Sourdough Boston Cream Donuts
If you’ve never had Sourdough Boston Cream Donuts before, prepare to have your mind blown just a little. The dough is soft and fluffy with that gentle sourdough richness that makes ever bite taste deeper and fresher, filled with my homemade silky vanilla pastry cream and dipped in a glossy chocolate ganache.
Equipment
- Stand mixer (optional) - for kneading dough. You can mix the dough by hand but a stand mixer is easiest.
- Small and medium sized pot - for making tangzhong and ganache.
- Kitchen scale (optional) - for accurate measuring, especially helpful with baking linked here.
- Measuring cups and spoons - if not using a scale and for smaller ingredients.
- Rolling Pin - for rolling out donuts.
- 12 4x4 parchment squares - This make frying the donuts so easy! You can either cut your own squares or buy them, I've linked pre-cut squares here.
- Deep pot or Dutch oven - for frying donuts.
- Frying thermometer - for keeping oil at 340–350°F. I strongly recommend using this tool to avoid burning I use this one linked here and love it.
- Slotted spoon or spider - to flip donuts. The spider I use is linked here.
- Chopsticks (optional) - helpful for flipping donuts. I like these reusable chopsticks linked here. I also used these to poke a hole in my donuts first to create a pocket for my filling.
- Cooling rack + paper towels - for drying donuts after frying.
- Tongs - for removing parchment from oil while frying.
- Digital Thermometer (optional) - helps with assessing when tangzhong is done.
- Spatula - to fill bag with pastry cream.
- Wire rack - for draining excess ganache from donuts after glazing.
- Piping bag and star tip - for filling the donuts. I used these pastry bags linked here and this 1A star tip linked here.
Ingredients
Sweet Levain:
- 2 (25g) Tbsp sourdough starter (100% hydration)
- 1/3 (100g) cup water
- 3/4 (100g) cup all-purpose flour
- 2 (25g) Tbsp white sugar
Tangzhong:
- 2 (20g) Tbsp all-purpose flour
- 1/3 (100g) cup whole milk
Dough:
- 1 (225g) cup whole milk
- 1 (200g) cup sweet levain
- 1 50g egg
- 1 egg yolk
- 1/3 (75g) cup white granulated sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- All of the tangzhong
- 4 1/2 (500-530g) all-purpose flour or bread flour
- 1 (10g) tsp sea salt
- 6 (85g) Tbsp unsalted butter, softened
Pastry Cream:
Chocolate Ganache:
- 1 (170g) cup semi sweet chopped chocolate or chips
- ½ (120g) cup heavy cream
- 1 (14g) tbsp butter
Instructions
Step 1: Make the Sweet Levain (Night Before)
- Baker's Schedule: 8:00 PM- Night Before
- In a clean jar, mix your mother starter with the flour, water, and sugar. Give it a good stir, and allow it to rest at room temperature (optimally 73-75 degrees F). I like to mark the volume in my jar with a rubber band so it's easy to asses the rise the next morning. When the sweet levain has doubled in size, it's time to mix your donut dough.2 (25g) Tbsp sourdough starter (100% hydration), 1/3 (100g) cup water, 3/4 (100g) cup all-purpose flour, 2 (25g) Tbsp white sugar
Step 2: Make the Tangzhong
- Baker's Schedule: 8:00 AM- Day 1
- Before you get started on mixing your dough, you'll make your tangzhong. Whisk milk and flour together in a small saucepan.2 (20g) Tbsp all-purpose flour, 1/3 (100g) cup whole milk
- Cook the tangzhong over medium/low heat, stirring constantly, until it thickens into a paste that is similar to pudding (about 2–3 minutes). For precision, use your digital thermometer and heat to 148-155 F. Do not overheat, or your mixture will be too thick.
- Scrape into a bowl immediately to prevent further cooking, cover, and let cool to room temperature before adding to your dough.
- Prepare your dough while tangzhong cools.
Step 3: Mix the Dough
- Baker's Schedule: 8:30 AM- Day 1
- In a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook or large mixing bowl, add the whole milk, sweet levain, egg and egg yolk, sugar, vanilla, and all of the tangzhong. Whisk ingredients together quickly, it's okay if it's lumpy.1 (225g) cup whole milk, 1 (200g) cup sweet levain, 1 50g egg, 1 egg yolk, 1/3 (75g) cup white granulated sugar, 1 tsp vanilla extract, All of the tangzhong
- Add your flour and salt into your wet ingredients.4 1/2 (500-530g) all-purpose flour, 1 (10g) tsp sea salt
- Mix on low until a shaggy dough forms, about 2-3 minutes. Scrape down bowl if needed. If using your hands, knead until you work dough together. This is a higher hydration dough, so be aware it will be sticky.
- Once the dough has come together add softened butter, a tablespoon at a time mixing each tablespoon in until adding the next. Use a dough scraper to scrape the edges of the bowl to make sure everything is getting mixed in.6 (85g) Tbsp unsalted butter, softened
- Continue mixing on medium-low (speed 2–3) for 8–10 minutes, until dough is smooth, elastic, and tacky but not sticky. If mixing by hand knead dough until butter has fully incorporated and dough is smooth and tacky.
- Mixing Notes: If kneading in a mixer or if dough is very wet when mixing by hand, add an additional 25 grams (3 Tablespoons) of flour and mix into dough. Make sure to work flour in completely and assess if you need more flour. I did this twice adding in a total of 50 grams (6 Tablespoons) of flour for the dough consistency I liked.
- Do not add more than 50 grams of flour at this stage, or you will lose the high hydration of the dough and end up with a dense donut. If using a stand mixer, dough can become more warm and sticky and I have found kneading dough with my hand (perform a set of stretch and folds) for a minute after mixing in my stand mixer really helps bring the dough together.
Step 4: Bulk Fermentation
- Spray a clean bowl with oil. Shape the dough into a smooth ball and place it in the bowl. Cover with plastic wrap.
- If you used a stand mixer, perform one set of stretch and folds after 30 minutes to strengthen your dough. If you mixed dough by hand, perform 3 sets of stretch and folds at 30 minute intervals at the beginning of bulk fermentation. After stretch and folds are completed, cover dough and allow to continue proofing.
- Let dough rise at 75–80°F until doubled in size, this takes about 5–6 hours. If your house is very cold, you can put dough in the oven with the light on for a warmer atmosphere. This proofing time is a general guide, this process may take longer the key is to assess when the dough has nearly doubled that's when it's ready.
- Overnight Fermentation: Once dough has finished rising, you can cover and transfer to the refrigerator overnight for a longer ferment or you can skip this step and go straight to making your donuts. I do find it to be easier to shape the donuts when the dough has been refrigerated but it isn't necessary.
Step 5: Shape the Donuts
- Baker's Schedule- 8:00 AM Day 2 (if doing overnight ferment)
- If you refrigerated the dough overnight, remove from the refrigerator and allow to rest at room temperature for about 30 minutes to take the chill off.
- When dough is ready, flour a surface well and dump the dough onto the work area. Flour the top of the dough and the rolling pin as well, and gently roll out the dough to a circle that is about 1/2 inch thickness (it doesn't have to be a perfect circle just roll out the dough).
- Flour the cookie cutter or the cup, and cut out 12 donuts the shape you'd like (I made mine into hearts). I don't recommend gathering this dough and rolling it to make more donuts, I find that the initial time you roll out and cut the shapes it has the best texture so keep that in mind. The scraps would make excellent donut holes though!
- Transfer the donuts to 4x4 pre-cut parchment squares that are lightly floured, and lay them to proof on 2 baking sheets.
- Cover your pans with plastic wrap and allow donuts to proof at room temperature roughly 1 1/2 to 2 hours. They should be puffy and jiggly when they're done proofing. This step is key to a light donut, so make sure you don't skip it!
Step 6: Make the Pastry Cream Filling
- While the donuts proof, head over to my Pastry Cream Recipe (Crème Pâtissière) and make a single batch for the filling for your donuts. Come back when this is done and the donuts are ready to fry!1 batch Pastry Cream Recipe (Crème Pâtissière)
Step 7: Fry the Donuts
- Line a cooling rack with paper towels. Fit your candy thermometer into your deep pot. Transfer 3–4 cups of organic coconut oil to a deep pot or Dutch oven, and heat to 350-360°F on medium heat. If oil gets hotter than this, reduce heat accordingly. Watch your temperatures very closely and adjust your heat as needed to avoid burning the donuts.
- When oil is ready, transfer 2-3 donuts with parchment paper into oil (you can remove paper with tongs when it separates).
- Fry 30 seconds at a time per side, flipping fritters gently using chopsticks or a slotted spoon. I repeat this step a few times rotating donuts to avoid burning. Remove after 2-3 minutes with a slotted spoon or spider spoon and donuts are a golden brown. Transfer donuts to a rack lined with paper towels to cool.
Step 8: Make the Chocolate Ganache
- While the donuts cool, prepare the chocolate ganache topping.
- In a small saucepan or microwave safe bowl, heat the cream to steaming hot.½ (120g) cup heavy cream
- Add the chopped chocolate or chocolate chips and butter to a heat safe bowl, and pour the steaming cream over the top. Cover with plastic or a lid, and allow to rest 2-3 minutes.1 (170g) cup semi sweet chopped chocolate or chips, 1 (14g) tbsp butter
- Whisk the ganache after it has rested until it's very smooth and you see no more lumps from the chocolate. If you need, microwave 30 seconds and whisk again to ensure that the chocolate is fully melted.
- Set aside for dipping the donuts later, you'll want the ganache cooled off to comfortable dip the donuts.
Step 9: Fill and Glaze the Donuts
- Gather your piping bag fitted with a star tip, and fill it with your pastry cream you prepared earlier. Cold pastry cream works great here. You'll also need a chopstick or a skewer handy for filling the donuts.
- Make sure the donuts have cooled first before you proceed with filling them! Poke a hole into the top of one of the donuts with a skewer to make a hole to fill the donut. Place the piping tip into the donut, and pipe the pastry cream into the donut. Repeat this step until all of the donuts have been filled.
- Dip filled donuts face-down into the ganache and cover the top of the donut. Let any excess ganache drip off the donut, then transfer face up to a cooling rack to allow the ganache to set 15-20 minutes.
- Enjoy these donuts as fresh as possible!
- Yields 12 donuts
Notes
How to Store:
Room Temperature- These donuts need to be refrigerated if storing because of the pastry cream, but in my opinion the only way to enjoy them is fresh! Refrigeration- Store donuts in an airtight container up to 3 days. Enjoy! Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!