Strawberry Angostura Brioche Doughnuts

Deep-frying anything used to scare the hell out of me. True story: the first time I ever attempted to make doughnuts, I was so sure I was going to start a fire, I watched youtube tutorials on how to properly deploy a fire extinguisher! Lol. I've come a long way. If you're intimidated by the process, too, I get it. I've been there. But it's really nothing to be scared of as long as you're safe and it's actually really fun once you get into the groove of it. It's a great opportunity to be impressed with yourself, too. Like "whoa, I just made a doughnut... at home!".

Alright, so let's talk more about THESE doughnuts. I got the idea for the filling from the latest issue of Bon Appetit. There was a little blurb from Claire Saffitz, one of the BA senior food editors, where she shared a genius tip about using angostura bitters in fruit jams and preserves to add a bit of flavor depth and complexity. What would normally be a wonderful flavor enhancer in a cocktail can also be the secret sauce in an insanely good fruit jam. The heady, spicy and herbal bitter notes in angostura bitters pair particularly well with sweet fruits, especially ripe Spring strawberries. Although, you could easily substitute raspberries or late Summer blackberries and both would pair deliciously with the bitters, too (can't wait to make a blackberry version once my parent's blackberries explode this Summer). Angostura bitters are made with a wide array of bitter herbs and aromatic spices, and by adding a little to a sweet strawberry jam, it makes the whole thing sing. This little jammy mixture happens to be the perfect filling for a fluffy, pillowy soft brioche doughnut.

Now, please indulge me in a small rant about strawberries for a moment. While strawberries can be found year-round at pretty much any grocery store these days, I urge you to take the extra effort and find some in-season, Spring strawberries. If you've ever had a strawberry from a farmer's market or farm stand, or better yet, straight outta the garden, you know there really is no comparison. Look for strawberries that are a deep ruby. None of that barely red, borderline white ish. They should smell fragrant and sweet. And when you cut into one, there should be absolutely no resistance. They should be so tender that you could slice them with a butter knife easily. To me, these are the only strawberries worth eating.

As you're reading this, I'm on my way down to Portland to see Bon Iver perform, eeeee! I can't wait. I really hope you give these a try because they are SO WORTH IT. And be sure to hashtag #allpurposeflourchild and tag me @all.purpose.flour.child on Insta if you make 'em! I'd love to see your creations!

makes about 10-12 doughnuts and 8-10 doughnut holes

doughnut dough recipe from A Cozy Kitchen

doughnut dough
2 T unsalted butter
3 T vegetable oil
1 c whole milk
1 large egg
1 T active dry yeast
4 c plus 2 T all purpose flour
1/3 c granulated sugar
1 t salt

strawberry angostura filling
1 quart (4 cups) strawberries (preferably fresh and organic), washed, hulled, and roughly chopped
1 c granulated organic cane sugar
juice of 1 lemon (about 1/4 cup)
pinch of sea salt
1 T angostura bitters

sugar topping
1 c granulated organic cane sugar
1 vanilla bean, seeds scraped (toss the spent pod into your sugar jar!)
neutral oil, for frying (such as peanut or canola)

make the doughnut dough
In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine the butter, oil, and milk and heat between 100-110 F. Remove from heat and add to the bowl of a stand mixer. Add in the egg and mix to combine. Sprinkle the yeast over the mixture and let sit about 10 minutes. Whisk together the flour, sugar, and salt and set aside. With the mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment, turn the mixer on low and gradually add in the flour mixture, until fully combined and a shaggy dough forms. Turn the mixer up to high and let it knead for about 7 -8 minutes, until the dough is smooth and elastic starts to come away from the side of the bowl. Drizzle a large bowl with a little oil and smear it around the sides to coat the bowl. Turn the dough out on your work surface and knead it a few times with your hands to form a uniform ball. Add it to the oiled bowl, tossing to coat all sides. Cover with plastic wrap and allow it to rise for 1 hour, until doubled in size. Per Adrianna's directions: you can also make this dough the night before you wanna make the doughnuts. Simply keep the dough refrigerated at this stage until ready to roll out, cut, and fry.

make the strawberry filling
While the dough is rising, let's make the filling. Start by popping a small plate in the freezer. We'll use this to test the doneness of the jam in a bit. In a large, heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat (I like to use my dutch oven), combine the strawberries, sugar, lemon juice, and salt. Stir ocassionally to combine ingredients and allow sugar to dissolve. Once sugar has dissolved, turn the heat up to medium-high and let the mixture simmer and bubble for about 20 minutes, stirring ocassionally until it's reduced by about a third. When the mixture has thickened and bubbles have subsided, pull the plate out of the freezer and place a little dollop of the jam on it. Freeze it for about a minute then drag your finger through it. If the jam wrinkles, it's done. If not, continue cooking and re-test on the plate every few minutes until it wrinkles. Remove from heat and add in the angostura bitters, stirring to combine.

Using a large fork or potato masher, smush the jam until most of the strawberries have broken down into smaller pieces. I prefer this method to whizzing up the mixture to a smooth puree in a blender because I like the jam to have a little texture but if you prefer it to be completely smooth, feel free to blend it up in a blender or food processor once cooled. Refrigerate until ready to pipe into doughnuts.

make the doughnuts
Punch the dough down and on a floured work surface, roll out to about a 1/2 inch thick. Cut out doughnuts using a 3 inch round cookie or biscuit cutter and a 1 inch cutter for doughnut holes in the scraps. Re-roll the scraps once to get about 12 doughnuts and however many holes you can get out of the scraps. Lay doughnuts and holes out on a parchment-lined baking sheet and cover with a kitchen towel to rise for about 45 minutes to an hour, until not quite doubled in size.

In a large, heavy-bottomed pot (again, dutch oven all the way), add in enough frying oil to fill up the pot at least 3 inches. Clip a candy thermometer to the side of the pot and heat to 350 F over medium-high heat. Add in two doughnuts at a time, frying about 1 minute on each side. Remove from oil using a slotted spoon or spider and place on a paper towel-lined plate for a moment before coating both sides in vanilla sugar. Repeat until all doughnuts and doughnut holes are fried up and coated in sugar.

assemble
Add the strawberry filling to a large piping bag fitted with a round tip (doesn't really matter what size, as long as it's big enough for the filling to come out). Using a paring knife, poke a little hole at one end of all the doughnuts and holes, giving the knife a little twist to make a wider opening for the piping tip to fit into. Insert the piping tip into the hole and fill each doughnut, gently squeezing the bag until you see filling poking out of the hole. Enjoy!

**side note: if you end up with any leftover filling, guess what? You have the most delicious strawberry jam to smear on whatever you want! Yay! Might I suggest a slab of sourdough smeared with ricotta and dolloped with the jam? Heavenly, if you ask me.