Mmm... Doughnuts

I promised my kids we would make doughnuts this weekend. Since they're a bit of an undertaking, I decided to document the process. We've only made them once before, about 3 years ago. I'm a huge Alton Brown fan and luckily have some Good Eats DVD box sets. These doughnuts are from the "Circle of Life" episode, and the recipe is on the Food Network website here: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/yeast-doughnuts-recipe/index.html

Here is the yeast proofing. It's nice and bubbly as it should be.

The recipe calls for freshly grated nutmeg. Please, do yourself a favor and buy whole nutmeg and grate it yourself. There really is a huge difference. Trust me.

The kids are happy to let me do all the prep work as long as they get to cut out the doughnuts and holes. Here they are bench proofing while the oil gets up to 365 degrees.

A thermometer is a must have here. If the oil is too hot, it's potentially very dangerous and your doughnuts will burn. If your oil isn't hot enough, then your doughnuts will absorb too much of it and be nasty, doughy, grease balls. Yuck.

Do as the recipe suggests and only fry 3-4 at a time. Overcrowding them might cause them to stick together and could lower the oil temperature too much.

Let them cool on a rack over a sheet pan and some newspaper or paper towels. This will help wick away any excess grease.

Pre-glaze:

I also used Alton Brown's glaze recipe from the same episode, which is here: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/doughnut-glaze-recipe/index.html

All glazed up and ready to eat!