Description
Baked Crème Brûlée Donuts are soft yeast-based donuts filled with creamy pastry cream and topped with a crisp caramelized sugar layer, offering a delightful twist to the classic dessert.
Ingredients
- For the pastry cream filling:
- 1 & ½ cups (360mL) milk
- 3 large egg yolks
- ¼ cup (50g) granulated sugar
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch
- 2 tablespoons (30g) unsalted butter
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- For the yeast donuts:
- ¾ cup (180mL) lukewarm milk (around 110°F)
- ¼ cup (50g) granulated sugar, divided
- 2 & ¼ teaspoons (7g) instant or active dry yeast
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ¼ cup (60g) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
- 2 & ½ cups (300g) all-purpose flour, plus more for kneading
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- For the sugar topping:
- 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
- ¼ cup (60mL) water
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Make the pastry cream: Heat the milk until steaming. In a bowl, whisk egg yolks, sugar, and cornstarch. Slowly pour in the hot milk while whisking. Return the mixture to the pot and cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, until thickened. Remove from heat and stir in butter and vanilla. Transfer to a bowl, cover with plastic wrap touching the surface, and chill for 1–2 hours.
- Make the donut dough: Warm the milk until just lukewarm. In a large bowl, mix it with 1 tbsp sugar and the yeast. Let sit until foamy, 5–10 minutes. Add remaining sugar, egg, vanilla, and melted butter. Stir in half the flour, mix, then add remaining flour and salt. Knead for 5–10 minutes on a floured surface until smooth.
- Place dough in an oiled bowl, cover, and let rise 45–60 minutes until doubled. Roll out to ½ inch thickness, cut with a 3-inch cutter, and arrange on lined baking sheets. Let rise another 30–45 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 375°F. Bake donuts 10–12 minutes until golden. Cool completely on a wire rack.
- Fill the donuts: Poke a hole in each donut, then fill using a piping bag with chilled pastry cream. Chill the filled donuts while preparing sugar topping.
- Make the sugar topping: In a skillet, boil sugar, water, and salt without stirring until golden. Remove from heat and let darken slightly. Dip the tops of donuts into the sugar using tongs. Set aside to cool until the sugar hardens, 5–10 minutes.
Notes
- Ensure the milk for the dough is lukewarm (not too hot) to avoid killing the yeast.
- Let the pastry cream chill thoroughly before filling the donuts.
- Be cautious with the caramelized sugar as it hardens quickly after cooling.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: French
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 donut
- Calories: 310
- Sugar: 24g
- Sodium: 150mg
- Fat: 13g
- Saturated Fat: 8g
- Unsaturated Fat: 4g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 43g
- Fiber: 1g
- Protein: 5g
- Cholesterol: 85mg
