Russian (Ponchiki) Doughnuts

Supplies Needed

• 2 eggs
• 4 tbsp sugar
• 25g softened butter
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 cups self raising flour (or 2 cups plain flour and 2 tsp baking powder).
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil (use to fry doughnuts)

Preparation

1. Melt the butter and beat together with the eggs and sugar until smooth then slowly add in the milk.
2. Sift 1 1/2 cups flour and cinnamon into a bowl. Make a well in the middle and gradually stir in the liquid, combining to make a dough.
3. Knead the mix to make a smooth elastic dough, adding the remaining flour in batches until the dough comes away from the sides of the bowl without being too sticky.
4. Roll the dough out to around 6mm thick. Cut out rings of dough using cookie cutters (we found watter glasses of alternate sizes work well if cookie cutters are not available).
5. Heat a saucepan of vegetable oil on medium. Drop the dough rings into the oil when hot and cook until lightly golden.  Be sure too keep your oil on a medium/low heat to be sure that the outsides don't cook to quickly.
6. Remove the cooked doughnuts from the oil and set aside onto a cooling tray or paper towels.
7. Once your doughnuts have cooled to the touch, sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve while still warm.