Sonhos aka Portuguese Doughnuts
Hellooo my loves, whadduuppp?
I realise we rarely do fried desserts here at MYS (absurd!) so this seems like the perfect opportunity to change that. Let me introduce you to one of the simplest and tastiest doughnuts there ever were- give it up for (drumrolls please)…Sonhos aka Portuguese doughtnuts!
Sonhos, literally translate to “dreams” and let me tell ya, these doughnuts are nothing if not dreamy. They’re extremely light and airy, with a beautiful almost hollow puffed up centre. Tossed in cinnamon sugar, and then dunked into a luscious chocolate sauce…ahhh, they’re absolutely gorgeous! My mouth is already watering haha…
All of that goodness, with literally half the effort involved as compared to regular doughnuts. Unlike regular doughnuts, Sonhos are choux pastry based vs bread based, meaning there’s no kneading, no fermentation and no shaping involved. Told ya, simplest doughnuts ever!
And if that’s already not winning, these are also extremely freezer friendly. You know, for the times you get massive doughnut cravings, which lately seems to be ALL the time for me (weird). Simply pipe them into rounds and freeze them for up to 3 months. Fry them frozen and you’ve got yourself DOD- Doughnut On Demand haha.
While they’re extremely simple to make, here are my top tips to make sure you get the best results possible:
Cut your butter into smaller pieces so that they melt faster. The faster they melt, the faster the liquid can boil. This helps to lose as little water from the dough as possible.
Cook out your flour. This is a very important step in the process. It’s important to cook out the flour in the dough so that the sonhos don’t lose their shape and structure while frying and the skin gets crispy on the outside.
Emulsify your eggs properly to get a nice smooth dough. Eggs play a key role in making Sonhos as they provide both flavour and aeration, resulting in beautifully light and airy doughnuts.
Add enough eggs to get the texture right. Make sure the dough is not too runny nor too thick as both of them will likely result in flat or dense doughnuts.
Test the oil to get the right temperature. If you have a thermometer, that’d be the most accurate way to check the temperature for the oil. However, if you do not have one, do a little test batch to make sure your oil is neither too hot nor too cold.
Cinnamon sugar is the best part so make sure you’ve got enough of that :P
As long as you follow these, you’ll be fine and make the most delicious, airy doughnuts ever!
Go on, give this recipe a try and let me know your thoughts. If you’ve any questions, feel free to get in touch with me via the comments section below. Happy baking and bon appetite! xx
Recipe
Serves: 6
Ingredients
For the sonhos:
240ml water
25g unsalted butter, cubed
3g salt
20g castor sugar
175g plain flour
200g whole eggs
oil for frying
For the cinnamon sugar for coating:
80g castor sugar
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon powder
1/2 tsp salt
For the chocolate sauce:
8g cocoa powder
25ml cold milk
90ml boiling water
100g good quality dark chocolate (60% cocoa)
110g icing sugar
Method
For the chocolate sauce:
Make the chocolate sauce first. In a small bowl, whisk together the cocoa powder and cold milk to a paste.
Add the boiling water and whisk to combine. Add the dark chocolate and whisk until all the chocolate is melted and well combined.
Lastly, add the icing sugar and whisk until no lumps remain. Emulsify using an immersion blender. Alternatively, if you do not have an immersion blender, whisk the sauce and then strain it to get rid of any lumps.
Refrigerate until the sauce thickens up slightly to a dipping consistency or until ready to use.
For the sonhos:
In a medium pot, add the water, butter, sugar, and salt. Place on high heat until the butter has melted, and the mixture comes to a boil.
Remove from heat and add in the flour. Mix until properly combined.
Put it back on the heat and cook out the flour for 2-3 minutes, stirring continuously.
Remove from the heat and add to the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with a paddle attachment.
Let the dough run on low speed until it cools down to 45-50C.
With the mixer running, start adding the egg pulp in gradual additions, allowing the first addition to completely combine before adding more. Scrape down sides as necessary.
Add enough egg until the dough reaches the right consistency ~ stiff enough to hold shape with a nice shine.
Transfer the dough to a piping bag fitted with a round nozzle (18mm). Let it sit on the countertop for 20 mins.
While the dough is resting, in a medium pot, heat up oil for frying to 160°-170°C.
Also make the cinnamon sugar by mixing the sugar, cinnamon powder and salt together in a medium bowl. Keep aside.
When the oil comes to temp, pipe the dough into the oil (roughly 2-3cm long) and then cut it off using a pair of scissors. Alternatively, you can use an oiled spoon or ice-cream scoop and drop a few globs of dough into the oil. Do not overcrowd the pot as they really do puff up.
Fry the dough for 3-4 minutes on each side until they puff up and turn golden brown on both sides.
Use a slotted spoon and transfer the sonhos onto a bowl lined with paper towel to drain the excess oil.
Toss them in the cinnamon sugar. Repeat with the remaining dough.
Serve them hot with the most luscious chocolate sauce we made earlier. Bon appetite!