June 8 - National Jelly-Filled Donut Day

 

Happy National Jelly-Filled Donut Day! It's as if you didn’t get enough donuts on National Donut Day!  

 
Learn how to make your own yummy jelly-filled donuts along with a few interesting facts you probably didn’t know...

 
We weren’t able to find the origin/history of National Jelly-Filled Donut day, but we did discover that some of Elvis Presley’s beloved fans celebrated his 63rd birthday in a Chicago pub with a jelly-filled donut eating contest.  

We suspect that National Jelly-Filled Donut day is simply a marketing ploy extended by top donut makers to get us to consume a few more.  

By the way, did you know that Americans consume an average of ten billion donuts per year? That averages out to thirty-five donuts per person, in case you’re wondering! 

If you haven’t eaten many this year, here’s a recipe for making your own delicious jelly-filled donuts: 

You’ll need: 

1 cup whole milk 
2 tablespoons granulated sugar 
1 teaspoon salt 
1 (1/4-ounce) package active dry yeast (2 1/2 teaspoons) 
2 tablespoons warm water 
3 1/2 to 3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour plus additional for dusting 
About 10 cups vegetable oil 
2 large eggs, lightly beaten 
1/2 cup raspberry, strawberry, or apricot jam 
Confectioners' sugar for dusting 

Bring milk to a simmer in a 1-quart heavy saucepan, then remove from heat and stir in granulated sugar and salt. Cool milk to lukewarm (about 90°F). 

While you’re waiting for the milk to cool, dissolve yeast in warm water in a small bowl, stirring until creamy, then let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes. (If yeast doesn’t foam, discard and start over with fresh yeast as this means it’s dead. 

Pour milk mixture into a large bowl and stir in 2 1/2 cups flour, 2 tablespoons oil, eggs, and yeast mixture with a wooden spoon to make a very soft dough. 

Lightly spread 1 cup flour on work surface and overturn the dough on top. You’ll need to scrape it completely out of the bowl using a rubber spatula as it will be sticky.  

Knead the dough carefully incorporating all of flour from work surface and adding just enough additional flour (if necessary) to keep dough from sticking, until smooth and elastic, 5 to 8 minutes. 

Transfer dough to another large bowl and sprinkle lightly with additional flour, then cover bowl with a clean kitchen towel and let dough rise in a warm draft-free place until it doubles in size, approximately 1 1/2 hours. 

Turn out dough onto a floured surface and roll out with a floured rolling pin until 1/2 inches thick.  

Using a two-inch donut cutter, cut the donuts from the dough. Stretch one round to 2 1/2 inches and put one teaspoon jam in center, then stretch another round to 2 1/2 inches and use it to cover jam, pinching edges of rounds firmly together.  

All of the pinching will stretch doughnuts to approximately 3 inches in diameter. 

Continue until all the dough is used. 

Cut through filled doughnuts with floured 2 1/2-inch cutter, rotating cutter several times to help seal edges.  

Be sure to cut straight down without “twisting” or “rotating the cutter”. This prevents the dough from getting pinched off and allows the donuts to properly expand during cooking. 

Cover doughnuts with another kitchen towel and let rise in a warm place thirty minutes. 

While doughnuts rise, heat three inches oil in a deep 4-quart pot until it registers 375°F on thermometer. 

Fry doughnuts 2-3 at a time, as space allows, turning once when puffed and golden brown, about 2 minutes per batch. 

Drain on paper towels. Serve warm, dusted with confectioners' sugar.

Enjoy! 

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