Churro lovers, this yeasted doughnut recipe is for you! With the addition of dark chocolate fig pastry cream that’s piped in the middle of these puffy clouds, you’re in for the ultimate treat with this churro yeasted donut recipe.
Un-FIG-ettable Pastry Cream
At first, I had infused the figs for about an hour in the milk to see how well the fig flavor would come through – but I found that the overnight infusion, along with roughly chopping the figs before adding to the milk really helped the fig flavor to shine within the pastry cream and prevented the chocolate flavor from dominating the palate! The sweet, honeyed, deep richness of the Sun-Maid or Orchard Choice California Dried Mission Fig went really well with the churros. Golden figs would work well as a substitution and would bring a nutty profile.
The Key to Making Chocolate Fig Pastry Cream: Infused Milk
Infusing ingredients such as whipping cream and milk can take your recipes to a new level. When creating a milk infusion, all you have to do is add your ingredients into a saucepan with your milk. These ingredients could consist of a number of different items – in this case, we are making a fig milk infusion so we are adding figs to flavor our milk! Then simply bring the milk to a simmer and allow the figs to infuse into the milk for as little as 30 minutes, or place in the fridge to infuse overnight!
What is Brioche
Brioche is known to be an enriched dough due to the amounts of both egg and butter that have been incorporated during the mixing process. It has an incredibly rich and tender crumb that allows for such versatility! In the case of this yeasted doughnut recipe, we’re making doughnuts by rolling brioche dough into small balls and frying the dough to get our beloved doughnuts!
Before You Start Frying…
It’s important to make sure that you have properly prepared your space! As with any yeasted donut recipe, keep your thermometer close by to monitor the oil’s temperature, a plate lined with paper towels to place the fried doughnuts on, and your sugar coating ready as well.
Assembly
In order to finish off these doughnuts, fill up a piping bag with your Chocolate Fig pastry cream! Then, pierce the fried and sugared doughnut with the tip of your piping bag and fill the center of the doughnut with the pastry cream. Top with a drizzle of melted chocolate and a fig for the ultimate presentation!!
Storing Your Doughnuts
Technically, you can store doughnuts in an air-tight container in the fridge for up to three days. That being said, I would highly recommend baking and enjoying these doughnuts rather promptly after frying! Doughnuts are best straight from the fryer as they can dry out quite quickly!
Churro Yeasted Doughnut Recipe filled with Chocolate Fig Pastry Cream
Equipment
- Dutch oven
- Therma-pen / Thermometer
Ingredients
Brioche Doughnuts
- 3/4 cup (175g) warm water
- 1/4 cup (50g) granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon active dry yeast
- 3 3/4 cups (500g) all-purpose flour
- 3 large eggs
- 1/3 cup + 1 TBSP (100g) unsalted butter , room temperature
- 1 1/4 teaspoons kosher salt
- 2 liters palm or canola oil , for frying
Dark Chocolate Fig Pastry Cream
- 2 cups (500g) whole milk
- 1 cup (150g) Orchard Choice or Sun-Maid California Mission Figs , stems removed + roughly chopped
- 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
- 1/3 cup (40g) cornstarch
- 4 large eggs
- 2/3 cup (107g) melted dark chocolate
- 1/4 cup (50g) unsalted butter , room temperature
Churro Sugar + Garnish
- 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
- 3 TBSP ground cinnamon
- Dried Figs
- Melted chocolate
Instructions
Make the Brioche Doughnuts
- Mix together the warm water, sugar and yeast together in a stand mixer bowl. Let this mixture rest undisturbed for 5-10 minutes until you start to see bubbles start to form on the surface.
- Mix in the flour and eggs to the active yeast mixture using the paddle attachment. After one minute of mixing on medium speed, the ingredients should be well combined. At this point, switch to using the dough hook attachment and knead for 6-8 minutes before adding the salt and adding the butter one tablespoon at a time. Continue kneading with the dough hook for another 5-8 minutes until the dough looks smooth and glossy and you notice that the dough is not sticking to the sides of the bowl. This means that your dough has been well developed and you can stop mixing.
- Place the dough in an oiled bowl to proof for 1.5 to 2 hours covered with plastic wrap. You’re looking for the dough to have about doubled in size before moving onto the next step. If your kitchen tends to run quite cold, try to find a warm spot to leave the dough for this resting period. Then, remove the plastic wrap, and de-gas the dough by punching it down before re-covering and placing the bowl in the fridge overnight. This overnight rest of about 12-14 hours is essential in order to develop flavor as the dough continues to ferment slowly within low temperatures.
- After the dough has rested overnight – it’s time to start shaping! Divide your dough using a sharp knife or a bench scraper into 65 gram even pieces. Gently de-gas each piece by pressing on top of the ball with the heel of your hand before forming into a tight ball / boule. Place each piece of dough onto a parchment-lined baking tray that has been sprayed lightly with oil and cover with plastic wrap that has also been sprayed lightly to prevent from sticking to the shaped dough. Let the dough sit undisturbed in a warm spot to proof until the boules have doubled in size for about 1.5-2 hours.
- Approximately twenty minutes before the doughnuts have finished their final proof, it’s time to start heating your frying oil! Grab a large Dutch oven or your preferred container for frying. Add the oil, ensuring that you have at least 3 inches of height from the bottom of the Dutch oven to the top of the oil. Turning the stove on medium-high, heat the oil to 345° F.
- Prepare your churro sugar while the oil is heating – simply combine cinnamon and sugar in a bowl and mix to combine. Set aside.
- I always do a “test” doughnut before moving on to the remaining doughnuts. Fry the test doughnut for 2-3 minutes on each side before removing from the oil with a slotted spoon and placing on a cooling rack lined with paper towels. Then, coat in churro sugar before letting cool completely. Continue this process by gently dropping four pieces of proofed dough into the oil at a time, making sure not to crowd the doughnuts too much! Make sure to check the temperature of the oil after each batch, in case you need to reheat the oil back to 345° F.
Make the Dark Chocolate Fig Pastry Cream
- Place the figs and milk into a saucepan and heat until milk has slightly come to a simmer. Then, pour the milk and figs into an air-tight container and place in the fridge to infuse overnight.
- The next day, strain the infused milk into a saucepan and set aside the figs. Save these to incorporate into your next smoothie!
- To make the pastry cream, add the sugar, corn starch and eggs into the infused milk and whisk until all the ingredients are combined. Then bring your saucepan to the stove and heat on medium while whisking constantly. You'll notice the mixture start to thicken – continue whisking vigorously to ensure that the pastry cream does not burn on the side or bottom of the saucepan. Once the mixture comes to a slight boil, continue mixing for a minute longer before removing from heat.
- Add the melted chocolate and softened butter into the pastry cream, mixing so that they naturally incorporate due to the heat.
- Place pastry cream into a container and cover with plastic wrap, pressing the plastic onto the top of the pastry cream so that you do not get a skin.
- Place in the fridge where it will start to thicken and solidify a bit. Before using the pastry cream, whisk to ensure a smooth texture!
Assembling the Doughnuts
- Fill a piping bag or plastic bag with your Chocolate Fig Pastry Cream. Pierce the doughnut with a piping tip or the tip of the piping bag and fill the center of the doughnut with the Chocolate Fig Pastry Cream.
- Top with melted chocolate and a dried fig garnish.
