Custard Donuts - Fresh Fried Donuts with Custard Filling | Bonni Bakery (2024)

Soft, fluffy, and stuffed with delicious homemade custard - these Custard Donuts are a delicious fried treat.

Nothing beats a freshly made fried donut. Except maybe one that is bursting with a silky, creamy custard filling! I'm a big fan of trying all kinds of donut-making methods, like my Baked Pumpkin Spice Donuts, but sometimes you really just want the flavor and texture of a fried donut, and these babies do not disappoint.

I avoided making fried homemade doughnuts for years because I was intimidated by the idea of deep frying, or I thought you had to have a deep-fat fryer to do it properly. But once I tried it for the first time I honestly couldn't believe how easy it was and I wondered why I hadn't been doing it all this time! Granted, the process of making a yeasted dough takes a little time as you have to wait for it to prove, but the steps themselves are actually very simple and easy to follow. So let's dive in and get frying these custard doughnuts!

Ingredients

Eggs - We'll use whole eggs in the donut dough and egg yolks for the custard. You can keep the egg whites to use in another recipe, like my Pecan Pavlova. Use large eggs and always free-range if you can.

Sugar - Use white sugar and definitely look for superfine sugar (caster sugar in the UK), this will dissolve more easily. It's also what we will use for rolling the donuts in once they are fried.

Milk - I often say you can use whatever milk you have for recipes, but for these custard donuts that is not the case! You definitely need to use whole milk to make a nice, creamy custard.

Flour - All-purpose flour (plain flour) provides the perfect strength and structure for our yeast donuts, and we also use a small amount to help thicken the custard.

Corn starch - Another thickening agent for the custard - also known as cornflour in the UK

Vanilla - The vanilla flavor will really shine through in the custard, so try to use a high-quality vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste, or even a whole vanilla pod if you have one. Try to avoid vanilla essence.

Butter - The butter enriches the donut dough, but we will also add some butter to the custard after it's cooked to add richness and flavor. It's best to use unsalted butter so you can control the amount of salt in the recipe.

Dry Yeast - Of course, we need yeast for a yeast doughnut recipe! I used one of the little packages, but if you are using a larger container, you want about 7g of yeast.

Oil for Frying - I used vegetable oil, but you can also use canola oil, sunflower oil or any other kind of commonly used frying oil. You need enough to fill at least 2 inches of vegetable oil (or whatever oil you are using) in your pot.

See recipe card for quantities.

How to Make the Custard

Start with the custard as it needs time to cool before you can fill your donuts, and this takes a few hours at least. You can make the custard up to 3 days in advance, I find when it is left overnight the flavor is enhanced.

I do have a whole post about how to make custard (pastry cream) if you'd like more detailed information. It's the same recipe I use in my Strawberry Custard Tarts and Perfect Vanilla Custard Cake.

• Put egg yolks into a bowl along with two tablespoons of the total sugar amount. Whisk together with the flour and cornstarch. Set aside.

• Heat the milk, vanilla and remaining sugar in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat until it starts to warm up.

• Pour a little warm milk mixture into your egg mixture and whisk until combined, slowly add more and more milk into the egg yolk mixture, stirring the whole time, until all the milk has been added. This is called 'tempering' the eggs, it means slowly warming the eggs up so they get to the right temperature without scrambling. Once all the milk is added, pour everything back into the saucepan.

• Continue to heat the custard slowly until it begins to thicken. Make sure you are whisking constantly the entire time to avoid getting burnt or lumpy custard.

• After a few minutes, you will notice thick bubbles start to burst on the surface of the custard, let it boil like this for about a minute (while still whisking).

• After a minute the custard should be thick and glossy. It should be able to coat the back of a wooden spoon and you should be able to draw a line in the custard on the spoon without it filling back in.

• Remove from the heat and pass the custard through a fine sieve into another bowl to remove any lumps that may have formed.

• Add the butter in small pieces, stirring in between until it is all incorporated.

• Cover the custard with plastic wrap (cling film), making sure the plastic touches the surface of the custard to prevent a skin from forming.

• Let cool completely at room temperature before using. If you are leaving it to cool for more than a couple of hours, transfer it to the fridge once it has cooled to room temp.

How to Make the Donuts

• Pour the milk, melted butter, egg and yeast into a bowl or jug, stir together and let sit for 10 minutes so the yeast can foam up.

• In your mixer bowl, combine the flour, sugar and salt. I use a stand mixer with a dough hook attachment, You can do it by hand but it will take a lot longer until the dough becomes smooth enough to work with, roughly 10-15 minutes of hand kneading.

• Start the mixer with the dry ingredients on low, then slowly add in the foamed up milk/yeast mixture. Once it is all in, turn the mixer up to high speed and let mix for 3 minutes. The dough will still be very soft and sticky, but that's okay, we're going to finish it off by hand. If it's too sticky to get out of the bowl though, add 1 tablespoon more flour and mix for another minute.

• After 3 minutes, tip your dough out onto a floured surface to finish it off by hand. I find a bowl scraper the best tool to make sure you get all the dough off of the bottom and sides of the bowl.

• Knead the dough a little by hand, just until it is smooth and can form into a nice smooth ball without sticking to your hands.

• Grease a large bowl with oil or cooking spray. Form a smooth ball with the dough and place it into the greased bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let proof on the counter for two hours. You want to place it in a nice warm part of your kitchen, but not in direct sunlight. It should rise up nicely and about triple in size.

• After two hours, tip your donut dough out of the bowl and back onto the floured work surface - it will deflate substantially, don't worry this is normal!

• Roll the dough out with a rolling pin to about 1-inch thickness. Use a round cookie cutter to cut out donuts and place them on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.

• Cover the tray of donuts loosely with plastic wrap or a clean tea towel. Put them back in a warm place and let proof for another 45 minutes.

• In the last 10 minutes of the 45-minute proof, you can start to prepare your frying oil. Pour at least 2 inches of oil into a deep saucepan and heat to about 350°F / 180°C. I find it's best to put the oil on medium heat and then turn it up and down accordingly to keep it at a steady temperature. If you don't have a thermometer, put the end of a wooden spoon into the hot oil to test it, there should be a light fizz of bubbles around the spoon. If there are no bubbles it's not hot enough, if it's a raging fizz then it is too hot.

• Gently place your donuts into the oil, they should start bubbling at the sides. I like to do only 2 or 3 at a time, depending on the size of the saucepan. They fry super fast and this allows you to have more control.

• Allow the donuts to bob around and fry for a minute or two, checking the underside from time to time. Once the underside looks golden brown, flip the donut and fry the other side until the color matches. As there are so many variables (oil temperature, donut size etc) it is impossible to give you an exact time to fry the donuts for - you really have to do it by eye and see when they look ready.

• Once both sides are golden brown, scoop the donuts out with a slotted spoon or tongs (something that is resistant to the heat, e.g. metal), and lay them on a wire rack lined with paper towels. The paper towels will soak up the excess oil.

• After they have cooled for a minute or two, the donuts should look dry, but still be hot. Roll them in a bowl of white sugar to coat entirely, then let them continue to cool.

• Once donuts are completely cool, use a long thin object (like a metal straw) to poke a hole in the side of the donuts and move it around to create extra space for your custard - we want these babies to be FULL of custard, so you need to give it somewhere to go.

• Put your custard in a piping bag with any kind of nozzle, then push the nozzle into the hole you created earlier and squeeze gently. You will feel the donut start to feel heavy, which means it's full of delicious custard! Pull the nozzle slowly out of the donut, leaving a pretty little blob of custard on the outside to show the delicious custard filling.

Top Tip: It can be helpful to cut the parchment paper under the proofed donuts into little squares to help you slip the donuts into the oil without getting finger dents in them.Slide the parchment paper and donut onto a frying spoon or spatula (something that can withstand the heat of the oil - e.g. metal) and then slowly lower it into the oil while holding onto the corner of the parchment paper - the donut will slip off into the oil without any marks or dents!It's an extra step and is not necessary - but it ensures better results!

Variations

This custard donut recipe is to die for, but it doesn't have to be custard that you fill your donuts with. If you'd like to make homemade donuts but don't want to make the custard, try some of these fillings instead. Or just eat them without a filling - also super delicious!

Jelly Donuts - Any kind of jam or jelly.

Nutella Donuts - Smooth chocolatey bliss.

Nut Butter - My favorite is my Sweet Pecan Butter recipe.

Pistachio Custard - In my opinion, one of the best flavors, mix 2 tablespoons of pistachio butter into your custard for an indulgent pistachio filling.

Equipment

Stand Mixer - You can technically make these by hand, but it takes a long time to knead the dough so I definitely prefer using a mixer.

Medium Saucepan - You'll need a medium saucepan to make the custard in.

Bowl Scraper - I love this tool for getting sticky dough out of my mixing bowl. It's also great for making sure you have every last drop of cake batter or frosting scraped from the bowl. Bowl scrapers are super cheap and simple but so effective!

Rubber Whisk - If you are using a non-stick saucepan, you'll want a rubber whisk so you don't scratch your pan with a metal one.

Deep Saucepan - It's best to use a deep saucepan for frying the oil so you don't get little spits of oil coming out of the top.

Slotted Frying Spoon - You want a heatproof tool to help you scoop the donuts out of the hot oil. I use this slotted frying spoon for all my deep frying.

Storage

As these donuts are freshly fried at home, they aren't stuffed with all the nasty preservatives that you get at the supermarket. This is great, but it does mean these donuts are really best enjoyed on the day of frying. They will still be safe to eat the next day, but they may not have that wonderful, squishy fried donut texture that you are looking for.

If you do decide to keep them, store them in an airtight container on top of paper towels. If they are already filled then store them in the fridge, but if they are not yet filled they are best kept at room temperature.

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