Doh!-Nuts, in the words of our favourite over-weight, yellow cartoon character, are simply one of the best things to eat. Doesn’t matter on the time or the place, glaze, filling or sugar we love em’!

Personally, I’m partial to a sunny afternoon on the sea front, when that wonderful sweet smell of freshly cooked doughnuts hangs in the air, I just can’t resist it! So to combat this urge, I’ve been making my own doughnuts for some time now. At Herbert & Ward we enjoy experimenting with all things coffee, so I thought why not make a coffee glaze for these bad boys.

For all of you with a sweet tooth like me you will love this recipe and its pretty easy to follow, which means you can get the kids involved too!

What you will need;

1 x 7g sachet of dried yeast

75g Golden caster sugar

550g plain flavour, have extra for for dusting

320ml semi-skimmed milk

80g unsalted butter (softened)

For the glaze,

1 shot espresso (try using one of our blends which has a chocolate finish like the Continental or Fiori Arabica)

Icing sugar

How to make the doughnuts;

• Throw your yeast in a bowl with a tablespoon of the sugar and mix together.
• In a saucepan, heat the milk on a low heat until warm, add to the yeast mixture and stir until combined. Leave this to one side until bubble appear (usually around 10 mins)
• Mix together the flour and sugar in a bowl and rub in the butter.
• Pour in the yeast and milk mixture and stir together until combined into a rough dough. If at this point the dough is sticky, don’t be afraid to add a little more flour.
• You’ll need to knead this dough, on a clean and floured surface, for a few minutes before before placing in a floured bowl, cover with a damp tea-towel and keep somewhere warm for at least an hour or until the dough has doubled in size.
• Knock back the dough (essentially a light tap or quick knead) then divide into 12 equal sized balls. Flatten and push your thumb through the middle to shape your whole.
• Cover with a damp tea-towel and leave for 30 mins
• Using a deep fryer or deep pan with veg oil, heat and place a piece of dough in the oil until it floats and bubbles, turning golden brown. Turn the heat down and fry the doughnuts in small batches, using a slotted spoon to place in the oil. Fry for a couple of minutes each side until golden brown, remove and place on kitchen paper to drain.

Making the glaze;

• Mix the sugar and coffee together to make a paste.
• Dip the doughnuts in the glaze and leave to set (usually a few minutes) before dipping the other side.

Hey presto! Coffee glazed, home-made doughnuts! For a more traditional, alternative finish, roll around in some more golden caster sugar. This is definitely my new favourite sweet treat and the coffee glaze is subtle and sweet, so give it a try and show us the results @herbertandward