Creme Brûlée meets donuts in this epic dessert fusion that’s everything dreams are made of! The yeast donuts are super fluffy and soft, the custard is inside is creamy and speckled with gorgeous vanilla bean, and to finish it off, a crackly sugar top to sweeten it all up. So if you’re looking for a Valentine’s Day dessert that will impress or a fun edible art project to make for yourself, look no further!
The Custard Filling
First up, we’re going to make the custard! You only need 8 ingredients and you probably have all of them on hand already except for the vanilla bean pod. If you’ve made the strawberry croissants on the blog before, making this custard will be almost identical!
HERE ARE THE INGREDIENTS YOU NEED:
- whole milk
- one vanilla bean pod, vanilla bean scraped
- vanilla extract
- sugar
- cornstarch
- salt
- egg yolks
- unsalted butter
In a bowl, whisk together sugar, cornstarch, and salt. Add the egg yolks and beat together until it turns lighter in color. Set aside.
To a pot over medium heat, add the whole milk, vanilla extract, and vanilla beans. You don’t want to boil it, just a simmer on the edge.
Slowly add in a splash of the warm milk to the batter and whisk together until smooth. Slowly add more warm milk as you whisk until it’s all added and super smooth.
Return to the pot over medium-low heat and continuously whisk until it thickens up, just a few minutes. Immediately take off the heat and transfer to a bowl. Allow it to cool to room temperature. If you make this ahead of time like the night before, just cover tightly with Saran Wrap and store in the fridge.
Making The DOUGHnut DOUGH
Start out with adding the warm milk to a large mixing bowl. Sprinkle the instant yeast on top and add the sugar, salt, and egg. If using active dry yeast, whisk the warm milk with the yeast and cover for 10 minutes. The yeast is active if it froths and thickens up. If you use instant yeast like me, you don’t need to cover it for 10 minutes. Then add the room temp butter and all purpose flour.
Combine together using a hook attachment and stand mixer or a wooden spoon/rubber spatula. Knead the dough for about 2 to 3 minutes and then transfer to an oiled bowl, cover, and place in a warm place to rise about an 1 hour 30 minutes to 2 hours.
NOTE: The dough shouldn’t be too sticky or too dry. It’ll be fluffy, soft, and moist. If it’s too try, add a tablespoon of milk at a time. If it’s way too sticky, add a tablespoon of flour at a time.
Shaping, Frying, and Filling the Doughnuts
Once the dough has risen, it is time to shape them! You can always make these donuts just round shaped but if you want to be extra cute, make them into heart shapes.
Flour your working surface and rolling pin and roll out the dough until it is about 1/2 an inch thick, or less but no more thicker.
Using a heart cookie cutter, punch out small heart donuts. Once you can’t punch out any more, gather the scraps, combine together, roll out again, and punch more until all the dough is used.
Place on an oiled baking sheet or parchment paper and cover for 30 minutes.
Heat oil suitable for frying in a pot or deep pan like vegetable, canola, or peanut oil. You don’t want the oil to be too hot or else the donuts will brown on the outside while the inside is still raw! The perfect temperature is around 325°F to 350°F. Anything hotter won’t turn out right.
Add the donuts in, making sure not to crowd them. They should float right away to the top when dropped in. Fry on each side until beautifully golden, flipping over halfway. Transfer to a paper towel or wire rack to drain the excess oil. Repeat with the rest of the dough until all fried.
Once the donuts are all fried, it’s time to fill them. You can use a piping bag fitted with a small tip or use a ziplock bag. Fill the bag with the custard made earlier. Just make a deep hole on one side of each donut. Insert the piping bag into the hole and fill the donut with the custard. Once they are all filled with custard, it’s time to make the caramelized sugar.
How to Get the Brûlée on Top
Now it’s time to put the brûlée in these creme brûlée donuts. Usually, you would just use a torch to caramelize the sugar but this easy hack will allow you to get that crispy sugar – no torch necessary!
To a small pan over medium heat, add 1 cup of granulated white sugar and 1/4 cup water. Allow it to come to a boil until all the sugar is dissolved. Let it bubble and swirl occasionally but don’t mix it or else the sugar will crystallize. The color should start to deepen and turn golden. Once golden, turn the heat to low to let it get golden brown and then take off the heat. Now you got to work fast because the sugar doesn’t take long to harden up.
NOTE: The caramelized sugar is VERY VERY HOT! It will cause very bad burns if you don’t handle it properly so I highly recommend working with gloves if need be.
Dip one side of the filled donuts in the caramelized sugar and lift up. Let any excess drip off and set on a wire rack. Repeat with the rest of the donuts. It doesn’t take longer than 10 to 15 minutes for the sugar to set and harden on the donuts.
Can I Make This Ahead of Time?
Yes, you can definitely prepare the dough ahead of time! Once the dough is prepared, place in an oiled bowl and cover tightly with saran wrap. Then place it in the fridge overnight to make the next day!
The next day, you can start rolling out the dough and shaping them. It will need to proof longer this time though, about 1 hour instead of 30 minutes, since the dough is cold. Once they’ve proofed, you can then fry, fill, and coat them in the caramel sugar!
Where to Buy the Heart-Shaped Cookie Cutters?
I bought my heart cookie cutters from Amazon last year in a set and I couldn’t recommend these enough! It comes in a pack of 9 with an assortment of heart shapes and sizes so you can use it every year for different Valentine’s Day recipes. They’re stainless steel and even come with a storage box to keep them safe all together.
Other Valentine’s Day Recipes to Try
- Cheese Heart Danishes
- Oreo Heart Truffles
- Heart-Shaped Churros
- Strawberry Croissants
If you tried this recipe and loved it, drop by down below and let me know how you liked it with a rating and comment! Feel free to also leave a question there about this recipe and I’ll get right back to it.
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