Finger, Fork & Knife

Inspired by a lemony-treat loving friend these plump little balls offer everything you could ever want or need. Crisp and golden on the outside, fluffy on the inside and with an intense, assertive hit of lemon they are just begging to be devoured. Be patient with this recipe. Do your best to sit back and let the little babies prove to you their many delicious qualities. You won’t regret it.

For the lemon curd filling:

1 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice, strained

5 tbsp unsalted, organic butter, room temperature

½ cup granulated sugar

2 organic, free-range egg yolks

2 organic, free-range eggs

1/8 tsp fine sea salt

Simmer the lemon juice in a small saucepan, reducing to ½ cup. Let cool for a bit.

Cream the butter in a medium stainless steel bowl. Add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy. Add the yolks, and then the eggs one at a time beating well to incorporate after each addition. Stir in the salt, and the gradually pour in the lemon juice.

Fill a small saucepan 1/3 of the way up with water. Bring to a simmer, and place your stainless steel bowl of curd on top. Stir continuously, and heat gently enough that the sugar has time to dissolve in the curd – approx. 10 minutes. Remove the curd from the heat when it is just thick enough to coat your spoon. Strain into a clean bowl or jar and pop it in the fridge to cool.

For the dough:

10 g fresh yeast

90 ml warm water

250 g plain flour

65 g caster sugar

½ tsp fine sea salt

1 egg

Zest of half an orange

Zest of half a lemon

75 g unsalted organic butter, diced, softened

Vegetable oil

Vanilla sugar (for rolling)

Place the yeast and water in the bowl of an electric mixer, and stir to dissolve. Gradually add the flour, sugar, salt, lemon and orange zests, and egg to the bowl. Mix (using a dough hook if available) on medium speed for 10 minutes, until the dough is smooth and elastic. Turn the mixer down to a low speed and add the diced butter to the bowl piece by piece. Continue to mix on medium speed for approx. 5 minutes, until the dough is smooth, elastic and shiny.

Remove the dough and pop it in a lightly greased clean bowl, and cover with cling wrap. Prove in a warm place for 1-1½ hours, until the dough has doubled in size. Knock back the dough and cover the bowl with cling wrap again. Pop in the fridge to chill for at least 3 hours.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and divide into 16 equal sized balls. Place balls, 5cm apart on a baking tray lined with baking paper. Cover with a tea towel and prove in a warm place for 2 hours, or until dough has doubled in size.

In a large saucepan, heat the oil to 160C.

Carefully place doughnuts into the oil 2-3 at a time. Cook for approx. 3 minutes on each side, turning using a slotted spoon. Remove doughnuts from oil and drain quickly on absorbent paper towel. Roll in vanilla
sugar and set aside to cool for 10 minutes.

To fill the doughnuts:

Carefully make a small hole in the side of each doughnut. Using a piping bag that has been filled with the chilled lemon curd, squeeze the curd into each doughnut until just full.

Roll the doughnuts lightly in caster sugar and serve.

Makes 8 regular sized doughnuts or 16 doughnut bites