Baked Lemon Ricotta Doughnuts - Daring Bakers' Challenge October 2010

Love doughnuts, want to make them, but hate to do deep fry at home? These baked doughnuts may be the solution. When it comes to doughnuts, I like them baked, not fried. It's probably because I can get rid of the guilty feeling knowing they have not been dunked in a big pot of hot oil. Furthermore, these baked doughnuts do not taste less delicious than the fried ones.

Alright, we can argue all day that baked doughnuts are not the real deal, but I want you to give these baked Lemon and Ricotta doughnuts a wee chance. These doughnuts have the perfect creamy ricotta centre zested up by the lemon to go with the puffy soft doughnuts and they have been rolled in heaps of lemon sugar. The fragrant oils in lemon zest give a distinctive aroma and flavor to the sugar that makes these doughnuts so special.

The best part is you can wolf them down, indulge in the fluffiness of the dough while knowing that they have less fat without compromising the taste.

The October 2010 Daring Bakers challenge was hosted by Lori of Butter Me Up. Lori chose to challenge DBers to make doughnuts. She used several sources for her recipes including Alton Brown, Nancy Silverton, Kate Neumann and Epicurious.

Baked Lemon and Ricotta Doughnuts
(Adapted from Gourmet Traveller Magazine June 2010 issue)
Makes 12

Ingredients

750 gm (5 cups) plain flour, plus extra for dusting
140 gm caster sugar
7 gm dried yeast (about 1 sachet)
Finely grated rind of 2 lemons
250 ml (1 cup) lukewarm milk, plus extra for brushing
80 ml (1/3 cup) buttermilk
2 eggs, at room temperature
150 gm butter, melted
Oil, for greasing

Lemon ricotta filling:
250 gm ricotta
55 gm (¼ cup) caster sugar
Finely grated rind of 1 lemon
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 egg

Lemon sugar:
220 gm (1 cup) caster sugar
Finely grated rind of 1½ lemons

Method

1. Combine flour, sugar, yeast and lemon rind in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook, mix to combine. Whisk together milk, buttermilk, eggs and 30gm melted butter and, with motor running, add to flour mixture, then mix on medium speed until dough is smooth and elastic (4-5 minutes). Shape into a ball, place in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and stand in a warm place until doubled in size (1-1½ hours).
2. Meanwhile, for lemon ricotta filling, process ingredients in a food processor until smooth (1-2 minutes), transfer to a bowl and refrigerate until required.
3. Preheat oven to 190C. Knock back dough, turn onto a lightly floured surface and roll to 5mm thick. Cut 12 rounds with a 7cm-diameter cutter and 12 rounds with an 8cm-diameter cutter (re-roll scraps if necessary). Place smaller rounds 5cm apart on oven trays lined with baking paper, place a heaped teaspoon of lemon ricotta filling in centre of each.
   

   

4. Brush edges with milk, cover with larger rounds, press to seal edges well. Trim with a 7cm-diameter cutter. Cover and stand in a warm place until risen (1-1½ hours), then bake until bottoms are just golden (8-10 minutes).

   

5. Meanwhile, for lemon sugar, combine sugar and lemon rind in a bowl, spread on a tray.



6. Dip hot doughnuts immediately in remaining melted butter, toss in lemon sugar and serve hot.