Roasted Pineapple Brulee Donuts Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 fresh pineapple
• 1 cup granulated sugar, divided
• ½ vanilla bean pod
• 1 cup simple syrup
• 2 pounds confectioners’ sugar

• 1 tablespoon plus ¾ teaspoon yeast
• 1¼ cups plus 1⁄3 teaspoon warm tap water
• 6 tablespoons butter, softened
• 4 cups all-purpose flour, divided
• ½ teaspoon nutmeg
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 3 tablespoons nonfat dry milk powder
• 1¾ teaspoons plus 1⁄8 teaspoon baking powder
• 10.33 teaspoons salt
• Canola oil for frying

To Prepare the Pineapple and make the Glaze
1. Preheat oven to 325°F. Carefully remove the entire rind of the pineapple with a serrated knife and slice the pineapple into even ¼-inch slices. (One pineapple should yield 19–22 slices.) Using the donut cutter, cut the core and edges off the pineapple slices. Discard the cores and reserve the cut-off edge scraps.
2. Place the pineapple rounds on a parchmentpaper-lined baking sheet and sprinkle them with ¼ cup granulated sugar. Place the cut-off pineapple scraps and the vanilla bean onto another parchment-paper-lined baking sheet. Sprinkle with ¼ cup granulated sugar. Place both trays in the oven and roast for 1 hour. Remove trays from oven and allow to cool.
3. Fry pineapple rounds in a deep-fat fryer at 375°F until they are golden brown. Remove slices and place on a cooling rack until needed.
4. Scrape vanilla beans out of pod. Place vanilla beans, 1 cup roasted pineapple scraps, and simple syrup in a blender and puree. Transfer puree to the large bowl of an electric mixer. Slowly mix confectioners’ sugar until smooth and well blended. Set aside until needed.
To make the Donuts
5. Place yeast and water in the large bowl of an electric mixer and mix for 30 seconds with the dough hook attachment. Add butter, 32⁄3 cups flour, nutmeg, sugar, milk powder, baking powder, and salt. Mix on low speed for 5 minutes. Stop mixer and scrape edges of bowl. Continue mixing on medium speed for an additional 5 minutes.
6. Lightly flour a flat surface with some of the remaining 1 ⁄3 cup flour. Remove the dough from the mixer and form into a ball on the floured surface. Cover dough lightly with plastic wrap and allow it to proof at room temperature for 20–30 minutes. (The dough is ready to roll out when you start to see air bubbles and the dough has not quite doubled in size.)
7. Roll out the dough to ½ inch thick. Cut into donuts with a donut cutter (3-inch diameter). Lightly flour twelve 4-inch squares of parchment paper. Place donuts on parchment squares. (This way, when you are ready to fry the donuts, you can just slide them into the hot oil.)
8. Proof the donuts for a final time by placing them on a baking sheet in a cold oven with a large casserole dish of boiling water (about a gallon) placed on the rack below. (You can also proof the donuts at room temperature, lightly covering them with plastic wrap, but it will take longer.) Shut the oven door and after 20 minutes of proofing, check donuts. They are ready to fry when they have doubled in size.
9. Meanwhile, heat canola oil to 375°F in a deep fat fryer, following manufacturer’s instructions.Once donuts have doubled in size, slide 2–3 donuts at a time into the fryer, removing the parchment squares. Using long wooden chopsticks, turn the donuts until they are golden brown, about 45 seconds per side. Remove donuts from oil using a spider utensil (a wide, shallow wire-mesh basket on a long handle). You can also remove the donuts using tongs, if you do it very, very gently.
To Assemble the Donuts
10. Cover hands with disposable gloves. Working one by one, quickly place the pineapple rounds atop the hot donuts and dip them into the pineapple glaze. (You may have to hold onto the pineapple round and recenter it after removing it from the glaze.) Place glazed donuts on a cooling rack atop a baking sheet. Using the remaining ½ cup granulated sugar, evenly coat the glazed donuts with sugar and brûlée them with a kitchen blowtorch. (You can repeat this process up to three times for more crunch.) Allow donuts to cool for 3–4 minutes and enjoy immediately.