Doughnut Puffs-----Loukoumades

Sorry for the lousy picture I forgot to take one when they were ready to serve.

Doughnut puffs are classical 50's and 60's sweets which are not very much eaten now-a-days because they are very sweet but they are delicious. A soft and sticky dough containing lots of fresh yeast is deep fried by the teaspoonful to form puffed up crispy hollow golden yellow balls and by adding honey, wall nuts and cinnamon, explode in your mouth  Very high in calories! But deeeeelicous...eaten in very special occasions once or maximum twice a year....

Ingredients  for the dough:
Should make about 100 small balls but fewer if they are bigger and of irregular shape. (It does take experience to make small and round).

-  1 cup warm water at 40 degrees C.
-  1 cup warm milk also at 40 degrees C.
-   60 - 70 gms fresh yeast dissolved in the warm water.
-  1 tsp. castor sugar.
-  1 tsp. salt
-  4 Tbsp. oil.
-  3½ cups all purpose flour (if you don't have enough all purpose flour you can add self rising flour).
-  Powdered sugar, honey, cinnamon powder and wall nuts to garnish.

Method:
-  Dissolve yeast in warm water.
-  Add to mixer bowl together with all remaining ingredients except the garnish.
-  Mix on slow speed not to have flour going everywhere then on the highest speed for about 2 minutes.
-  Let dough to rest in a warm place with no air currents. ( I put it in the microwave oven and close the door).
-  After a couple of hours check your results.  The dough should have tripled in volume in which case they now ready to fry.
-  Using two spoons take a spoonful with one, and push the dough into the very hot oil with the other spoon. Immerse spoons you use in cold water every time you use:  this helps dough slide off the spoons.
-  Fry till puffed up and golden from both sides.
-  Transfer to a platter lined with kitchen paper to absorb the extra oil, pour melted honey, powdered sugar and cinnamon and top with wall nuts.
-  Serve immediately otherwise they get all soggy and lose this hollow bite to them. (Mind you they can be eaten cold as well if you like them bad enough).

I remember eating these with my mother, aunt and cousins while waiting for the ferry to pick us up from which ever island we had visited back then in the 60's.

It's fun to make them but little kids should stay away from the kitchen while you make them lest they get burnt with the possible splashing of the hot oil.

Enjoy!
Stelio