Makes: 12 – 14 doughnuts
Ingredients:
- Plain Flour – 400 grams, sifted
- Sugar – 3 tablespoons
- Soft room temperature Butter – 80 grams (Do not use cold hard butter)
- Warm Milk – ½ cup
- Active Dry Yeast – 3 teaspoons
- Warm water – ¼ cup
- Sugar to activate the yeast – 1 teaspoon
- A pinch of Salt
Method:
- Stir in a teaspoon of sugar into a ¼ cup of warm water. Add in the active dry yeast. Mix well and set aside until foamy and risen. Takes about 5 minutes.
- Heap the sifted flour into a large mixing bowl. Sprinkle a pinch of salt along the edges (you don’t want the salt in direct contact with yeast).
- Make a well in the centre of the flour heap. Pour in the foamy yeast mix, milk, softened room temperature butter and knead until it all comes together.
- Transfer the dough to a work surface. Use the heel of your palm to knead the dough, stretching and rolling back the dough as you go along until you have a smooth, crack-free dough. This takes 5 minutes on the clock.
- Grease the inside of the large bowl with a little butter and plop back the dough into the bowl.
- Cover the bowl with cling film and a tea towel. Set aside to rise for an hour.
Dough before Rise 
Dough after 1 hour
- Dust your work surface with flour and empty the risen dough on to it.
- Using a rolling pin roll the dough out into a sheet about a ¼” thick and using a doughnut cutter cut out 12 doughnuts.
- Carefully place them onto a greased or lined baking tray.
- Cover the cut dough with a damp muslin cloth and leave to rise for another 45 minutes.
- Heat sufficient oil in a deep casserole or wok and deep fry the doughnuts until golden brown. You’ll know one side is done when you see the edge turn a golden brown.
- Place the fried doughnuts onto a wire rack to cool.
- Top the doughnuts with chocolate glaze or coat them in cinnamon sugar.
Dunk one side of the doughnut in Chocolate glaze 
And leave it to dry on a wire rack
- For the cinnamon sugar doughnuts: Drop the doughnuts while still warm into a mix of 2 tablespoons of cinnamon powder and a 1 cup of castor sugar.
- For Chocolate glazed doughnuts: Chop and melt 50 grams of chocolate with 2 tablespoons of butter over low heat. Add 1½ cups of icing sugar and a teaspoon of flavouring. Stir in 4 tablespoons of warm water and mix until the glaze coats the back of your ladle. Dunk one side of the warm doughnut into the chocolate glaze and set on a rack to dry. Any additional topping should be sprinkled on before the chocolate glaze dries.
Notes:
- Ensure that the milk is warm, and not room temperature or cold, when you add it to the flour.
- Feel free to add in a flavouring such as a ¼ teaspoon of cinnamon powder or grated nutmeg to the dough while kneading.
- Top up wet coated doughnuts with hundreds and thousands/ dark chocolate sprinkles /roasted chopped nuts/white chocolate /caramel etc.