Traditional Czech Doughnuts
Fit for St Matthew's Day as well as "Masopust" (Mardi Gras)
There are hundreds and hundreds of recipes for traditional Czech doughnuts - you see, we Czechs love our doughnuts! But as with everything, we also enjoy trying “our” way which I suppose is the reason why there are so many.
The one I am sharing with you today, is from my grandma’s old book of recipes and is the traditional version of donuts that were made for Masopust (think Mardi Gras).
However, I say, why not use these for the St Matthew’s Day too? A day when donuts were traditionally made across the land, fillinf the streets with its heavenly smell. The round shape of donuts and the golden color were to symbolize the returning sun.
(I have never tried to make doughnuts “healthier”, meaning trying vegan butter or using any kind of plant milk as I hardly ever make them and don’t feel like risking their taste. But feel free to experiment!)
I mean… I take any reason to make these ;)
Ingredients:
500g plain (spelt) flour
50g of butter
30g icing sugar
1 sachet of vanilla sugar
40g of fresh yeast or 14g of dried yeast
3 teaspoons of Czech rum
3 egg yolks
200 - 250 ml milk
Pinch of salt
Flour for dusting the surface
Good quality vegetable oil for frying (I recomment organic cold-pressed sunflower oil)
Marmalade for fillin
To make the dough, crumble the yeast into lukewarm milk (or if using dried, follow the instructions on the packet). Add one tablespoon of sugar, 1 tablespoon of flour and cover to leave prove and become bubbly. This takes about 15 minutes.
In a bowl, beat the butter with the sugar until pale and fluffy, then one by one add the egg yolks. Add the rum and salt and whisk until well incorporated.
In another bowl, mix the flour with the leaven and the butter mixture. Gradually add the rest of the milk and continue to work with a wooden spoon (if you have a food processor, let it work for about 10 minutes) until the dough is smooth but not sticky or knead by hand until you reach same consistency.
Then cover the bowl with a tea towel and let it rise for about an hour or until twice the size.
Turn the risen dough out onto a floured work surface, stretch it out and using a rolling pin, roll out the dough into a circular size.
Cut out circles using a cookie cutter or a small glass.
Roll out the remaining dough once more and repeat. Do not roll out any remaining dough the third time as the doughnuts would not be fluffy anymore. Instead, make knots or any other shapes out of them.
Take one doughnut circle and put marmelade in the center of it. Then place the second circle on top of it and press at the edges with your fingers to seal the dough. Repeat with all the rest.
Let the filled doughnuts rise for about 20 minutes, turning them halfway through so that they rise evenly.
Heat enough oil in a saucepan so that the doughnuts float and do not touch the bottom. Dip a piece of the remaining dough and if it starts to fry immediately, you can start frying the doughnuts. Fry the doughnuts side up first and cover with a lid for the first 2 minutes until they are golden brown. Then turn them over and fry uncovered.
Remove and place on a plate lined with paper kitchen towels to absorb excess fat.
Sprinkle with a dash of icing sugar and enjoy!