Doughnuts with apple sauce and custard

These doughnuts are a delicious treat for the whole family to enjoy - perfect for a lazy Sunday!

Doughnuts with apple sauce and custard

Preparation time: 60 mins plus proving and resting Frying time: 30 mins Makes 8 For the doughnuts: 240g strong white flour 25g granulated sugar 1/2 tsp salt 1 tsp fast acting dried yeast 25g butter, softened and cut into small pieces 45ml water, tepid 70ml milk 1 small egg, beaten Sunflower oil for frying Caster/icing sugar for coating For the custard: 250ml milk 3 egg yolks 1 tbsp caster sugar 1 tbsp corn flour 1/2 tsp vanilla bean paste or extract For the apple sauce: 2 large (approx 400g) Bramley apples, cored, peeled, chopped 125ml water 1 tbsp sugar 1 For the doughnuts, place the flour, sugar, salt, yeast, butter, water, milk and egg in a large bowl and mix together either by hand or with an electric mixer and dough attachments until a ball of dough is formed. 2 Knead the dough by hand for 5-10 mins until smooth and elastic or use the mixer for approx 5 mins. Cover the bowl with oiled clingfilm and leave in a warm place to rise for 1-2 hours until doubled in size. 3 Tip the risen dough out onto a clean work surface and knock it back by kneading the excess air out of it until almost back to its original size. Shape into eight equal sized balls and place on a baking tray lined with baking paper. Cover with oiled clingfilm and place in a warm place for one hour or until doubled in size. 4 Half fill a saucepan with sunflower oil and heat until the oil reaches 180˚C, alternatively use a deep fat fryer. Fry the doughnuts in batches until they turn a very deep golden colour, making sure you turn them over so they cook evenly. Carefully remove from the oil, dunk in a bowl of caster or icing sugar to coat then set aside. 5 For the custard, heat the milk to boiling point in a saucepan. While the milk is coming to temperature, mix the egg yolks, sugar, corn flour and vanilla bean paste together in a bowl. Pour the milk into the egg and sugar mixture and stir until well combined. Return to the saucepan and heat gently. 6 Stir the custard continuously over a gentle heat and remove from the heat when it reaches a fairly thick consistency. Allow to cool. 7 For the apple sauce, place the apples, water and sugar in a saucepan and bring to a gentle simmer. Simmer for a few minutes until the apple is soft then blitz in a food processer until you reach your preferred consistency. 8 Fill one piping bag with apple sauce and another with custard. Then using long filling nozzles, fill each doughnut with some of each. Best eaten straight away. TIP: * The apple sauce and custard can be made in advance, cooled and stored in containers in the fridge up to a few days ahead. * For speed you can use ready made apple sauce and thick ready made custard. * Instead of filling the doughnuts with both apple sauce and custard, just fill with apple sauce and serve with a bowl of the warmed custard to dip them in, delicious! * If you would like a thicker custard filling, whisk a little whipped cream until stiff peaks form then fold into the cooled custard.