Pumpkin fritters are a wonderful treat on a cold evening. I’ve created these doughnuts that give you the taste of fritters, with the wonderful puffiness of a doughnut.
I roast the pumpkin first to give it a wonderful sweetness, but you can just boil it if you wish.
• 500g diced raw pumpkin
• 150ml milk
• 1 egg yolk
• 35g soft butter
• 20g fresh yeast
• 3 ml salt
• 650 ml of flour
• 30ml castor sugar
• Oil for frying
• Castor sugar and cinnamon to dust
1. Preheat oven to 200ºC.
2. Place pumpkin onto baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil and season with a
little salt.
3. Bake for 35 minutes until soft.
4. Mash the pumpkin with a potato masher and measure off 125ml.
5. Dissolve yeast in milk, add yolks and stir well.
2. Combine flour, salt and pumpkin. Add soft butter.
3. Pour in milk mixture and combine all ingredients well.
4. Knead for about 5 minutes on a floured surface. You may need to add a bit more flour until your dough is combined, but not sticky.
5. Return to large bowl and cover with a cloth. Allow to double in size. About
60 mins.
6. Knead dough (knock back) gently to return to original size. Divide into 16 equal sized balls.
7. Shape into ring doughnuts by pushing index finger through a ball of dough and widening the hole until a ring doughnut is formed. Make an extra-large hole, because during rising it will get smaller.
8. Place doughnuts onto a floured tray and cover with a cloth. Allow to double in size.
9. Fry in hot oil until golden on both sides, flipping over each doughnut to fry on the reverse side. Test to see if the oil is hot enough by putting a little bread in oil. If it bubbles, the oil is hot enough for the doughnuts.
10. Drain doughnuts on kitchen towel before tossing in cinnamon sugar.
These are best eaten shortly after they are fried off. Store them in an airtight container once they are cool.
