Iron Chef Honey - Honey Glazed Doughnuts

Okay. Okay. I know this was probably one of my worse Iron Chef showings, but really we only had 5 people total. And, I promise you this doughnut is really, really delicious. I probably should have known going into it that not eating these doughnuts right away would probably be my demise. I contemplated making a Honey Cake with a Honey Frosting, but that's been done before. And, I really wanted to do something different; something no one else had tried. So, I decided to stick with these doughnuts (courtesy of All Recipes) even though I knew it would not taste as awesome 3 hours later as it would hot out of the oil. My other downfall was that I decided to use whipped cinnamon honey that I purchased from the Farmer's Market earlier in the day to make my chocolate glaze instead of regular ol' honey. I probably would have done better than fourth had I just stuck with regular honey instead of trying to kick it up a notch. I made a honey sugar glaze and a  chocolate honey glaze. Stick with regular honey and you won't regret it. Live and learn, I guess. But, seriously, make these doughnuts and eat them right away. You won't regret it. Enjoy!

Ingredients for doughnuts:
2 (.25 ounce) envelopes active dry yeast
1/4 cup warm water (105 to 115 degrees)
1 1/2 cups lukewarm milk
1/2 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1/3 cup shortening
5 cups all-purpose flour
1 quart vegetable oil for frying

I used instant yeast instead of active dry yeast. Please go to All Recipes to view their directions on using Active Dry Yeast. I'll proceed with my directions for instant yeast.

Grab your standing mixture bowl and add in the instant yeast, the sugar, salt, shortening, 3 cups of flour, the lukewarm milk, warm water, and eggs.  Beat at low speed and gradually add in 1/2 cup at a time the remaining flour. Beat for 5 minutes at medium speed until the dough starts flapping away from the bowl or until the dough is smooth and not very sticky. Take a large bowl, lightly oil it, and place the dough in the bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and set in a warm enclosed place. I use my oven for this and set the temperature to around 100 degrees. Let rise for an hour or two until doubled in size. Remove the dough from the oven and punch it down with your fist. Pour it onto a floured surface and roll out to about 1/2 thickness. Using a doughnut cutter cut out the dough and set on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. You will probably have to use 2 to 3 cookie sheets. Let rise in the oven for 45 minutes. While the dough is almost finished rising take out a heavy pot and add in about a quart of vegetable oil. Using a dessert thermometer make sure the temperature reaches about 360 degrees and then add in 4 doughnuts at a time. Cook on both sides until it reaches a golden color. Use a wide spatula to remove doughnuts from the oil and set on a wired rack. Dip the doughnuts into your glaze and set back on the wired rack.

Honey Sugar Glaze:
150 grams (1 1/2 cups) powdered sugar, sifted
1 tablespoon honey (I'm using orange blossom)
3-4 tablespoons milk or water

Take a medium sized bowl; and mix the powdered sugar, honey, and milk.

Chocolate Honey Glaze:
30g butter (2 tbsp butter)
1/4 cup (90g) honey
1 tsp vanilla extract
110g dark chocolate (I used milk chocolate)

In a small saucepan, cook the butter, honey, vanilla, and chocolate over low heat until melted.

(Click for printable recipe)