I was looking for a particular recipe of a pastry I enjoyed very much during my visit to Italy. This pastry is a donut-like pastry called "Bomboloni" filled either with Italian Pastry Cream, Nutella or Jelly. They are simply delicious. I finally came across a great recipe which I found easy to follow and decided to try it out. To my surprise it was a success.
Ingredients:
250 g (2 cups) bread flour
250 g (2 cups) Italian "00" (doppio zero) flour or plan all purpose flour
50 g (about 1/4 cup) caster (superfine granules) sugar
8 g (1 package) instant yeast or 25 g fresh yeast
Seeds from 1 Vanilla Bean
Zest of 1 Lemon or 1 Orange (or 1/2 Lemon and 1/2 Orange)
Pinch of Salt
250 ml (about 8 1/2 ounces) warm milk, temperature between (105 to 110 F)
3 large eggs
50 g (3 1/2 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces softened
Vegetable or Canola Oil for frying
Caster (superfine granules) sugar, extra, for rolling
Directions:
Place flours, sugar, instant yeast, vanilla bean seeds, zest of your choice and salt in a large bowl. Using a whisk, whisk to well combine.
Make a well in the centre; pour in the warm milk. Work together the milk and the dry ingredients with the tips of your fingers.
Add the eggs all at once, work together the ingredients until you have a rough ball of dough.
Gradually add the butter, one-piece-at-a-time, working each piece of butter into the dough before adding the next.
Transfer dough to a clean, light floured work surface; knead until smooth and elastic (not sticky) about 10 to 15 minutes.
Transfer dough back to the large bowl; cover with a sheet of plastic wrap and leave to rise in a warm place, 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
When the dough has doubled in volume, transfer to a clean, floured work surface.
Roll the dough out to a thickness of about 1 cm (a little less than 1/2 inch); using a cookie cutter or glass cut out rounds about 7-cm to 7 1/2 cm (2 3/4 inch to 3-inch) in diameter (keep the cuts as close together as possible. (Gather up the leftover pieces, give a quick knead to bring the pieces together, return dough to the bowl, cover and leave to rise in a warm place until double in volume, about 1/2 hour and proceed to roll out and cut out rounds. At this point if you have any remaining dough, gather to re-roll and cut rounds until all of the dough has been used.
Place the rounds on a parchment lined baking sheet lighty sprayed with vegetable spray, cover with a sheet of plastic wrap and leave to rise in a warm place until doubled in volume (they should appear full of air) about 1 1/2 to 2 hours. It's easier to remove the rounds from the parchment paper when you lightly coat the paper with vegetable spray opposed to flouring the parchment paper sheet. I used a large deep pan instead of a baking sheet to place the rounds in to rise so that the plastic wrap wouldn't stick to them when removed. Note: I place each rounds onto a cut-up parchment paper so that when I dip them in the oil for frying, its easy to remove the parchment paper with tongs, leaving the shape of the bombolone undisturbed.
Heat oil in a 6-litre/quart heavy-bottom saucepan over mediium heat to between about 320 to 340 F), about 20 minutes.
Prepare 2 large plates for daining and rolling of bombolini. Layer one plate with 3 to 4 sheets of paper towels for draining and the other plate with a thin layer of caster sugar, for rolling, setting aside until ready to use.
Fry four to six bombolone at a time to ensure even frying. Fry until golding on both sides about 2-3 minutes per side. Remove bombolone one at a time with a slotted soon, drain on paper towels and immediately roll in caster sugar until evenly coated.
While bomboloni are still warm fill with Italian Cream Pastry. To fill bomboloni, transfer the cream to a large pastry bag fitted with a 1/2 cm to 1 cm plain round tip. Use a sharp paring knife to make a small hole in the centre on the top of each bombolone. Insert pastry tip into the hole of the bombolone and pipe cream until the bombolone feels heavy; continue to fill until you have a mound of pastry cream visual on the top of the bombolone. Enjoy.
Ingredients:
250 g (2 cups) bread flour
250 g (2 cups) Italian "00" (doppio zero) flour or plan all purpose flour
50 g (about 1/4 cup) caster (superfine granules) sugar
8 g (1 package) instant yeast or 25 g fresh yeast
Seeds from 1 Vanilla Bean
Zest of 1 Lemon or 1 Orange (or 1/2 Lemon and 1/2 Orange)
Pinch of Salt
250 ml (about 8 1/2 ounces) warm milk, temperature between (105 to 110 F)
3 large eggs
50 g (3 1/2 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces softened
Vegetable or Canola Oil for frying
Caster (superfine granules) sugar, extra, for rolling
Directions:
Place flours, sugar, instant yeast, vanilla bean seeds, zest of your choice and salt in a large bowl. Using a whisk, whisk to well combine.
Make a well in the centre; pour in the warm milk. Work together the milk and the dry ingredients with the tips of your fingers.
Add the eggs all at once, work together the ingredients until you have a rough ball of dough.
Gradually add the butter, one-piece-at-a-time, working each piece of butter into the dough before adding the next.
Transfer dough to a clean, light floured work surface; knead until smooth and elastic (not sticky) about 10 to 15 minutes.
Transfer dough back to the large bowl; cover with a sheet of plastic wrap and leave to rise in a warm place, 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
When the dough has doubled in volume, transfer to a clean, floured work surface.
Roll the dough out to a thickness of about 1 cm (a little less than 1/2 inch); using a cookie cutter or glass cut out rounds about 7-cm to 7 1/2 cm (2 3/4 inch to 3-inch) in diameter (keep the cuts as close together as possible. (Gather up the leftover pieces, give a quick knead to bring the pieces together, return dough to the bowl, cover and leave to rise in a warm place until double in volume, about 1/2 hour and proceed to roll out and cut out rounds. At this point if you have any remaining dough, gather to re-roll and cut rounds until all of the dough has been used.
Place the rounds on a parchment lined baking sheet lighty sprayed with vegetable spray, cover with a sheet of plastic wrap and leave to rise in a warm place until doubled in volume (they should appear full of air) about 1 1/2 to 2 hours. It's easier to remove the rounds from the parchment paper when you lightly coat the paper with vegetable spray opposed to flouring the parchment paper sheet. I used a large deep pan instead of a baking sheet to place the rounds in to rise so that the plastic wrap wouldn't stick to them when removed. Note: I place each rounds onto a cut-up parchment paper so that when I dip them in the oil for frying, its easy to remove the parchment paper with tongs, leaving the shape of the bombolone undisturbed.
Heat oil in a 6-litre/quart heavy-bottom saucepan over mediium heat to between about 320 to 340 F), about 20 minutes.
Prepare 2 large plates for daining and rolling of bombolini. Layer one plate with 3 to 4 sheets of paper towels for draining and the other plate with a thin layer of caster sugar, for rolling, setting aside until ready to use.
Fry four to six bombolone at a time to ensure even frying. Fry until golding on both sides about 2-3 minutes per side. Remove bombolone one at a time with a slotted soon, drain on paper towels and immediately roll in caster sugar until evenly coated.
While bomboloni are still warm fill with Italian Cream Pastry. To fill bomboloni, transfer the cream to a large pastry bag fitted with a 1/2 cm to 1 cm plain round tip. Use a sharp paring knife to make a small hole in the centre on the top of each bombolone. Insert pastry tip into the hole of the bombolone and pipe cream until the bombolone feels heavy; continue to fill until you have a mound of pastry cream visual on the top of the bombolone. Enjoy.
