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Bomboloni alla Crema

Bomboloni alla Crema

Bomboloni alla Crema - Italian fried doughnuts filled with pastry cream and coated with caster sugar.

Course Dessert
Cuisine Italian
Prep Time 4 hours
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 4 hours 30 minutes

Ingredients

Crema Pasticcera

  • 500 ml – 2 cups milk
  • 50 gms – about ¼ cup flour sifted
  • 6 egg yolks
  • 150 gms – ½ cup + 2 tbsp sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract

Bomboloni

  • 250 gms – 2 cups bread flour
  • 250 gms – 2 cups Italian “00″ flour or all-purpose flour
  • 50 gms – about ¼ cup caster superfine sugar
  • 8 gms – 1 package instant yeast
  • Seeds from 1 vanilla bean or 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • Zest of 1 lemon
  • Pinch of salt
  • 250 ml – about 8½ ounces warm milk temperature between 40°C and 43°C (105° F and 110° F)
  • 3 large eggs
  • 50 gms – 3½ tbsp unsalted butter cut into 4 pieces, softened
  • Vegetable spray
  • Sunflower oil for frying
  • Caster superfine sugar, extra, for rolling

Instructions

Crema Pasticcera

  1. Using an electric mixer, whip the egg yolks with the sugar until white and fluffy.
  2. Add the vanilla extract to the milk.
  3. Slowly add the milk to the above mixture and keep whipping.
  4. Then add the sifted flour and whip well.
  5. Transfer the mixture into a pot, put it on the fire and bring it to a boil.
  6. Simmer for a few minutes, stirring continuously with a whisk, until the cream thickens.
  7. Transfer the cream to a bowl and cover it with cling wrap (make sure the cling wrap touches the cream’s surface as this will prevent a film from forming).
  8. Let it cool down before using it.

Bomboloni

  1. Put the flours, sugar, instant yeast, vanilla extract (or vanilla bean seeds), lemon zest and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix them to combine.
  2. Pour in the warm milk. Quickly knead the milk and the dry ingredients together.
  3. Add the eggs all at once and knead until you have a rough ball of dough.
  4. Gradually add the butter, one piece at a time, working each piece of butter into the dough before adding the next.
  5. Knead until the dough becomes smooth and elastic (but not sticky). This will take about 10 to 15 minutes.
  6. Make the dough into a ball and transfer it back to the large bowl, cover it with a sheet of plastic wrap and leave it to rise in a warm place for 1½ to 2 hours, or until doubled in volume.
  7. While the dough is proofing, cut square sheets of baking paper of about 11 cm – 4.5 inches. You will need these to rest your cut out rounds of dough.
  8. When the dough has doubled in volume, transfer it to a clean, floured surface.
  9. Roll the dough out to a thickness of about 1 cm (a little less than ½-inch)
  10. Using a cookie cutter or glass, cut out rounds about 7 cm to 7½ cm (2¾ inch to 3 inch) in diameter (keep the cuts as close together as possible).
  11. Gather up the leftover pieces, give a quick knead to bring the pieces together, return the dough to the bowl, cover and leave to rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about ½ hour, and then proceed to roll out and cut out other rounds. Repeat until you run out of dough.
  12. Put the rounds on a deep baking tray lined with the sheets of baking paper (sprayed with vegetable oil spray) that you prepared before.
  13. Cover the baking tray with a sheet of plastic wrap and leave to rise in a warm place until doubled in volume (they should appear full of air, rising time is about 1½ to 2 hours). Make sure to use a deep baking tray as this ensures that the tops of the bomboloni will not stick to the plastic wrap: if they do, they will deflate when you peel off the plastic wrap.
  14. Heat the sunflower oil in big pot over medium heat to between 160°C and 170°C (320°F and 340°F). (Check your oil frequently while frying bomboloni to maintain these temperatures).
  15. Prepare 2 large plates for the draining and rolling of your bomboloni. Layer one plate with 3 to 4 sheets of paper towel for draining, and the other plate with a thin layer of caster sugar, for rolling.
  16. Carefully transfer the bomboloni into the hot oil by dipping them in the oil WITH the paper. Remove the paper within seconds from the hot oil and continue frying the bomboloni as usual. With this method, you will get fluffy bomboloni and you will not change their shape.
  17. Fry four to six bomboloni at a time to ensure even frying. Fry until golden on both sides (this will take 3 to 5 minutes).
  18. Remove them with a slotted spoon, drain them on the paper towels and immediately roll them in caster sugar until evenly coated.

To Assemble

  1. While the bomboloni are still warm fill them with Crema Pasticcera.
  2. To fill the bomboloni, transfer your Crema Pasticcera to a large pastry bag fitted with a ½ cm to 1 cm (¼ inch to ½ inch) plain round tip.
  3. Use a sharp paring knife to make a small hole in the centre at the top of each bombolone.
  4. Insert the pastry tip into the hole and pipe the cream until the bombolone feels heavy and you have a mound of pastry cream visible on the top of the bombolone.
  5. Bomboloni are best enjoyed on the day they are made. Serve immediately.