Puff Puff — Golden Yeasted Doughnuts

Ingredients

• 2 cups bread flour
• 3 tbsp sugar
• 1½ tsp instant yeast
• ½ tsp salt
• ¼ tsp grated nutmeg
• 1 cup warm water
• 4 cups neutral oil, for frying
• 2 tbsp sugar mixed with a pinch of chili, for dusting

Method

1. Whisk the flour, sugar, yeast, salt, and nutmeg together, then beat in the warm water. The batter should be thick and stretchy — somewhere between pancake batter and bread dough — and pull in ropes off the spoon.
2. Cover and leave somewhere warm 60–90 minutes until doubled and visibly bubbled across the surface. Underproofed batter fries into dense little stones.
3. Heat the oil to 350°F (175°C). Scoop the batter with a wet hand, squeeze a golf-ball-sized blob up between your thumb and finger, and flick it into the oil with a spoon.
4. Fry 4–5 at a time, turning once they float and brown on the underside, 4–5 minutes total, until deep gold all over and hollow-sounding when tapped.
5. Drain on a rack and toss warm in the chili sugar. They are best within the hour, which is rarely a problem.