Mango And Coconut Doughnuts

A classic fritter doughnut made from a dough infused with coconut and filled with a tart mango curd.

Maybe I should have been a cop. I’ve always had a soft spot for doughnuts. When I was a kid I’d get one in my lunchbox going to school from time to time. They were nothing fancy like these ones, just your regular jam-filled doughnuts. Often they’d get banged around in my schoolbag and end up misshapen, a little greasy, with the jam leaking out. I loved them all the same. Kids love anything sweet with loads of sugar. Especially when it gets stuck to your lips and has to be licked off as it does with the castor sugar-coating on doughnuts.

It’s been an age since I’ve made doughnuts and I got all inspired to make these ones by a show on the food network called doughnut showdown. In the show, 3 sets of bakers go head to head in competition for the chance to win $10,000. They all get the same set of ingredients to work with and are always thrown something way out like corn dogs or chicken liver that must be incorporated into one of their doughnuts. It all makes for some interesting viewing and some very innovative doughnuts.

Doughnuts are of course a great classic. Personally, I never had much time for the ones with frosting on top and forget about the ones with a hole in the middle. It’s the classic beignets as the french call them that hit the spot for me. The best part of eating a doughnut is munching through the slightly crisp exterior into the soft dough to find the sweet filling inside. A doughnut without a filling is like smoked salmon without lemon or roast beef without horseradish.

To make these southeast Asian inspired mango and coconut doughnuts I just used a regular sweet dough. Then I infused it with coconut flavour by adding some desiccated coconut to the flour and by also using coconut milk as the liquid instead of regular milk. This resulted in a super soft interior with a beautiful hint of nutty flavour. To finish off the coconut effect your doughnuts are then rolled in a mixture of castor sugar and more desiccated coconut.

I scoffed about 3 of them straight from the pan before I’d even coated or filled them with the tangy citrus mango custard. So they should probably come with a warning….don’t make them if you’re on your own or you might wolf down the whole batch, they’re that addictive.

To make the filling I simply took a lemon curd recipe I’ve been using for years and substituted shop-bought mango juice for the lemon juice. You could also add a little diced up fresh mango to the curd for added texture as I’ve done but that part is strictly optional. The result was a beautiful glossy custard with a slight tart edge that contrasted really well with the sweet and nutty dough.

Like I said, for me, the best part of eating a doughnut is biteing through the softly textured dough to find the filling. But you can get as creative as you like with the filling. Use a classic creme patisserie, some chocolate ganache, some seasonal fruit puree, or if you’re lazy just some store-bought jam.

What do you like to fill your doughnuts with?

Mango And Coconut Doughnuts

• Prep Time: 3 hours 25 minutes
• Cook Time: 5 minutes
• Total Time: 3 hours 30 minutes
• Yield: 15 doughnuts 1x

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Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• 125 ml (1/2 cup) coconut milk
• 225g (8 oz) strong white flour
• 25g (1 oz) desiccated coconut
• 10g (1/2 oz) dried yeast
• 25g (1 oz) unsalted butter
• 5g (1/4 oz)salt
• 25g (1 oz) caster sugar
• 1 large egg

for the mango filling

• 125ml (1/2 cup) mango juice
• 2 eggs
• 2 egg yolks
• 25 (1oz) g sugar
• 125g (4 1/2 oz) unsalted butter (diced)
• half a fresh ripe mango (finely diced)

to fry the doughnuts

• 500ml (1 pint) vegetable oil

to coat the doughnuts

• 25g (1 oz) caster sugar
• 25g (1 oz)desiccated coconut

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Instructions

1. Pour the coconut milk into a pan and warm it gently. It should be neither too hot or cold if you dip your finger in.
2. Next sive your flour before adding the dried yeast and mixing well. Than rub in the butter as if you were making a crumble and then add the sugar, desiccated coconut, and salt. Followed by the egg and warmed coconut milk.
3. Mix the dough well and then turn it on to a lightly floured work surface and knead it well for 10 minutes until it becomes smooth and elastic.
4. Place your dough into an oiled bowl, cover it with a damp cloth and let it rest for a couple of hours till its doubled in size.
5. While the dough is resting you can make the mango custard. In a bowl mix together the mango juice, eggs, egg yolks, and sugar.
6. Place the bowl over a pot of gently simmering water and whisk the custard till it thickens to the consistency of semi whipped cream. Than remove the custard from the head and whisk in the diced butter till its all dissolved followed by the finely diced mango
7. Move the custard to a clean bowl and cover it with some greaseproof paper to prevent a skin forming and allow it to cool.
8. When the dough has doubled in size turn it out on to a lightly floured surface and divide it up into 15 evan pieces weighing about 25g each.
9. Roll each piece into tightly formed balls and then place the doughnuts onto a floured tray leaving enough space between each one so they wont touch as they rise.
10. Cover the tray with a cloth and let the doughnuts prove for about an hour till they have doubled in size.
11. Pour the oil into a saucepan and heat it till its 180c. Gently add the doughnuts to the oil and cook them for a minute each side till golden brown. Do this in batches of 5 at a time so the oil doesn’t cool down too much.
12. Drain your doughnuts well on kitchen paper and leave to cool.
13. When your doughnuts are cool enough to handle spoon the mango curd into a piping bag with a small nozzle and fill your doughnuts with the custard by inserting the nozzle into the side of each doughnut.
14. I like to get as much of the custard in there as possible, but how much you put in is really up to you.
15. To finish the doughnuts mix the caster sugar and desiccated coconut together and then gently roll the doughnuts in the mix.

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