Pumpkin Fritter Doughnuts with Caramel
Total Time: 40min
Prep Time: 20min
Cook Time: 20min
Servings: 4 people
Suitable For: The traditional sweet tooth
To celebrate Heritage Month, we partnered with Capital Hotel School in Pretoria and asked their chef students to create unique dishes based on South Africa's traditional favourites. For this fresh twist on pumpkin fritters, Oreneile Modibela and Redirile Malete turned them into braai doughnuts.
Ingredients
300g pumpkin, diced
80g butter
30g brown sugar
1 egg yolk
500g plain flour
10g baking powder
500ml vegetable oil
For filling:
300ml fresh cream
100g caramel
For topping:
5g cinnamon mixed with 10g icing sugar
100g strawberries
100g blueberries
Instructions
- Steam the pumpkin until tender. Once cooked, mash and set aside to cool.
- In a bowl, stir in butter, sugar and egg yolk. Add the flour, baking powder and pumpkin. Mix until a soft dough is formed.
- Roll out the dough on a floured surface and knead until soft. Put the dough back into the bowl and cover with a clean cloth. Let it rest for 30 minutes.
- For the filling, stir the caramel until smooth. Set aside.
- Use a hand blender to thicken the cream. Fold in the caramel.
- Roll out the dough to 1cm thick and cut 6cm rounds with a cutter.
- When making your pumpkin doughnuts, use your side burner to heat up the oil. Ensure that heat is regulated to get it hot enough for frying – place a small 10c piece of dough in the oil. If it sizzles and some bubbles start to form around the dough – you are ready to go. Warning: the oil will be extremely hot and can cause severe burns. Make sure to use a slotted spoon to carefully place your doughnuts in the oil. If the oil gets so hot that it starts to splash, remove from heat. Avoid oil coming in contact with flame of gas braai.
- The charcoal method: This is an advanced way of preparing your doughnuts. Warning: An open fire and hot oil can cause severe burns and is not recommended. If you want to go this route, make sure you only place your pot on ready, red-hot coals. Use a fire starter to make extra coals on the side if the coals are not hot enough. Warning, the oil will be extremely hot and can cause severe burns. Make sure to use a slotted spoon or ladle to carefully place your doughnuts in the oil. If the oil gets so hot that it starts to splash, remove from the heat. If the oil comes in contact with the flames on your side burner it will cause a flare up.
- Fry doughnuts, occasionally turning until golden brown and puffed.
- Drain on a paper towel and dust with cinnamon sugar.
- Once cooled, use a piping bag and nozzle to insert the caramel cream in the doughnut.
- Serve with strawberries and blueberries.
MEGAMASTER RECIPE TIPS
Tip 01
You can use yeast instead of baking powder.
Tip 02
Instead of coating with cinnamon sugar, you can soak the doughnuts in syrup or honey.
Tip 03
To make sure your doughnuts are all similarly sized, use an ice-cream scoop to measure out each ball before you fry them – using less oil if you want to opt for the healthier option.
