Name: Lemon Cake Donuts Baked Until the Center Springs Back
Prep time: 45 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 3 h
Yield: 12 donuts
Ingredients: 350 g strawberries medium chopped; 105 g sugar; 10 g lemon juice; 250 g sugar; 42 g butter; 90 g egg yolks; 333 g sour cream; 33 g lemon juice — the juice from, about 1 large lemon; 567 g all-purpose flour; 83 g almond flour — blanched; 15 g baking powder; 12 g kosher salt; 75 g whole milk; 150 g strawberry jam; 2 g kosher salt; 400 g powdered sugar

Lemon Cake Donuts Baked Until the Center Springs Back keeps the shopping list focused on g strawberries medium chopped, g sugar, and g lemon juice. It serves 12 donuts.

Count on 45 minutes of prep, 30 minutes of cooking, 2 hours of resting, about 3 hours from the first measurement to the plate.

Ingredients Method

What goes in the bowl

Strawberry Jam

350 g strawberries medium chopped
105 g sugar
10 g lemon juice

Donut Dough

250 g sugar
42 g butter
90 g egg yolks
333 g sour cream
33 g lemon juice — the juice from, about 1 large lemon
567 g all-purpose flour
83 g almond flour — blanched
15 g baking powder
12 g kosher salt

Strawberry Glaze

75 g whole milk
150 g strawberry jam
2 g kosher salt
400 g powdered sugar

How the cooking goes

Blend the chopped strawberries, sugar, lemon juice, and zest in a bowl. Stir to coat, cover, and refrigerate for 1 hour or overnight. Heat it until it boils in a saucepan, then reduce to medium heat and cook until the strawberries break down and release their juices. Puree with an immersion blender directly in the pot.
Continue cooking until the jam sets on a frozen plate: drag your finger through a small amount and the line should hold without running. Pass through a strainer to remove seeds, then chill with plastic wrap pressed directly on the surface, cut with a few small holes to release steam.
Beat together the all-purpose flour, almond flour, baking powder, and salt in a mixing bowl. In a separate small bowl, stir together the lemon juice and sour cream until the texture looks smooth.
In the bowl of a electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the sugar and butter until the mixture resembles coarse sand. Add the yolks one at a time, beating on high after each addition until the mixture lightens to pale yellow and increases in volume.
Alternately add the flour mixture and sour cream mixture in three additions, beginning and ending with flour, mixing on low until the mix just comes together. Work quickly to avoid overworking the gluten. Transfer the dough to a plastic-wrap-lined, floured sheet pan, press to about 1 inch thick, cover, and chill for 1 to 2 hours.
On a lightly floured surface, roll the chilled dough to ½ inch thick. Use a 3-inch ring cutter for the donuts and a 1¼-inch cutter for the holes, tapping each cutter in flour before every cut. Place on a parchment-lined, sprayed sheet pan, cover loosely with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 30 minutes and up to 3 days.
Beat together the milk, powdered sugar, strawberry jam, and salt in a medium mixing bowl. Press plastic wrap directly onto the surface of the glaze. If the glaze thickens too much before dipping, set the bowl over a pot of simmering water and stir until it loosens.
Tip frying oil into a Dutch oven to at least 2 inches deep. Heat to 355°F, then maintain between 350°F and 360°F throughout frying. Fry 3 donuts at a time, keeping the rest refrigerated.
Once the donuts rise to the surface, cook for 30 seconds, flip with a slotted spoon, and fry for about 80 seconds until the bottom is deep gold. Flip again and fry for another 60 seconds until evenly golden. Test doneness with a cake tester: it should come out clean. Donut holes fry for 30 seconds, flip, 60 seconds, flip, then 40 to 60 seconds more until puffed and golden all over.
Dip each donut in the glaze while still very hot, about 20 seconds off the fryer, and return to a wire rack set over a sheet pan. For a thicker glaze, let the first coat begin to set, then dip again.