Malasada (Portuguese-Hawaiʻi Local Sugar Doughnut)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Heavy 5-quart Dutch oven or deep cast-iron pot
• •Deep-fry thermometer
• •Spider strainer or slotted spoon
• •Wire rack set over a sheet pan
• •Piping bag with small round tip, if filling

Instructions

1. 1

   Wake the yeast

   Stir the yeast, warm water, and 1 teaspoon sugar together in a small bowl. Let it sit 5 to 10 minutes, until it looks foamy and alive. If it stays flat, no blame the dough. Start again with fresh yeast.

2. 2

   Mix the dough

   In a large bowl, whisk the flour, 1/2 cup sugar, and salt. Add the foamy yeast, eggs, warm whole milk, evaporated milk, melted butter, and vanilla. Mix until a sticky, soft dough comes together. It should be wetter than bread dough, more like something you have to coax than something you can boss around.

   A stand mixer with a dough hook can knead it in 6 to 8 minutes. By hand, use a sturdy spoon first, then oiled hands, and give it patience.
3. 3

   Let it rise

   Cover the bowl and let the dough rise in a warm place for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, until doubled and puffy. The dough should jiggle when you move the bowl and pull in long soft strands when you touch it with floured fingers.

4. 4

   Shape the malasadas

   Turn the dough onto a well-floured surface and pat it gently to about 1/2 inch thick. Cut into 18 squares or rounds, then set them on floured parchment. Cover lightly and let them rest 20 to 30 minutes, until puffed again. Don't press the life out of them.

5. 5

   Heat the oil

   Pour 2 to 3 inches of oil into a heavy pot and heat to 350F. Keep the sugar for rolling in a wide bowl, with cinnamon mixed in if you like that bakery-case smell. Set a rack nearby. Once the frying starts, everything moves fast.

6. 6

   Fry golden

   Fry 3 or 4 malasadas at a time, about 1 1/2 to 2 minutes per side, until deep golden and round-bellied. The outside should look smooth and glossy from the oil, with little pale seams where the dough puffed. Keep the oil near 350F so they cook through before they brown too hard.

7. 7

   Roll while hot

   Lift the malasadas to the rack for just a few seconds, then roll them hot in sugar so it grabs all over. Eat them warm, when the crust gives soft under your teeth and the inside is tender and eggy. A filled one is good too, custard, haupia, guava, lilikoi, but the plain sugar one tells the story first.

Chef Tips

• •Malasada dough is sticky. Don't keep adding flour until it turns stiff, or you'll get bread instead of that soft pull.
• •Use a thermometer if you have one. Oil that's too cool makes greasy malasadas; oil that's too hot browns the outside while the middle stays raw.
• •Fill them only after frying and sugaring. Use a piping bag with a small round tip and push in custard, haupia, guava, or lilikoi cream from one side.
• •These are best hot, same day, from the bag. Leftovers can warm in a 300F oven for a few minutes, but they won't be that first-one-standing-at-the-counter kind of good.

Advance Preparation

• •Mix the dough the night before and let it rise slowly in the refrigerator, covered. Bring it toward room temperature before shaping so it wakes back up.
• •Custard or haupia filling can be made a day ahead and chilled until thick and pipeable.
• •Fry close to serving. Malasadas are potluck food, but they are happiest within the first hour.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 76g)