and water, then set over medium heat. DO NOT STIR. DO NOT MIX. Allow the sugar to melt and transform into caramel on its own. Once it starts to bubble and darken in color, remove the pan from the heat. Immediately and carefully dip the top of each donut into the caramel, holding it upside down to drain any excess. Set the donuts aside to cool.
Serve to your friends and family (or just enjoy it on your own, haha).
YASSS!
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