Doughnuts with Lievito Madre

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mwilson on 10 Jan 2014 at 16:17

…based upon a formula by Francesco Favorito.

Oh my. These are some damn fine tasting doughnuts, easily the best I have ever eaten, seriously!

  • 500g strong flour, I used Canadian wheat
  • 100g lievito madre, refreshed*. I made three refreshments
  • 50g mashed potatoes
  • 3 whole eggs, about 155g
  • 110g whole milk
  • 50g sugar
  • 5g salt
  • 100g softened butter
  • Zest of one lemon
  • Vanilla extract

*Lately I have been conserving my lievito in water. In addition to this I have taken to refreshing at three hour intervals. As a result my lievito is low in acid and bacteria with a pH of 4.8-5.2. It triples its volume in just two hours at 28C.
sourdough after 3hrs at 28C

Mix flour, salt, sugar, lemon zest, lievito, potato, eggs and milk to a smooth dough. Add butter to finish the mix. Wrap and leave in the fridge overnight. In the morning transfer the dough to a warm room at 28-30C, After 1 hour divide dough into 65g pieces and round. Proof at 28C for 6-7 hours. Fry in oil at 180C for 90 seconds each side. Drain on paper towel and coat in sugar mixed with lemon and orange zest.

a plate of scrumptious doughnuts

These were pretty big for just 65 grams of dough! I had enough to make 16 doughnuts.

I filled these with custard / pastry cream:

 

  • 500ml whole milk
  • 100g sugar
  • 40 corn flour
  • 4 egg yolks
  • seeds of one vanilla pod
  • one piece of lemon peel

Cream egg yolks with sugar and then corn flour. Bring to the boil milk with vanilla and lemon. Strain into the egg yolk mixture and return to the pan. Cook gently until thick, stirring all the time. Cover and chill overnight.

 

donuts Michael!  So airy they refused to sink even half way!  I think one could lose weight eating these :-)  Just beautiful.

Happy baking in 2014 Michael

Those(the dough) almost look like they could be baked. Just set that tray directly into a hot oven. Maybe sprayed/brushed lightly with a coat of oil first. Wonder how they would turn out?

How was the dough mixed? Machine?

Keeping this on file, regardless!

Oh my is right!  What beautiful looking donuts!  I need to lose a few pounds and this is not helping....only thing you could do to make these even more evil would be to dip them in chocolate :).

Regards,
Ian

Thanks Ian. On the contrary these doughnuts are actually good for you. The sourdough unlocks nutrients in the flour that would be otherwise unavailable... Just don't eat too many! 

Regards,

Michael

If your going to have a donut this is the way to do it and not feel guilty.  Fresh, homemade goodness!    

Lovely filling and a touch of lemon you've added.  I can just imagine how delicious they must have tasted.

Sylvia  

Thanks Sylvia. Goodness indeed! Lemon together with vanilla is very much a signature of Italian baking especially in pastry cream.

Kind regards,

Michael

I detest fries in all shapes I would be very pleased to make an exception for your lovely products. I totally trust you!

  Nico

Those doughnuts look great! I could eat a few of those right now. I will have to try and make these. I have a deep fryer and will try that.  Happy eating! Brian

Those truly look delicious, Michael! Little pieces of art. They do look so light and airy.. something you seem to have perfected.

khalid

Those are beautiful! How do you mean that your lievito is conserved in water? Is that what makes it rise so fast?

Thank you.

Here's what I mean:
it's fed 1:1 (starter:flour) @ ~45% hydration every 24hrs at 18C.

Water oxygenates the dough facilitating aerobic respiration of yeast which is more powerful, speeding things up.