Bomboloni with Pastry Cream

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Stand mixer with dough hook
• •Deep-fry or candy thermometer
• •Large heavy pot or Dutch oven (5-quart minimum)
• •3-inch round cutter
• •Spider strainer or slotted spoon
• •Piping bag with bismarck or long filling tip
• •Wire cooling rack

Instructions

1. 1

   Make the pastry cream

   Heat the milk with the scraped vanilla bean and its seeds in a medium saucepan over medium heat until small bubbles form at the edges. Do not boil. While the milk warms, whisk the egg yolks with the sugar in a bowl until pale and slightly thickened, about two minutes. Whisk in the cornstarch and salt until smooth.

   If using vanilla extract instead of a bean, add it at the end with the butter. The flavor survives better that way.
2. 2

   Temper and cook the cream

   Slowly pour about half the hot milk into the egg mixture, whisking constantly. This tempers the eggs so they do not scramble. Pour everything back into the saucepan and cook over medium heat, whisking without stopping, until the mixture thickens and begins to bubble. Continue cooking for one full minute after it bubbles. It should be thick enough to coat a spoon heavily.

3. 3

   Finish and chill the cream

   Remove from heat and fish out the vanilla pod. Whisk in the cold butter pieces until melted and incorporated. The butter adds richness and a silky finish. Press plastic wrap directly onto the surface of the cream to prevent a skin from forming. Refrigerate until completely cold, at least two hours or overnight.

4. 4

   Activate the yeast

   Pour the warm milk into the bowl of a stand mixer. It should feel like bath water, around 110°F. Sprinkle the yeast over the surface and let it sit for five minutes until it blooms and smells like bread. If nothing happens, your yeast is dead or your milk was too hot. Start again.

   Milk that is too hot kills yeast instantly. Too cold and nothing activates. Use a thermometer until you learn to trust your wrist.
5. 5

   Build the dough

   Add the flour, sugar, and salt to the mixer bowl with the yeast mixture. Using the dough hook, mix on low speed until a shaggy dough forms. Add the egg yolks, whole egg, vanilla, and lemon zest. Mix on medium-low speed for about three minutes until the dough comes together.

6. 6

   Add butter gradually

   With the mixer running on medium-low, add the softened butter one tablespoon at a time. Wait until each piece is absorbed before adding the next. The dough will look slick and messy at first. Keep mixing. After all the butter is in, increase speed to medium and knead for eight to ten minutes. The dough should pull away from the sides and become smooth, elastic, and slightly tacky but not sticky.

7. 7

   First rise

   Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl and turn to coat. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm spot until doubled in size, about one and a half to two hours. The dough is ready when you poke it and the indent fills back slowly, not immediately.

   If your kitchen is cold, turn your oven on for two minutes, then turn it off. Place the covered dough inside with the door closed.
8. 8

   Shape the bomboloni

   Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and dust lightly with flour. Turn the risen dough onto a lightly floured surface. Roll it out to about half an inch thick. Using a 3-inch round cutter, stamp out circles. Gather scraps gently, let them rest five minutes, then roll and cut again. Place rounds on prepared sheets, spacing two inches apart.

9. 9

   Second rise

   Cover the shaped rounds loosely with plastic wrap or a clean kitchen towel. Let them rise until puffy and nearly doubled, about 45 minutes to one hour. They should look pillowy and soft. Do not rush this step. Underproofed bomboloni fry dense and heavy.

10. 10

    Heat the oil

    Pour oil into a large heavy pot or Dutch oven to a depth of at least three inches. Heat over medium until a deep-fry thermometer reads 350°F. Set up a landing station with a wire rack over a sheet pan, and pour the rolling sugar into a shallow bowl nearby. Keep a spider or slotted spoon within reach.

11. 11

    Fry until golden

    Working in batches of three or four, carefully lower the bomboloni into the hot oil. Do not crowd the pot. Fry until the bottoms are deep golden, about two minutes, then flip and fry the other side for another two minutes. The doughnuts should puff dramatically and develop a ring of pale dough around their equator. Adjust heat to maintain 350°F between batches.

    The pale ring around the middle is your proof of proper proofing. If the whole surface browns evenly, the dough was underproofed.
12. 12

    Roll in sugar immediately

    Transfer fried bomboloni to the wire rack for just a moment, then immediately roll them in sugar while still warm. The heat makes the sugar stick. Set the coated doughnuts on a clean rack. Repeat with remaining dough, letting the oil return to temperature between batches.

13. 13

    Fill with pastry cream

    Whisk the chilled pastry cream until smooth and transfer to a piping bag fitted with a long filling tip, or use a bismarck tip if you have one. Poke a small hole in the pale band around each bombolone. Insert the tip about an inch deep and squeeze gently until you feel the doughnut grow heavy, about two tablespoons of cream per pastry. You will feel it resist when full.

14. 14

    Serve while fresh

    Bomboloni are best within hours of frying. The sugar stays crisp, the dough stays tender, the cream stays cold against the soft interior. Pile them on a platter and watch them disappear. This is not food that waits.

Chef Tips

• •The eggs make or break this recipe. Yolks from pasture-raised hens have deeper color and richer flavor. You will see the difference in the dough and taste it in the cream.
• •Do not fear the frying. Keep your oil at a steady 350°F, work in small batches, and have everything ready before you begin. Confidence comes from preparation.
• •If you cannot find a vanilla bean, use the best extract you can afford. Real vanilla has complexity that imitation cannot match. Read the label.
• •Leftover pastry cream keeps for three days refrigerated. Spread it on toast, spoon it over berries, or eat it with a spoon when no one is watching.
• •The lemon zest is not traditional to all bomboloni, but it brightens the dough without announcing itself. Use a microplane and stop before you hit the white pith.

Advance Preparation

• •Pastry cream can be made up to three days ahead and refrigerated. Whisk smooth before filling.
• •The dough can rise overnight in the refrigerator after shaping. Let the rounds sit at room temperature for 30 minutes before frying.
• •Filled bomboloni do not keep. Fry and fill the day you plan to serve them. Unfilled, sugar-rolled bomboloni stay decent for a few hours in a paper bag.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 bomboloni (about 110g)