black sesame brioche donuts
soft and pillowy donuts-- crunchy black sesame sugar coating on the outside with a lava-like black sesame paste surprise on the inside!
HELLO SUBSTACK BABES.
I’ve been thinking about starting a newsletter for some time now and as they say, there’s no time like the present! I hope this can be a space where I can ramble (weekly) about some of my favorite things, shower thoughts, new obsessions, old hobbies, new tv shows, and of course, a fave recent recipe I've developed! I hope you’ll join in the conversation below in the comments and ramble to me about whatever you’d like as well!
momentsofFALL
Do you have kids? I do not (I’m the eternally cool kid-less auntie), but I ask because I find that time moves differently with and without the presence of children.
My sister’s family (she has two young kids) lived pretty close to me up until recently, when they moved halfway across the country from me. When she lived closer, we saw each other all the time. Weekly, sometimes daily.
Having children around marks and breaks up the calendar in a very special way. Every holiday, big and small, can cause huge excitement. Every birthday (yes, even the four dogs’ birthdays) turn into huge events. The slightest change in weather, a new smell brought on by a chilly breeze, the sight of the first porch pumpkin, the sun being up a few minutes longer or shorter.
We share gasps of excitement, giggling and fogging up the window as we huddle near it to watch the first drops of snow in the winter.
I miss being absolutely giddy over the little things together.
We’re past the midway point of October and I haven’t carved a pumpkin or gone apple picking. I haven’t screeched at new displays of creepy Halloween displays at the stores or gone to an early ‘trunk-or-treat’.
October has flown by and soon, so will all of autumn.
All this to say that I hope to be more present. Also, can you tell I miss my nieces?
and now, a recipe.
I developed this recipe the way I begin to develop all my recipes— with a very strong craving. Black sesame is one of my all time favorite ingredients. I use it as much as I possibly can and am constantly trying to find new ways to incorporate it into the things I’m consuming!
a word on brioche dough
Oh my, brioche is a lovely bread. it makes a wonderfully soft, pillowy and rich bread. and when you fry it up, it makes a wonderfully soft, pillowy, and rich donut! all crispy with that sugar coating on the outside and so so soft and perfect on the inside.
But it is a little more labor intensive to knead to perfection. Brioche dough is high in fat content, which gives it that richness. It comes from a high ratio of butter that is kneaded into the dough gradually and creates the softest dough you’ll ever touch. because of this, I believe it’s only achievable with a stand mixer.
two ways to fill these donuts
make the filling, chill it, divide into 12 balls, chill again. make dough, 1st rise, divide dough into 12 equal portions, wrap black sesame filling in it, roll into tight/smooth ball, 2nd rise, deep fry, dip in sugar, enjoy.
make the dough, 1st rise, roll it out, cut out 12 donuts with circle cookie cutter, 2nd rise, deep fry, roll in sugar. poke a hole in the middle, warm up your filling, pipe into donuts like traditional filled donuts.
the first technique requires a little more work and working with brioche dough can be a little tough because it gets a bit greasy the more you handle it. but this technique made the most sense to me to provide me with that super warm lava-like black sesame filling that reminds me of biting into Chinese tong yuan dessert.
if you’re looking for less work, go for number 2.
Ingredients
for brioche dough
256 g bread flour
5 g instant yeast
25 g granulated sugar
135 g whole milk
1 large egg
56 g unsalted butter, room temperature
for black sesame paste
60 g toasted black sesame seeds
50 g granulated sugar
85 g unsalted butter, room temperature
pinch of kosher salt
Directions
prepare brioche dough
in bowl of stand mixer, add bread flour, yeast, and sugar and mix it together. add milk and egg and mix on low with dough hook attachment. after a few minutes, a dough should form and start to clear the sides of the bowl but still stick to the bottom as in kneads. if it seems a little too dry, add more milk, 1 tablespoon at a time. let machine knead the dough for about 10-15 minutes, until smooth and elastic.
when the dough is very smooth and elastic, keep kneading on low speed, adding one tablespoon of softened butter in at a time, letting the dough absorb the butter fully before the next addition. the dough may seem to separate when adding butter, but it will all come back together as it kneads.
when all butter has been incorporated, knead dough for 2-3 more minutes. with slightly greased hands, remove dough from bowl, tuck it into a smooth taut ball, place in slightly greased large bowl and cover with plastic wrap. let dough rest at room temperature for 20 minutes and transfer to chill overnight in the fridge.
make black sesame paste filling
if your seeds are not toasted, add then to a small or medium frying pan over medium-low heat. stirring constantly, toast the seeds for about 5-8 minutes, until they smell nutty and aromatic. do not let them burn! set aside to cool.
place cooled toasted black sesame seeds into a small food processor or small single cup blender like magic bullet. blend until the seeds have broken up but not releasing their oils yet. *set aside 1/2 tablespoon of crushed seeds aside for sugar coating later*. add sugar and blend until smooth. then add softened butter and blend until smooth and lava-like.
scrape out all the black sesame goodness into a small bowl, cover, and chill in fridge until ready to use.
if using method 2 (stated above under “two ways to fill these donuts”), leave the filling to chill until ready to use. if using method 1, do the following:
after filling is cold and solidified, portion it out into 12 equal pieces. roll them into balls, setting them onto a small plate lined with parchment paper. place entire plate into freezer until ready to use.
assembly (method 1)
cut out 12 pieces of parchment paper 2.5x2.5inches and spread out onto a baking sheet.
remove chilled dough from fridge, punch down the air, and place dough onto clean, veryyy lightly floured surface. divide into 12 equal portions.
place a frozen black sesame ball into the center of a piece of dough, press it into the dough and gather the excess dough together to close it up. pinch the seam realllly well and cup your hands together to roll and tuck the bottom of the dough ball to create a smooth bottom and make sure it’s all closed up. place assembled donuts onto individual cut parchment pieces.
once all donuts are assembled, cover lightly and let rise for 40-45 minutes.
meanwhile, heat up 2-3 inches of oil in a deep pot or dutch oven to about 325 degrees F. in a medium bowl, combine 100 g (1/2 c) granulated sugar and crushed black sesame that you set aside earlier. this will be the sugar coating for donuts.
carefully lower donuts 3-4 at a time into the oil, remove the parchment paper with tongs, and IMMEDIATELY turn the donuts every few seconds. if you don’t turn them every few seconds, I find that one side might balloon up too much and the donuts look uneven.
fry donuts for about 4-5 minutes total and place onto paper towel lined sheets to drain. when donuts are still very warm, coat in black sesame sugar. Enjoy best while warm and filling is gooey!!
assembly (method 2) *slightly easier method*
cut out 12 pieces of parchment paper 2.5x2.5inches and spread out onto a baking sheet.
remove chilled dough from fridge, punch down the air, and place dough onto clean, lightly floured surface. roll dough out evenly until dough is about 1/2inch thick. cut out donuts with a 2 inch circle cookie cutter. re-roll once and cut out more donuts. (REMEMBER DON’T CUT OUT DONUT HOLES)
place each donut on their own parchment square, cover, and let rise for about 40-45 minutes.
meanwhile, heat up 2-3 inches of oil in a deep pot or dutch oven to about 325 degrees F. in a medium bowl, combine 100 g (1/2 c) granulated sugar and crushed black sesame that you set aside earlier. this will be the sugar coating for donuts.
carefully lower donuts 3-4 at a time into the oil, remove the parchment paper with tongs, and fry for about 2 minutes on each side, flipping them occasionally. place onto paper towel lined sheets to drain. when donuts are still very warm, coat in black sesame sugar.
once all donuts are fried and sugar-coated, microwave the black sesame paste on 10-15 second bursts, mixing each time, until warm and lava-like. fill a piping bag with the paste.
with a small knife or chopstick, poke a hole on the side of the donut to the middle. stick the piping bag halfway in the donut and fill with a bit of the paste. make sure you leave enough filling for the rest of the donuts!
Enjoy while warm for best taste!