Doughnuts

1. Place the 1/2 cup warm water in a bowl and mix in the yeast and 1 tsp white sugar. This will help activate the yeast which will help the dough rise.


2. Put the milk and shortening in a small saucepan and heat over low-medium fire until the shortening has melted and the milk has simmered on the sides of the pan.


3. Put 1/4 cup of sugar and the salt intomixer bowl and pour the milk and shortening mixture in the bowl. Mix on low speed until sugar dissolves then mix until it is lukewarm.


4. Continue beating and mix in the yeast mixture, eggs and 1 cup of flour on low speed until smooth. Carefully add in remaining flour to make a soft dough.


5. Continue to beat the dough until dough doesn't stick on the sides of the mixing anymore.


6. Flour a work surface and pour the dough over. Knead the dough until it is smooth and elastic.


7. Form the dough into a ball and place into a greased bowl. Also grease the top of the dough to prevent a film from forming, and cover the bowl with waxed paper. Leave the bowl in a warm place, probably on top of an oven to help the dough rise and reach double in size. Around 1 to 1/2 hours.


8. After rising, punch down the dough and roll out on a floured work surface to 1/2 inch thick. Cut doughnuts out of the dough with a 3 1/2-inch round doughnut cutter with a 1-inch smaller cutter in the center. We also tried cutting with other shaped and it worked too. Let the doughnuts rise on the work surface until very light and fluffy, approximately 40 minutes to 1 hour.


9. Heat the oil in a large saucepan to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).


10. Gently drop the doughnuts into the hot oil, working in small batches of 2 or 3 at a time so that the dough doesn't cool too much, and cook until the doughnuts are light golden brown, turning once, about 2 minutes.


11. Put the doughnuts on paper towels after frying to absorb the oil.


12. In a bowl, mix 1 tablespoon milk and vanilla extract, and stir in the confectioners' sugar to make a glaze. Spread a thin layer of glaze over the warm doughnuts. You can also add some cocoa powder to make a chocolate glaze.


13. You can use nuts or sifted powdered sugar and sprinkle on top of the the doughnuts. You can also use a small piping tip to pipe filling (jam, custard, chocolate) inside the doughnuts.

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