French Crullers

Instructions

• Bring water, butter, sugar and salt to a boil over high heat. Turn off heat and dump in the flour. Use a spoon or a spatula to stir it all together. Bring it back to medium heat and cook about 1 min, until mixture forms a cohesive ball and leaves a film on the bottom of the pot.

• Transfer the dough to a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment. Let the dough cool for 5 min.

• With mixer running on medium, add a few tbsp of the beaten egg and incorporate completely. Repeat with remaining beaten egg, a few tbsp at a time, until all egg is incorporated and a smooth batter is formed.

• Transfer the batter to a pastry bag fitted with a large (1⁄2-in. or larger) star tip. Chill for 15 min in fridge.

• While dough chills, bring a deep pot with 3 in. of oil to 375F. Cut rough 4 × 4-in. squares of parchment. Pipe chilled dough in 31⁄2-in. rings on the parchment squares.

• Use tongs to carefully place crullers, parchment-side up, in the hot oil. Pull off the parchment using tongs and set aside. (You can reuse it with the next batch.) Fry about 4 crullers at time, but don’t overcrowd the pan.

• Cook for 3 min undisturbed on one side, then carefully flip the cruller using tongs and cook 2 to 3 min on other side. Transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

• Glaze: Whisk together the icing sugar, milk and vanilla. Thin out with a little water if needed. Pour into a shallow bowl and dip each cooled doughnut halfway into the glaze.