Olive oil and orange rosquillos

If you take a look at the food blogs around, it seems like almost everyone's already attempted a baked doughnut, except yours truly of course. I've bookmarked this recipe from Australian Gourmet Traveller eons ago and finally found the time to try it this morning.

And the entire batch almost ended up in the bin. 2 things happened. One: it wasn't a recipe for baked doughnuts but fried ones, but it did not deter me still since I am on a quest to eat more healthily. Two: I decided to ignore the quantity stated for the orange juice and go by 'feel' as I do sometimes. Uh-oh. For someone who loves everything in excess, the mere 1/2 cup of orange juice that the recipe called for didn't look enough and moreover I did not feel like wasting half an orange (yeah it was a BIG orange), so in went an entire cup (probably even a little more). So it's little wonder that the batter didn't come together as it should.

With my fingers stuck in what felt like gunk, it got to the point where I wanted to chuck out the dough and just settle for some Milo cereal and milk for brekkie instead. But the dough clung on so tenanciously that I decided what the heck, I'll just dip my hands in copious amounts of flour and try to do the best I can.

These were already brushed off as a lost cause and I only had enough curoisity to warrant 5 small rings. When the little rosquillos browned and cooled, I absently picked one up and nibbled on it. Thinking it would be rock hard from the excess amount of flour that was added, I was surprised when it was soft, chewy and bready. Mmm, not half bad really. Paired with a little chunk of 70 % cocoa chocolate that I had bought for making brownies for Tony, it was quite good too, but I found myself preferring the rosquillos on its own even without the recommended dredging in cinnamon sugar.

Before I knew it, I finished 3 little rosquillos. Think these deserve a try again.

Olive oil and orange Rosquillos
Note: The yoghurt I used in place of the pouring cream imparted a slight tangy, sourish flavour that people might not be used to. I only used it to make it healthier, but stick to pouring cream otherwise :)

1 egg

1/2 cup pouring cream (I used plain thick yoghurt instead)

1/2 cup freshly squeezed orange juice

1 orange, finely grated rind only

1/4 cup olive oil

1/2 cup caster sugar

2 cups self-raising flour

1 tbsp ground cinnamon

Vegetable oil for deep frying if desired

1 Combine eggs, cream, orange juice, orange rind, olive oil and 120gm sugar in a large bowl, mix to combine, add flour and mix until a soft dough forms, then knead for 1 minute. Divide dough into 20 pieces and roll onto a lightly floured surface to form 15cm-long cylinders, then pinch ends together to make little doughnut-shaped rings.

2 If you would like a sugar dressing for your doughnuts, combine remaining sugar and cinnamon in a bowl and set aside.3 For deep frying: Heat oil in a deep-fryer or large deep saucepan to 180C and cook rosquillos, in batches, for 4 minutes, turning once or until golden, then drain on absorbent paper. Cool completely, then coat with cinnamon sugar. Rosquillos are best eaten the day they’re made, but will keep for 1-2 days when they will be best suited to dunking in coffee.
If you wish to bake it, what I did was preheat the oven to 400F and put the rosquillos in til they turn brown (approximately 15-20 min).

adapted from Australian Gourmet Traveller