Five Pepper Cacao Doughnuts
a bread recipe
Rena is a self-taught cook and baker who enjoys experimenting with ingredients, flavors and culinary techniques from around the world. Her Asian/American heritage, youth spent in the Middle East and European husband have greatly influenced her palate and creativity with food. She shares her small-batch recipes and photos/videos of her creations and the process on (
@agirlandaspoon) and blog (
agirlandaspoon.com).
These doughnuts are super soft, super fluffy, and super hard to stop eating (believe me). Made with an enriched dough, they’re almost bread-like but still delightfully light. The filling is a warm, spiced custard with a kick, infused with the Five Pepper Cacao blend, honey, vanilla, and cinnamon. You can make it more saucy-like (like a dipping sauce this was inspired by), or more thick, like a traditional custard-filled donut.
As an optional step, you can take a portion of the ingredients and create a pre-ferment (sponge) to help the yeast get a head start with such a rich dough.
If you by chance have leftovers, chop them up for bread pudding or slice them for French toast. They are AMAZING!
I highly recommend weighing ingredients for consistent results. Rising times vary with temperature, humidity, and yeast freshness—use visual cues as your guide.
TIME (ACTIVE) | 1 H 20 M
TIME (INACTIVE) | 4 H
TOTAL | 5 H 20 M
8 SERVINGS
| large donuts
Make the filling:
- Heat the milk, honey, Five Pepper Cacao Rub, and cinnamon in a medium-sized saucepan until just boiling; remove from heat.
- In a heat-proof bowl, whisk the egg yolks, flour, sugar, and salt until smooth. Slowly pour the hot milk over the egg mixture, whisking constantly. Return the mixture to the saucepan.
- Cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, until bubbling in the center, about 3-4 minutes. For saucier custard, remove from heat now. For thicker custard, cook for another 1-2 minutes.
- Stir in the vanilla. Pour the custard through a sieve into a heat-proof bowl and place plastic wrap directly on the surface of the custard. Cool to room temperature, and then refrigerate until completely chilled, at least 3 hours.
Make the sponge (optional) and dough:
- If making the sponge: In the bowl of your stand mixer (see note), mix all of the sponge ingredients thoroughly. Cover and let sit for about 30 minutes, until very puffy.
- Add the remainder of the dough ingredients (or all, if not making a sponge), except the butter, and knead with the dough hook on medium-low speed for about 6-7 minutes, until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl.
- Add the butter one cube at a time until fully incorporated. Continue kneading until the dough is smooth and elastic and forms a ball around your dough hook.
- Shape the dough into a tight ball and place in a lightly greased bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature until almost tripled in size, about 2 hours.
- Cut 8 squares of parchment paper, about 3-4 inches in size. Set aside.
- Divide the risen dough into 8 equal pieces. Roll them into tight balls.
- Place each ball on a piece of parchment square and gently flatten. Cover loosely with oiled plastic wrap. Let rise until almost tripled in size, about 1 ½-2 hours.
Fry the doughnuts and fill:
- Heat 3-4 inches of oil in a deep pot to 350°F. Pour the ½ cup of sugar into a large bowl and set aside.
- When ready, fry the doughnuts by carefully sliding them (with parchment) into the oil, frying in batches. Remove the parchment immediately. Cook 1 ½ - 2 minutes per side, until golden brown. Drain briefly on paper towels, then toss in the sugar. Cool completely before filling.
- Whisk the chilled custard until smooth and fill a piping bag (or plastic storage bag) fitted with a round tip.
- Cut a small slit into the side of each doughnut and fill them, ideally right before serving. Otherwise, keep donuts unfilled and custard refrigerated.
A stand mixer is ideal for this soft, enriched dough. Hand-kneading is possible, but it will be sticky and may take 20+ minutes to develop enough gluten. Avoid adding extra flour. Use a dough scraper and rest the dough every few minutes to make it easier.
Make Ahead: Doughnut dough can be made over two days. After kneading, refrigerate the dough anywhere between 12-24 hours before dividing and a final rise. Since the dough will be cold, it will take longer for the final rise. It's a great option for a weekend brunch! Custard filling can be made ahead of time; use within 3 days.
cassia
ground
Ground cassia cinnamon's spicy, warm flavor and aroma star in many homespun fall and winter recipes. Cassia is dominant variety of cinnamon in America.
0.28 oz - PORTION$0.50
2 oz - JAR$8
2 oz - REFILL$7
8 oz - REFILL$24
fine grain
Pure, clean salinity with subtle minerality. Great for everyday use and spice blends.
0.49 oz - PORTION$0.50
4 oz - JAR$3
4 oz - REFILL$2
16 oz - REFILL$7
(Salt-Free)
spice blend collab
Five Pepper Cacao Rub is the key ingredient to mouthwatering barbecue ribs and the perfect steak tacos. The cacao doesn’t yield an obvious chocolate flavor, but instead brings depth, complexity and a subtle earthiness to the blend. The richness of the cacao is balanced by five types of ground chile peppers, ranging from sweet and fruity to sharp and smoky. This versatile spice blend is moderately spicy and can be used to add bold flavor to pork, beef, lamb, chicken and even fish.
How To Use
- Replace your chili powder with this blend to create a hearty and flavorful bowl of beef chili.
- Combine the spice blend with salt and rub on flank steak or top sirloin for steak tacos.
- Rub pork shoulder with this blend to level up your favorite pulled pork recipe.
- Brush your salmon with a bit of oil and this cacao rub before grilling.
Tips & Tricks- Don't forget the salt! This spice blend does not contain salt. Make sure to generously salt your meat when using this spice blend as a rub.
- Add a bit of brown sugar. Adding a bit of brown sugar to this spice blend will give you a sweet and salty rub and beautifully caramelized crust. We especially recommend a bit of brown sugar for pork and salmon!
