Bavarian Cream Donuts

5 from 2 votes

Made with buttery brioche bread and then filled with a rich Bavarian cream, Bavarian cream donuts are light, flavorful, and perfect for breakfast or dessert!

Prep Time30

Cook Time30

Waiting Time8

Total Time9

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: French

Servings:

Calories: 302kcal

Author: Katalin Nagy

Equipment

Ingredients

Donuts

110 g Whole milk lukewarm
50 g Granulated sugar
12.5 g Fresh yeast Can be substituted with 5g (1,5 teaspoons) instant yeast
1 Egg yolk room temperature
1 Egg room temperature
250 g Bread flour High protein content flour. Can be substituted with All purpose flour
¼ teaspoon Salt
120 g Unsalted butter room temperature, soft
1.5 liter Vegetable or Canola oil for frying

Bavarian Cream

250 g Whole milk 3% fat
75 g Granulated sugar
60 g Egg yolk approx. yolk of 3 eggs
2 teaspoons Vanilla extract
4 Gelatin sheets or 6.8g (1,5 teaspoon) gelatin powder
230 g Heavy cream 36% fat, use it very cold

Metric - US Customary

Instructions

For the donuts

Start with mixing sugar with lukewarm milk then sprinkle yeast on top. Make sure the kitchen is nice and warm, and in 10 minutes the yeast should foam.
Place the yeast mixture into your Stand mixer with the kneading hook on, then mix it together with the egg and egg yolk.
Mix in dry ingredients; flour, and salt, and start kneading until the dough comes together.
Slowly start to add in room temperature (soft) butter chunks piece by piece. Knead the dough for another 10 minutes on medium high speed until the dough becomes elastic and shiny and not sticky any longer.
Move the dough into a bowl, cover it with plastic wrap or a tea towel. Let it rise ideally in the fridge overnight or at room temperature for 1-2 hours.
After the dough has risen, knock the air out, gently knead the dough for a few seconds and divide it into 12 using a digital scale.
Form 12 balls with your hand and place them into square sheets of baking paper. Use a small amount of extra flour while shaping the dough, if needed.
Proof the dough for the second time now at room temperature. Proofing might take 1-2h depending on the temperature of your kitchen. Chose a warm spot but avoid direct heat and sunlight.
Once the donuts are nicely puffed up, heat vegetable oil in a heavy-bottomed pan over medium heat. The ideal oil temperature for baking donuts is 180C/356F or between 175-185C / 347-365F. Use a thermometer.
Depending on the size of your pan, place 3-4 donuts in the oil at a time, leaving enough space around them. Fry the donuts on each side for about 2 minutes or until nice and brown.
Place the fried donuts on a wire rack lined with paper towels to soak up any excess oil. Let them come to room temperature.

For the Bavarian cream

Soak the gelatin sheets in cold water.
In a large enough bowl, with the help of a Hand whisk, whisk together sugar, egg yolk, and vanilla until slightly fluffy for about 1-2 minutes.
Bring milk to simmering in a saucepan on medium heat then pour the warm milk mixture over the egg yolk mixture slowly while whisking vigorously with a Hand whisk.
Pour the mixture back into the saucepan and cook on medium heat until the temperature reached 82C / 180F. Remove the cream from the stove as soon as the cream reaches the desired temperature.
Squeeze excess water from the gelatin sheets and stir them into the hot cream. Alternatively, if using gelatin powder, mix together the gelatin powder with 1 tablespoon of cold water then when thickened into a paste, immediately mix into the warm custard.
Place the custard into a shallow bowl or container and cover the entire surface with plastic wrap to avoid skin forming on top. Let it come to room temperature in about an hour. Do not let it chill as the gelatin will set too hard.
Once the custard is at room temperature, whip very cold heavy cream until early stiff peaks. Do not overbeat. Fold the whipped cream very gently into the custard in 2-3x portions.
You can use this Bavarian cream straight away to fill your room temperature donuts or let it chill for 2-3 hours for the gelatin to set.
Store the unfilled donuts in an air-tight container at room temperature for 1-2 days. If filled, store them refrigerated for 1-2 days.

Notes

INGREDIENT NOTES

Use always unsalted butter in baking, in this recipe butter needs to be at room temperature so soft enough to be able to knead into the dough when making the donuts.
Fresh or Dried yeast can be used. Please check my baking guide for more details on how to bake with yeast.
Use the milk, butter and egg at room temperature in order for the ingredients to properly emulsify.
Since rum donut is effectively a sweet bread, use high protein content bread flour
High-fat content milk and pure vanilla extract are the heart of making Bavarian Cream.
When making the Bavarian cream, you will want to use high fat content heavy cream (36%) and it has to be very cold before whipping up.
I am using 4 gelatin sheets that can be substituted with 6.8g gelatin powder. Check my gelatin guide to learn more about how to with gelatin sheets vs powder.

TECHNIQUE NOTES

For activating the yeast (whether it is dried or fresh), make sure that the milk is lukewarm and your kitchen is also nice and warm.
You will knead the dough for about 10 minutes in a stand mixer. The dough is ready when it is shiny, elastic, and does not stick to your fingers any longer. Do not add more flour to the dough. If it sticks too much, continue kneading.
The first proofing ideally should happen in the fridge overnight for the best flavor and texture. It will also mean that you work with cold dough when shaping the donuts, which is less sticky and easier to shape.
Second proofing is necessary for the perfect rise = fluffy texture
The oil temperature is critical, use a thermometer. Too hot? It will burn the donuts and they might stay raw in the middle. Too cold? The donuts will soak in too much oil and, again, might stay raw in the middle.
Do not heat the custard further than 82C / 180F, as the egg will curdle.
Make sure to let the custard come to room temperature before folding the whipped heavy cream in.
When whipping the cream, you will want to reach early stiff peaks; stiff peaks (or firm peaks) stand straight up when the mixer is lifted, and the tips don't curl. However, stop whipping as soon as you reach stiff peaks, as once you over-whip the cream, it will become very stiff, and the texture won't be smooth enough to fold in with the custard.

Nutrition