Fried Doughnuts Filled with Chocolate Cream

To prepare the fried doughnuts filled with chocolate cream, start by making the dough. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, pour in the eggs, sugar, and honey 1. Then add the sifted flour 2 and the dry yeast 3.

Turn on the machine, also add the room temperature milk gradually 4, and finally a pinch of salt. Continue working the ingredients until the dough is homogeneous. Replace the paddle with the dough hook and knead again 5, when the dough is wrapped around the hook, add a small piece of soft butter 6 at a time, waiting for it to be absorbed before adding another!

Once the butter is completely absorbed, turn the dough out onto a lightly oiled work surface 7 and work it for a few moments: it should be quite soft. Shape the dough into a ball 8 and place it in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap 9 and let it rise for 2 hours in an oven turned off with the light on.

In the meantime, prepare the chocolate cream that will fill your doughnuts. Peel the orange 10 and transfer the zest to a saucepan. Add milk and cream 11 and bring to just below boiling. Then turn off the heat and let it infuse for about 1 hour. After this time, finely chop the chocolate and set it aside. Break the eggs and separate the whites from the yolks, add sugar to the yolks and beat vigorously with a whisk 12.

Once you have a light and frothy mixture, add the previously sifted flour and cornstarch 13 and mix quickly. At this point, strain the milk and cream mixture, retaining the orange zest, and add the liquid to the rest of the ingredients 14. Pour everything into a saucepan and place it over the heat 15, continue stirring until you obtain a smooth and sufficiently thick mixture.

At this point, turn off the heat and incorporate the chopped chocolate 16, continuing to mix the cream until it is completely melted 17. Your chocolate custard is now ready, transfer it to a baking dish, cover it with plastic wrap in contact 18 and let it cool first at room temperature and then in the refrigerator.

After the necessary time, the dough will have doubled in volume 19. Retrieve it and place it on a lightly floured work surface. Roll it out with a rolling pin 20 until it's about 0.39 inches thick and, using a pastry cutter of 3 inches in diameter, cut out discs 21.

Gently remove the dough left between the various discs and, with a pastry cutter of 1.38 inches in diameter, cut them again to create the classic hole 22; then slightly enlarge it with your hands 23 and place each doughnut on a baking tray lined with parchment paper, spacing them apart 34. To reuse the leftover dough, simply work it with your hands for a few minutes, let it rest for about 30 minutes, and then roll it out again to make more doughnuts.

Let the doughnuts rise, covered with plastic wrap at room temperature away from drafts or in an oven turned off with the light on for at least 1 hour. Once the doughnuts have doubled in volume 25, pour the frying oil into a saucepan 26 and heat it until it reaches a temperature of 338°F (use a kitchen thermometer to measure the exact temperature). Then immerse 3-4 doughnuts at a time in the hot oil 27.

Fry your doughnuts for about 2-3 minutes, turning them only once. Remove them from the oil using a slotted spoon 28 and place them on a tray lined with absorbent paper 29 to eliminate excess oil. Once all the doughnuts are fried, use a sharp knife to slice them in half 30.

Transfer the chocolate custard into a pastry bag and use it to fill your doughnuts (31-32). The fried doughnuts filled with chocolate cream are ready 33, all that's left is to serve them!