Garnish with flaked almonds, drizzle over the remaining syrup and sink your teeth in to one of these babies!
Serves 8
Prep time 3 hours
Ingredients For the donuts
Plain flour, 400g
Active dry yeast, 2 tsp
Castor sugar, 100g
Aniseed, 1 tsp, crushed
Orange, zest of one
Lemon, zest of one
Egg, beaten
Cinnamon, half tsp.
Butter, 150g melted
Milk, 100ml
Water, as needed
Salt, pinch
Sunflower oil, I litre for frying
Ingredients For the syrup
Oranges, juice of 2
Water, 100ml
Castor sugar, 150g
Orange blossom water, 6 drops
For the fillings:
Ricotta, 400g
Milk, 75ml
Ground almond, 200g
Castor sugar, 200g
Orange, zest of 1
Lemon, zest and juice of 1
Water, as needed
Method
For the Aniseed donuts with orange blossom syrup Start by making the dough for the donuts by combining the yeast with the flour, salt, sugar, cinnamon, zest from the orange and lemon and aniseed. Whisk together the milk, egg and melted butter and add to the dry ingredients.
Combine and add water in increments kneading in the bowl until you achieve a tacky dough. It should be able to form a loose ball and be sticky but not too loose. Knead on a clean surface for 10 minutes, transfer to a clean bowl and cover with clingfilm.
Rest and allow to prove for 2 hours or slowly overnight in a fridge if you have the time.
For the syrup. Combine the ingredients in a pot and bring to the boil. Lower the heat a little so that it is a bit more than a simmer and allow to reduce by one third. It should coat the back of a metal spoon with a thin layer, about 15 minutes. Turn off the heat.
For the fillings combine the ricotta with 100g of castor sugar and the milk. If you have an immersion stick blender at your disposal use it to get a smooth consistency but if not use a fork and stir until as smooth as possible. Set aside in the fridge. Combine the ground almonds with the zest, remaining sugar and juice. Add a few drops of water if needed to form a spreadable paste. Leave at room temperature till needed.
Once the dough has risen, gently press out the air. Lightly flour a surface and transfer the dough to the counter. If the dough has been in the fridge leave it for an hour to come up to temperature and then proceed with the next step. Roll out the dough to a thickness of 3 cm. Punch out circles using a cutter 6cm in diameter. Flour a couple of baking trays and transfer the rounds to the trays. Allow to prove again for 20 minutes.
Heat the oil in a pot that allows it to come up two thirds of the way. Use some excess dough to test the temperature, once dropped in, the dough should take about 30 seconds to start turning golden brown. Once at temperature gently lower 5 donuts at a time into the oil and use a slotted spoon to carefully turn them in the oil once one side starts browning.
The donuts should take about 4 minutes to cook all the way through. If you see they are cooking too quickly then remove from the heat and let the oil cool down a little. You don’t want them to get too brown before the centre is actually cooked.
Remove with a slotted spoon to drain on kitchen towel. Transfer to a bowl and pour over the syrup rolling them about. Leave them for 15 minutes to absorb the syrup. Remove and slit each one horizontally.
Fill with a layer of the almond mixture followed by a generous amount of ricotta. Scatter the ricotta with the flaked almonds and drizzle over any remaining syrup.
