Bavarian Cream Donuts
Bavarian Cream Donuts.
I made these Bavarian Cream Donuts to join the Oktoberfest Bash hosted by Milena from the Craft Beering.
Together with some of my fellow bloggers, we are each bringing one Oktoberfest recipe to the party.
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So, these Bavarian Cream Donuts take me all the way back to a happy place in my childhood. I am not German or have a German family, but I grew up eating Bavarian Cream Donuts. They just went by a different name. They were called: Sonho de padaria (translation “bakery dream”).
Back in Brazil, my Portuguese grandmother had a bakery with her siblings and my grandpa. And this was one of the staples in their shelves. They had their bakery for almost 50 years! The bakery is still there, under a different owner.
But it’s where I grew up, and I hold dear memories of that place. And of course, its food. My grandma was the baker. She made some mean Pastry Cream filled donuts.
The difference is that they used to cut the donut in half to fill it with the pastry cream.
And didn’t add vanilla bean to their filling either.
Actually I am not even sure if the original Bavarian recipe uses vanilla bean, but I am one for modifications, adaptations, changes, improvements. And I believe that the vanilla bean seeds in the pastry cream just bring the Bavarian Cream Donuts to a whole new level!
You are going to make the donut dough a day before you intend to make your donuts.
The next day, remove the dough from the fridge after resting overnight, and start by rolling it out til about 1/2 inch thick.
Cut it into circles with a cookie cutter.
I used a 3 1/2″ cutter.
Then, let donuts rise.
Fry donuts. Immediately coat them in granulated sugar. The donuts have to be hot so this way the granulated sugar will stick to it.
Once donuts have cooled down, you can either slice them in half and fill them, or you can poke a hole with a thick straw on top of the donuts.
And then fill each donut with the Vanilla Bean Pastry Cream.
This recipe makes a lot of donuts, probably about 20 of them. I made 12 into large donuts and fried the rest as donut holes.
I used a small 1 inch cutter to cut the donut holes.
And coated them in a cinnamon and sugar mixture when they came out of the fryer.
They were devoured in 0.7 seconds by my husband and 2 year old son Luke.
Can’t blame them.
Anyway, this is the best donut dough I’ve ever made. I am so happy and proud to bring this recipe to you today.
And I also wanted to show you a picture of the inside of the Bavarian Cream Donuts.
Thanks for reading guys, and check out the other posts by my fellow bloggers with lots of Oktoberfest recipes!
Oktoberfest Bash 2018
Aromatic Currywurst made by Marvellina from What to Cook Today
Hot Cheese Dip with Onions and Gruyere made by Julie from Cooks with Cocktails
Bratkartoffeln (German-Style Pan Fried Potatoes with Bacon) made by Annie from Ciao Chow Bambina
Bratwurst Burger made by Brittany from Beyond the Bayou
German Pan Fried Trout made by Amanda from Burrata and Bubbles
Schnitzel Platter made by Milena from Craft Beering
Cinnamon Streusel Muffins with Hefeweizen Drizzle made by Kelly from Kelly Lynn’s Sweets and Treats
Gebrannte Mandeln (Roasted Candied Almonds) made by Dawn from Dawn the Gourmand
Danube Waves Cake made by Kelsie from The Itsy Bitsy Kitchen
Bavarian Cream Donuts made by Camila from Pies and Tacos
Bavarian Cream Donuts
Ingredients
Donuts
- 3/4 cup milk 170 grams, 6 oz
- 1/4 cup sugar 50 grams, 1.76 oz
- 2 1/2 teaspoons instant yeast
- 4 cups all-purpose flour 510 grams, 18 oz
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 3 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg optional
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter softened (113 grams, 4 oz)
- 1 cup granulated sugar for coating
For frying
- 1 gallon canola oil
Vanilla Bean Pastry Cream
- 1 1/4 cup whole milk 283 grams, 10 oz
- 1 vanilla bean split and seeded
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar 100 grams, 3.5 oz
- 1/4 cup flour 31 grams, 1.125 oz
- 4 large egg yolks
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
Donuts
- Start by warming up the milk until lukewarm, about 90-100F. Don’t go hotter than this or you may kill the yeast.
- Add sugar and mix to dissolve. Add yeast.
- Now you may add the flour and salt.
- Add eggs one at a time, mixing with a spatula or the paddle attachment of a stand mixer.
- Add vanilla and nutmeg.
- Switch to the dough hook.
- Knead dough on medium-low for about 1 minute.
- Add unsalted butter by the tablespoon with the mixer on.
- Let the mixer knead the dough for quite some time.
- I recommend using a stand mixer to do this. If you don’t have one or don’t want to use one, that’s ok but you may need to work your arms a little bit.
- Use a spatula and simply try to incorporate the butter into the dough by mixing as vigorously as you can.
- Regardless if you are using a mixer, or mixing by hand, if after 5 minutes of kneading, the dough is too sticky, add a bit more flour. You may have to add up to 1/4 cup of flour to the dough.
- Knead for another 4 minutes or so.
- Once dough is smooth, transfer it to a large bowl, lightly oiled. Cover with plastic wrap and let the dough rest in the fridge overnight, or at least for 8 hours.
- Remove dough from the fridge, transfer to a lightly floured surface, using your hands or a rolling pin, gently roll the dough out into a circle that will be about 1/2” thick. If you use your hands, simply pat the dough as gently pushing your fingers away, in order to open up the dough.
- Using a circle cutter, cut circles out of the dough. I used a 3 1/2” cutter.
- Set donuts on top of a tray lined with parchment paper or a silicon mat. You want to leave some room between the donuts because they will rise slightly.
- Repeat with remaining dough. Just be careful not to keep kneading the dough too much as you re-roll it, or the dough might become tough and chewy.
- I made 12 large donuts and made the rest into small donut holes. Feel free to make more of the large ones if you don’t want any donut holes. The recipe for the pastry cream will be enough to fill about 20 donuts, depending on how generous you are with your filling.
- Cover donuts with a clean kitchen towel or plastic wrap. Let them rest for about 1 hour to come to room temperature and rise a little bit.
Vanilla Bean Pastry Cream
- I usually like to make my vanilla bean pastry cream a day before, when I make the donut dough. So this way it has time to firm up in the fridge.
- Start by bringing split vanilla bean, seeds, and milk in a large pan to almost a boil over medium heat. Once you see the first bubbles emerging, turn the heat off. Set pan aside to infuse the flavor a little bit. Some people even like to cover their pan and let the mixture infuse for 20 minutes or so, which is totally something I am all for.
- Whisk egg yolks and sugar in a bowl, until pale in color.
- Add flour and whisk.
- If you have infused your milk and vanilla for a long time, you may have to re-heat it again. If the temperature is below lukewarm, just bring it to almost a boil again.
- Start by pouring about 1/4 cup of the milk mixture over eggs, while whisking.
- Add another 1/4 cup and whisk. Do this until the milk has all been incorporated. This is when I discard the vanilla bean.
- Place the mixture back in the pan, over medium heat, stirring without stopping. Cook the custard for a few minutes until it becomes thick. When the custard starts thickening up, the mixture will look scrambled or lumpy. Just continue to stir and cook and it will come together and become smooth.
- Transfer the mixture to a bowl. Add the vanilla.
- Place plastic wrap directly on the surface of the custard so it won’t form a skin as it cools down.
- Keep it refrigerated until ready to use, and I recommend refrigerating it for at least a couple of hours before using it.
To fry
- Place oil in a large frying pan.
- Over medium high heat, you can heat the oil until 350F.
- Add donuts in small batches and fry about 1 minute on each side.
- Remove to a cookie rack, or another place where it can let the excess oil drip.
- Coat donuts in sugar as soon as possible, because they have to be warm to make the sugar stick in them.
To assemble
- Wait for donuts to cool down.
- Using a straw, poke a whole on the side of each donut.
- Place chilled Bavarian Cream in a pastry bag, and pipe the filling in the center of each donut.
- Storage
- These donuts are best if consumed on the day they are made, preferably within a few hours.
- Specially if they are already filled with the cream.
Nutrition
Donuts were great, the custard was a massive let down, cooked as per instructions but tasted lole raw flour. Go with another filling recipe
maybe your flour isn’t fresh? or maybe you didn’t cook it through? I’ve made this recipe many times and it’s always delicious and nobody has ever complained about this before which makes me think the issue is on your end. Thanks so much have a lovely day.
How long can this dough last in the fridge? If I make the dough Wednesday night, can I leave it in the fridge until Friday morning?
yes I do believe that would be ok.
Hello, is there a video available for this recipe? The one showing on the website is chocolate macarons.
Hi Vivian, there isn’t one yet! I am scheduled to record one next week actually!! So very soon I will have one!!
These donuts were amazing and fairly easy to make. The vanilla bean bavarian cream was also delicious. The vanilla bean was a nice touch!
Thank you so much Josh!! I am so happy to hear!!!
Que delícia!!!
It was great the doughnut,i made this recipe and i was happy the result the dought was fantastic,
Can i bake the doughnut instead frying?
I don’t recommend baking this dough.
I followed this recipe exactly and then tweaked it for laziness. The lazy version turned out just as well, possibly better (more fluffy and thus, took filling better). Lazy version was just mix everything together until eggs one by one. Mix the crap out of it with the paddle because the hook took forever. Turned into a soft ball with my hands quickly. No need to cover with oil (it was fine). Let rise 1.5 hours on a warm kitchen counter, rolled and cut then rise again for an hour. Done. Much faster. No impact on taste. Did not deviate the ingredients in any way!
Can I use full cream for the custard instead of using milk?
It won’t work. Because there’s too much fat in it.
Great flavor!! a little worried that the middle might be raw but i tasted one small doughnt and its delicious!!! the pastry cream is by far the easiest recipe ive found so far, good texture and easy to make.
any tips for avoiding raw middles? seems to be a problem i have with doughnuts
keep the temperature of the oil at 350ºF, use a candy thermometer to measure the temperature and be able to control it, because the oil temperature will keep spiking up the longer the oil is on, and if you don’t have a thermometer you won’t be able to tell what temperature it is. And then the outside of the donuts is going to cook and brown too much without giving the chance for the middle to cook, if the temperature of the oil is too high 🙂