Guinness Doughnuts

Celebrate St. Patrick's day in style with our cute little Guinness doughnuts.

2 hours cook

Serves 14

Hugh Woodward

Ingredients

450gplain flour

50gcocoa powder

1 tspbaking powder

50gcaster sugar

1 tbspfood grade charcoal (optional)

200gunsalted butter

2 eggs

150mlGuinness/stout

2 litreoil

mascarpone filling:

300mldouble cream

200gmascarpone

50gsugar

3 tbspgranulated sugar

4 or 5crushed oreos

These are basically a sort of brioche doughnut version of everyone's favourite stout cake. We've even stuffed them with a sweetened mascarpone cream. Give them a try - you won't regret it!

Method

Whisk the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, caster sugar. If you want your doughnuts to be jet black, like a Guinness!

Rub the butter into the mixture until it resembles fine bread crumbs, then mix in the eggs and the Guinness or other stout. Give it a knead for around 5 minutes, then leave it to rise until doubled in size.

Punch it down and divide into 14 or so even sized balls. Roll them on a floured surface to make them taught and round. Let them rise for around 1 - 2 hours, until doubled in size but not sagging.

Heat the oil until it's around 170°C. Fry the doughnuts in batches, keeping a watchful eye on the temperature - as the doughnuts are so dark it's hard to tell if they are burning. Flip them after 3 minutes and cook for another 3 mins on the other side. Remove and toss them through the sugar.

Whip together the cream, sugar and mascarpone. Pipe this into the middle and scatter with Oreo crumbs.