Nutella Bomboloni with Hazelnut Sugar

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.

Personally, I have never liked doughnuts.  Crazy, right?  

But I only speak the truth.  Ask my father who was forced to purchase a blueberry muffin on weekend morning runs to Dunkin' Donuts.  If he forgot to purchase the muffin, or if they happened to have sold through their stash for the morning, I would refuse to eat breakfast.  

I was a bit stubborn as a child.

Unfortunately for Mike, this means I do not make homemade doughnuts very often.  So he was more than excited to taste test this month's challenge, for which I decided to create an Italian doughnut.

When I took this homemade Italian doughnut and decided to fill it full of warm, gooey, chocolaty Nutella, someone's eyes grew large.  Then he closed his baby blues and fulfilled his taste tester responsibilities with a definitive "Mmmmmmmmm."

So, if you happen to have a special someone with Italian roots, or anyone who might dream of Nutella, I suggest rolling the hot-from-the-oil bomboloni in sweet hazelnut sugar and serving alongside a strong double Illy espresso.

Even if you are like me and do not actually enjoy doughnuts, the smile you receive in return satisfies more than you can imagine.

Nutella Bomboloni with Hazelnut Sugar

adapted from Food & Wine

makes about 48 bomboloni

Ingredients

For the Bomboloni

1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon lukewarm water

1 1/2 envelopes active dry yeast (3 1/4 teaspoons)

1 1/2 tablespoons honey

3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting

3 tablespoons milk

6 large egg yolks

1/3 cup granulated sugar, plus more for rolling

2 teaspoons kosher salt

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

3 cups canola oil, for frying

Nutella, for filling
Hazelnut sugar, recipe below

For the Hazelnut Sugar

2 tablespoons whole hazelnuts, toasted

1/2 cup granulated sugar

Preparation Instructions

Prepare the dough:  In the bowl of a standing electric mixer, mix the water, yeast, honey and 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons of the flour. (Alternatively, whisk the ingredients by hand.) Cover with plastic wrap and let stand at room temperature until foamy, about 1 hour.

Return the bowl to the mixer, fitted with a dough hook. Add the remaining 13/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons of flour, along with the milk, egg yolks, 1/3 cup of granulated sugar and the salt. Mix at low speed until blended, then add the butter and knead at medium speed until silky but sticky, about 5 minutes; the dough will not pull away from the side of the bowl. Using an oiled spatula, scrape the dough into an oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate overnight. The dough will not rise.

Prepare the hazelnut sugar: Place toasted hazelnuts and granulated sugar in food processor. Grind until fully incorporated.

Cut & fry the doughnuts: In a large saucepan, heat the canola oil to 360°. Line a rack with paper towels. Fill a shallow bowl with hazelnut sugar. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough a scant 1/2 inch thick. Using a 1/2-inch round biscuit cutter, stamp out 48 rounds; do not reroll the dough. Fry the rounds, 8 at a time, until they are browned, about 4 minutes. Be sure to keep the oil between 360° and 375°. Drain the bomboloni on paper towels, then roll them in the hazelnut sugar. Continue frying and rolling the remaining bomboloni.

Fit a pastry bag with a plain donut tip (or a 1/4-inch tip) and fill with Nutella. Poke the tip three-fourths of the way into the bomboloni and squeeze in the preserves, pulling the tip out slightly as you squeeze to fill them as much as possible. Serve warm.