Berliner Doughnuts

1. 1Mix the flour, sugar, yeast, salt and lemon zest. Add the warm milk, eggs and yolk and knead for 8 minutes, then work in the soft butter and knead for 5 minutes more until glossy and elastic.
2. 2Prove for 1–1½ hours until doubled.
3. 3Roll to 2 cm thick — noticeably thicker than a ring doughnut, because there is no hole and the middle has further to cook. Cut 7 cm rounds and set them on parchment squares.
4. 4Prove again for 45 minutes, covered, until puffed and delicate.
5. 5Heat the oil to 170°C, slightly cooler than for rings, so the thicker dough cooks through. Lower them in and fry for 2 minutes with the lid on the pan — the trapped steam is what keeps the middle band pale.
6. 6Take the lid off, flip, and fry the second side uncovered for 2 minutes. Look for the untouched stripe around the equator where the dough floated: that pale line is the mark of a properly made Berliner.
7. 7Drain on a rack and roll in caster sugar while warm. Cool completely before filling — warm dough turns jam to liquid and it runs straight back out.
8. 8Make a hole in the side with a chopstick, wiggling it about to hollow the middle, then pipe in the jam until you feel the doughnut grow heavy and firm in your hand.

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