French Crullers

I've been to France more than a few times but have never tasted French Crullers, on the contrary, I had something similar in Spain, and even from Krispy Kreme in Tokyo but those are another stories. So when I surf around food blogs to look for inspiration, a chance upon this French cruller calls for experiment time, and result? Let's be honest, they are not as good as Krispy Kreme's but the light, fluffy fried doughnut is definitely a delight (and definitely better than Starbucks).

French Crullers (from Doughnuts by Lara Ferroni)

Ingredients:-
1 cup water
6 tbsps (3 oz.) unsalted butter
2 tsps (10 g) superfine sugar (I used regular sugar)
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup (135 g) all-purpose flour, sifted (I never sift anything)
3 large eggs
1-2 egg whites, slightly beaten
vegetable oil for frying
honey glaze

Honey glaze:-
1 1/2 cups (150 g) confectioners’ sugar
1 tbsp honey
3 to 4 tbsps milk or water

Methods:-
1. Bring the water, butter, sugar, and salt to a brisk boil in a heavy-bottomed saucepan. 

2. Stir in the flour all at once and continue stirring until the flour is completely incorporate. Keep stirring over medium-high heat.

3. When a thin film start to coat the bottom of the pan, the batter is ready. 

4. Transfer the dough to the bowl of a stand mixer (I use hand mixer). 

5. Use the paddle attachment to stir the dough for a minute to help it cool. 

6. Turn the mixer to medium speed and add one egg at a time. Don’t add the next egg until the previous has been completely incorporated into the dough. 

7. Then add the egg whites a little bit at a time (I used two egg whites) until the dough becomes smooth and glossy and holds a little shape (not much). Do not add too much egg white or else the crullers will become heavy. 

8. Transfer the dough to a large pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch star tip.

9. Heat about 2-inches (or more) of vegetable oil in a heavy-bottomed saucepan. While the oil is heating, cut a dozen 3-x3-inch squares of parchment. 

10. Lightly grease the squares on one side and pipe a ring of dough onto each of the squares. 

11. When the oil has reached temperature, carefully place a cruller one at a time, paper-side up, into the hot oil.

12. After a minute or so, use tongs and a knife tip to gently peel the parchment off the cruller. 

13. When the cruller turns golden (about 2 minutes), flip it over and let it fry for another couple of minutes before removing it to drain on a cooling rack or paper towels.

Make the glaze: 

1. While the crullers cool, mix the confectioners’ sugar, honey, and milk together until smooth.

2. When the crullers are cool to the touch, dip the top of each cruller into the honey glaze and set on a cooling rack to let the drips run off. 

3. When the glaze has set, the crullers are ready to serve.

I halved the ingredients and made 6 crullers, just nice for me & my husband's afternoon coffee. Now as you can see, my French crullers are not swirl nicely, that's because I don't have a pipping bag (or one that works, at least), so I simply rolled them up in tubes & then made a doughnut shape out of it. Aesthetics aside, these easy to make delicious little fried doughnuts are an absolute delight to have.