Vegan Jam Doughnuts

Photography by Simeon Crofts

DIETARY - Vegan, Vegetarian, Nut-free

As children, my sister and I would often play a game to see who could eat a whole jam doughnut without licking their lips. Jam would be spilling down our chins while crystals of sugar disguised our lips. Neither one of us ever did it, the temptation to lick the sticky concoction off was always too much. And that’s precisely what a doughnut should be: tempting, sickly sweet, snowing with falling sugar, messy yet incredibly satisfying. Worth every sticky bite.

When I set about developing this vegan doughnut recipe, I wanted to recreate the jam doughnuts of my childhood, and while the eggs and milk may be missing, the nostalgic flavour certainly isn’t. In fact, I did a blind tasting with a few friends and colleagues and not one person guessed these were vegan. I think you’ll be hard-pressed to tell the difference too!

History

I always find it interesting to know where my favourite foods originated from and I was quite surprised to learn that the jam doughnut is thought to have first popped up in Germany. A cookbook published in 1485 called Kuchenmeisterei described a bread-based sandwich deep-fried in lard and it was this revolutionary recipe that is thought to be the first-ever mention of a classic jelly doughnut.

The making

As with any fried doughnut recipe, these vegan jam doughnuts take a bit of time to make but I promise they are worth the wait. My top tip for making these doughnuts a success is to place each one on an individual piece of baking paper when they are proving. Not disturbing the dough ensures a beautifully puffed up doughnut the moment it hits the hot oil and a light texture inside. If you disturb the dough too much you risk punching out the air, which will result in a dense, flat doughnut when cooking.

Though I recommend filling with raspberry jam as it has a such a complementary tart flavour, you can use any jam you like in your own doughnuts. Happy baking!

Vegan Jam Doughnuts

Makes: 12-14

Sweet, sticky, loaded with sugar and oozing with jam, these doughnuts might be missing dairy but they’re packed full of nostalgic flavour!

Ingredients

For the dough:

• 120ml lukewarm water
• 7g dried yeast
• 40g caster sugar
• 450g strong white bread flour, plus extra for dusting the surface
• ½ tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp egg replacer powder (I used Orgran No Egg™ Egg Replacer)
• 1 tsp salt
• 70g vegan butter, melted
• 200ml soy milk
• 2 tsp vanilla extract

For deep frying:

• 1.5L vegetable oil

For the filling:

• 300g raspberry jam

To coat:

• 200g granulated sugar

Method

1. In a jug, measure out the water then mix in the yeast and caster sugar. It does not need to fully dissolve, a quick stir is fine. Cover the jug with clingfilm and set aside for 10-15 minutes.
2. In a clean bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, egg replacer and salt.
3. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and add in the yeast water, melted vegan butter, soy milk and vanilla extract.
4. Mix to form a soft dough. You can do this using a dough hook attachment on an electric hand or stand mixer or by bringing the dough together with your hands.
5. Tip out on to a well-floured surface and knead for 5 minutes until smooth and elastic. Place the dough into a clean, lightly greased bowl and cover with oiled clingfilm to prove for 1 to 1½ hours until doubled in size.
6. Once risen, carefully tip the dough out on to a lightly floured surface and, using a rolling pin, roll the dough out to a rectangle around 1.5cm thick.
7. Using an 8cm round cutter, cut out your doughnuts and place each one on its own square of baking paper – this will come in handy later on when we begin to fry them.
8. Once you have cut out as many discs as you can, you can re-roll the leftover dough and continue cutting out until all of the dough is used up.
9. Cover your doughnuts with lightly oiled clingfilm and set aside for approx. 1 hour for a second prove.
10. Once your dough is ready, heat your oil for frying. Fill a large casserole pot or deep saucepan around halfway up with vegetable oil and heat until it reaches 190°C/375°F. I recommend using a thermometer so you can monitor the temperature before and during cooking.
11. Using a spatula, carefully lift up your doughnuts one by one, paper and all, and slide them into the hot oil. The paper will slip right off and can be removed with tongs. I recommend placing them in the oil in this way to ensure none of the air gets knocked out. Fry two or three doughnuts at a time for approx. 90 seconds on each side. The doughnuts will puff up as they cook and turn a deep golden colour.
12. Using a slotted spoon, carefully lift each cooked doughnut out and place on to kitchen towel to drain. Allow the doughnuts to cool slightly.
13. Use a skewer to poke a hole all the way through the side of each doughnut before piping in your chosen jam filling. Once filled, roll the doughnuts liberally in granulated sugar until well coated. The doughnuts can be enjoyed warm or cold and will keep in an airtight container for up to 4 days, though are at their best on the day you make them.

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