I honestly cannot think of anything better than a hot fresh donut. Our favorite donut shop is only open a few hours in the early morning and you have to get there first to ensure the best pick of their selection. I have never had a bad pastry from them, but some are definitely better than others. Their signature yeast donuts filled with peanut butter, dipped in chocolate, and topped with fresh bananas inspire me to get creative with my pastries. I actually started this recipe with something completely different in mind, but once I started I realized we were out of heavy cream. I was planning on making a cheesecake filling topped with chocolate ganache, but I ended up making a chocolate cheese cake topping. You could add more cream cheese and make it a filling, but I liked it as a topping even better.
What you need
For the donut dough- My favorite yeast donut recipe is from Chow.com.
My adapted version:
2 1/2 cups of bread flour (I use king aurther and I can definitely tell the difference)
2 tbsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 tsp fine salt
1 packet of active yeast
1 cup of warm milk ( I used 2%)
3 heaping tbsps of sugar
1/2 stick of room temp unsalted butter
3 egg yolks
For the topping:
1/2 cup chocolate (milk and dark)
1/2 cup milk
8 ounces low fat cream cheese
1 cup powdered sugar
Use the bread paddle on your mixer and mix the flour, salt, sugar and yeast while warming your milk. I toss the milk in the microwave for 30 seconds. Add in your milk, vanilla, eggs and butter and mix until the dough forms a sticky ball. If you have a bread machine you can dump all the ingredients in the bowl and put on the dough setting. Let rise for at least one hour.
One the dough rises flour your surface and rolling pin and roll to about 1/2 thick. I use scotch glasses to cut my circles out. Put all your dough circles on a pan and cover. Let rise while the oil heats up. I have a fryer with canola oil and I set mine to 350 degrees. Once the oil is hot add your dough and cook for about 2 minutes before flipping. The donuts should be a nice golden color, but beware because they will burn very quickly after they reach that point.
When you make the topping the easiest way for me is to put the cream cheese and milk in a microwave safe bowl and heat for about a minute. Add the chocolate chunks and stir until melted. You can use a mixture to speed up the process. Add in the sugar.
I like dipping the donuts while the topping is still warm. Sprinkle as desired. Enjoy!
