Preparation
Step 1
Make the custard, put the milk in a heavy-bottomed saucepan. Scrape the seeds from the vanilla pod and add to the milk, with the pod. Bring to the boil then remove from the heat immediately.
Step 2
In a large glass bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and sugar, then sift in the flour. Mix really well. Slowly whisk the hot milk into the egg mixture then return to the saucepan. Put on medium-low heat and whisk for 5 minutes until thick.
Step 3
Sieve the custard into a tray, cover with cling film, cool slightly then chill.
Step 4
In a large bowl, whip the cream and icing sugar until you have stiff peaks. Fold in the peanut butter.
Step 5
Put the cooled custard in a bowl then gradually fold in the peanut butter cream. Cover and chill until needed, transferring to a piping bag with a 1cm nozzle attachment.
Step 6
Make the doughnuts. Heat the milk, water, and butter until the butter melts. Leave to cool slightly.
Step 7
In a stand mixer or large bowl, combine the flour, salt, sugar, and yeast. Slowly add the warm milk mixture and stir to combine. Add the eggs and, using a dough hook, mix until the dough starts to come away from the sides. Transfer to a large bowl generously oiled.
Step 8
Cover with cling film. Leave to rise for an hour until doubled in size.
Step 9
Roll out half the dough on a lightly floured surface to 1½cm thick. Use a cutter or the rim of a glass to cut rounds from the dough. Repeat with the other dough half.
Step 10
Half-fill a saucepan with the sunflower oil. Use a thermometer to check the oil reaches 180C. (If you don’t have a thermometer, add a ball of leftover dough – if it rises immediately but doesn’t brown quickly, the oil is hot enough.)
Step 11
In batches, fry the doughnuts for 2 minutes each side until golden. (Fry 3 doughnuts at once and be very careful – use a floured bench scraper to lower the doughnuts into the oil. Remove with a slotted spoon and transfer to kitchen paper.)
Step 12
To fill the doughnuts, put a skewer into one side of the doughnuts to make a hole. Push the piping bag nozzle into the doughnut then pipe in the mix.
Make the brûlée caramel. Put the sugar in a small saucepan and add the water, swirling to wet all the sugar. Set over a medium heat and cook until the mixture starts to bubble. Reduce the heat to medium-low until it turns light golden. (Use a pastry brush to brush down the sides of the pan.) Remove from the heat and swirl the pan (don’t stir the mixture). Very carefully, one by one dip the top of the doughnuts into the caramel. Lift up, let excess caramel drip off, then transfer the doughnuts to a cooling rack, caramel-side up. Repeat with the rest of the doughnuts – if the caramel stiffens, return to a low heat to loosen slightly. Leave to set for a few minutes then serve.
Step 13
Top tip: this recipe is lots of fun to make with little ones, but be very careful when frying the doughnuts and dipping them in to the caramel. This is best done only by adults and without children around.
