Rhubarb Syllabub Doughnuts {from Comfort by Candice Brown}

The original start to this post - when I began drafting it over a week ago - was Hello November! But alas, as I sit here furiously typing on 25th November, it feels a little late for such a beginning. December is well and truly in sight and, as shop windows begin to glitter and my efforts to cross Oxford Street every evening become increasingly futile, I feel a little overwhelmed at how quickly this year has passed.

2017 has been quite a year - more on that, I promise, in my annual days-in-between post (which I had better start drafting, yikes!). After a mad few months, it is comforting and cathartic to be back at my keyboard, and back in my little corner of the internet. I try to avoid apologising on Pudding Lane - if you can't run a dictatorship on your own blog, where can you? - but I am sorry that I've not been able to post as frequently this year. It is hard to articulate what this little space means to me, and to post half-hearted recipes and write scrambled introductions would feel, to me at least, a disservice (to me and to you!).

What can I say? Conceptualising, testing, perfecting, styling, shooting and typing up recipes takes time - and time is something that I have not felt very on top of lately. A year of spinning plates has led to so many fantastic things, but has also sadly been to the detriment of my blog, my social life and at times, my sanity! And so, when I met the fabulous Candice Brown last weekend, I felt as if she was speaking to my soul.

I'm sure Candice needs little introduction - GBBO winner, Sunday Times columnist, author and soon to be ice-dancer - it's safe to say that Candice is spinning plates too (about twice as many as I am, in fact.) I was so delighted to be invited by the wonderful teams at The Happy Foodie and Penguin Random House to the first iteration of their new Cookbook Club. Held at the beautiful Rye Studios in Dalston, the book in question was Comfort, with Candice discussing the process of writing the book, her inspirations, and her journey since being crowned GBBO winner in 2016.

All I can say is - what a woman. She describes herself as lucky, which I found an interesting concept. If this is true, I'd wager that my mum has had it right all along in telling us that luck is what happens when hard work meets opportunity. Candice is certainly testament to that.

I left feeling inspired, empowered and - perhaps most importantly - full to burst following a veritable feast of all the delicious cakes and bakes from the book. It was such a delight to meet some of my fellow bloggers (Instagram friends no longer!), and Candice of course. Here is one of my favourite recipes from Candice's books - rhubarb syllabub doughnuts. I'll let you take a minute to digest quite how delicious a recipe title that is.

THE INGREDIENTS

For the dough 

270g strong white bread flour, plus extra for dusting 

10g instant yeast 

10g salt 

20g caster sugar, plus optional extra for dredging 

finely grated zest of 1 lemon 

120ml lukewarm whole milk 

40g unsalted butter, very soft 

1 egg 

rapeseed oil 

For the filling

200g fresh rhubarb, chopped into small pieces 

2 tbsp medium/sweet white wine 

1 tbsp golden caster sugar 

grated zest of 1 orange 

150ml double cream 

150g mascarpone cheese 

1 tbsp icing sugar 

½tsp vanilla bean paste

To finish (optional)

100g icing sugar, sifted

THE RECIPE

Put the flour in the large bowl of a free-standing electric mixer fitted with a dough hook. Make a small well in the middle. To one side put the yeast and on the opposite side put the salt, sugar and lemon zest. Pour the lukewarm milk, the very soft butter and egg into the well.

Mix on a low speed for 2 mins until everything is combined. Turn up the speed slightly and mix/knead for 5 mins until you have a smooth, soft dough. (You can also make the dough by hand, kneading on a lightly oiled surface for 10 minutes.)

Turn out the dough on to a lightly oiled work surface and shape into a smooth ball. Place in a lightly greased large bowl and cover with a clean tea towel. Leave to rise in a warm place for 1-2 hours until at least doubled in size.

Turn out the risen dough on to a lightly floured surface. Slightly knock out the air, then divide equally into either six large balls or 12 mini balls. Gently pinch and pull the outside of each ball into the middle so you get a nice smooth, round shape. Arrange the balls, not touching each other, on a baking sheet lined with greaseproof paper. Place this in a clean plastic bag and leave for 45-60 mins until doubled in size.

Heat 10-15cm of rapeseed oil in a high-sided medium-sized saucepan or deep-fat fryer until the oil reaches 150C. Deep-fry the doughnuts in batches – no more than 3 at a time – and check the oil temperature between each batch. Carefully place the dough balls into the oil. If they are large, fry for 3 minutes on each side; fry small balls for 2 minutes on each side. When done, the doughnuts will be puffed and golden brown. Lift out with a slotted spoon and place on kitchen paper to drain.

At this point you can roll the warm doughnuts in caster sugar if you like. Put the rhubarb, white wine, golden caster sugar and orange zest in a small saucepan. Set on a low/medium heat and cook until the rhubarb is softened and the liquid has reduced to a thick syrup. Transfer 1tbsp of the syrup to a small bowl. Set the pan of rhubarb aside to cool.

In another bowl, combine the double cream, mascarpone, icing sugar and vanilla and whisk together until the mix is just thickened and will hold its shape. Spoon the cream mixture into a piping bag fitted with a fairly large round nozzle. Fill a second piping bag fitted with a fairly large, round nozzle with the rhubarb mix.

Using a chopstick, poke 2 holes side by side into the side of each doughnut – give the chopstick a wiggle around so you create space inside the doughnut. Pipe the cream mix into one hole and the rhubarb mix into the other hole (be careful as this mix is a little thinner and may run).

If you haven’t rolled the doughnuts in caster sugar, then make a glaze with the reserved rhubarb syrup and the icing sugar. Drizzle this over the top of the filled doughnuts.

Recipe from Comfort: Delicious Bakes and Family Treats by Candice Brown. (Ebury Press, £20). Photography by Ellis Parrinder. This post was written in collaboration with The Happy Foodie but all views are, as always, entirely my own. 

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FIRST BIRTHDAY DOUGHNUTS

New Year's Eve seems to get a lot of bad press. It's become one of those times of year that everyone looks forward to and quietly dreads simultaneously, worried perhaps that it will fall a little flat after all the hype. My Dad rejects it entirely - he goes to bed early in favour of a dawn walk on New Year's Day. Maybe he's onto something there.

While I've had my fair share of limp new year celebrations, I love the sentiment that the end of December brings. In Islam, New Year celebrations fall in late October, and constitute a time of fasting and reflection on past events in history. This might seem a strange bridge for a glutton such as myself, but I think it's easy to forget the significance of a new year amid all the angst about having a good time.

While fasting won't play a part in my celebrations, I think it's so important to reflect on the year gone, and get excited about the year ahead. A new year can be the clean page that we often need to kick bad habits or, more importantly, prompt us to start that thing we've been meaning to do all year and never quite got around to.

On 1st January 2015, Pudding Lane Blog will be one year old. This time last year, I was frantically attempting to code and trying to get this little page perfect. While I'm still striving for perfection, I am so happy, proud and quite frankly, surprised at how far this little blog has come in it's first year of online life.

While many of you favoured Gin and Tonic Cake, Pudding Lane's debut recipe was the seasonally-fitting Post-Christmas Couronne. Other 2014 favourites included Salted Caramel Chocolate Cake, Overnight Oats and Sweet Potato Brownies.

Since hitting 'publish' in a freezing, damp Stockwell kitchen on New Year's Day, Pudding Lane has hosted 44 posts (only 8 weeks of negligence then), gathered 500 Facebook likes and welcomed just over 400,000 pageviews. I don't go in for the numbers side of things often but, as this is a time for reflection, I wanted to say thank you from the bottom of my heart to all of you that has stopped by and helped Pudding Lane get into gear. It really does mean the world to me.

Blogging has been my escape, solace and often, my sanity over this last year. My own life has come a little way too - along side a lot of tears and tonsilitis (sigh), I've navigated a house move, a promotion and a lovely new relationship. To anyone toying with the idea of starting their own little online playground - do it. You have nothing to lose, and there's never been a better time of year to give it a go.

For my last recipe post of 2014, I've gone a little European in terms of tradition. I read recently that doughnuts and other round pastries are eaten in Germany and Holland on New Year's Eve. Some say the shape represents the circularity of life, others say the opportunity to fill them with mustard instead of custard was too good a prank to miss.

Whichever your preference, here is my Doughnut recipe, which makes 6 and is adapted from Mr Paul Hollywood's. I've filled mine with custard because I love it, but feel free to substitute for jam (or mustard). Until next year - thank you. I hope you're able to enjoy these last few days of holiday with the people you love.

 THE INGREDIENTS

250g strong white flour

7g fast action yeast

5g salt

25g butter

25g caster sugar

1 egg

75ml warm milk

50ml warm water

oil for frying

150g caster sugar

for the creme patissiere filling

250ml whole milk

1 tsp vanilla bean paste

50g caster sugar

2 egg yolks

25g cornflour

THE RECIPE

Weigh all the dry ingredients into a large bowl, with the yeast on one side, the salt and sugar on the other. Add the butter, egg, milk and water to the middle. Using a gentle scrunching motion, stir with your hands until a slack, sticky dough is formed. Knead in the bowl until the dough is stretchy and some of the stickiness is gone. Turn onto a lightly floured surface, and knead for ten minutes until the dough is smooth. Place in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with cling film, and allow to rise for around an hour.

Once the dough is doubled in size, tip onto a floured surface and knead to knock all of the air out. Divide into 6 equal pieces, and roll each one into a ball. Place on a lined baking tray, cover, and allow to rise for a further hour. Seperately, pour the caster sugar into a shallow bowl and set aside.

Fill a pan with oil, and use a thermometer to monitor the temperature. The oil need to be at 180C. Once the doughnuts have risen, lower them one at a time into the pan with a slotted spoon. I do two at a time, and cook them for 3 minutes on each side until golden brown. Carefully remove with the slotted spoon, and transfer into the bowl of sugar, rolling to coat. Repeat until all the doughnuts are cooked and coated in sugar, and allow them to cool before filling. 

If you are filling your doughnuts with custard, make the creme patissiere. Pour the milk and vanilla into a small pan, and heat until just boiling. Meanwhile, beat the egg yolks, sugar and cornflour together in a large bowl. When the milk is just boiling, carefully pour half over the egg mixture, beating quickly until smooth. Add the rest of the milk and beat until smooth. Return the mixture to the pan, and whisk constantly over a medium heat until thickened - be careful not to leave it too long, or it will curdle.

Pour into a bowl, cover in clingfilm and leave to cool. Once cool, transfer to a piping bag, and pipe into the core of each doughnut. 

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