Vanilla Yogurt with Broken Raspberries and Doughnuts

Preparation:

Sterilize four 150ml containers, such as jars, ramekins or glass bowls, by filling them with scalding water and pouring the water away. Leave to cool.

If you are making the citrus sugar, prepare this first. Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper. Pre-heat the oven on its lowest setting (50C fan if possible). Peel the zest from the orange, lime and lemon, taking care to remove only the coloured part of the peel and not the bitter white pith underneath. Spread the zest out on the parchment paper and place the baking sheet in the oven. Leave for three hours until the zest is thoroughly dry and crisp. Finally, transfer the zest to a food processor, add the sugar and star anise and blend well. Store in an airtight jar in a cool place (it will keep its flavour for several months). This recipe makes about 200g.

For the yogurt, split the vanilla pod in half lengthways and scrape out the seeds.

Method:

Pour the milk and cream into a saucepan, add the vanilla pod and seeds and the sugar and bring to the boil. Remove the pan from the heat and allow the liquid to cool to 37°C (blood heat).

Add the yogurt yeast or live yogurt to the milk and cream, stir gently to mix, then strain through a sieve into a bowl. Pour the mix into the sterilized containers.

Cover the containers and place them in a warm environment (an airing cupboard or a warm stove top, or even on a table or shelf next to a warm radiator in winter). You will need to leave them for around 6–8 hours. My advice is to make them last thing at night and leave them until the morning, by which time the yogurts should be slightly set and ready to place in the fridge to firm up.

After a couple of hours in the fridge the yogurts will be completely set and ready to serve (but they will keep for up to 3 days in the fridge).

For the doughnuts, combine the flour, salt and and sugar in a bowl and mix well.

Heat the milk and butter in a saucepan until the butter has melted. Leave the liquid to cool warm (no hotter than 40°C or it will kill the yeast), then add the yeast and stir to blend in with a wooden spoon. Pour on to the dry ingredients and mix in the egg. Now mix the dough well for 6 minutes in an electric mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment.

Once the dough has formed, cover it with clingfilm or a damp cloth and leave to rise in a warm place until doubled in size (about an hour).

Turn the risen dough on to a floured surface and knead until the dough is tight again. Now form the dough into 12 balls. Place them on a greased baking tray and leave to’ prove in a warm place until. doubled in size (about 30 minutes).

Heat the oil in a deep-fat fryer to 175°C.

When the dough balls have risen, carefully lower them one at a time into the hot oil. Deep-fry for 3 minutes, then turn them over and cook for a further 2 minutes. Remove the doughnuts from the oil with a slotted spoon and leave them to cool on a wire rack for a few minutes.

Meanwhile, place the raspberries in a bowl with the sugar and crush the fruit gently with the back of a spoon.

Roll the doughnuts in citrus sugar, spoon the raspberries on top of the set yogurts, and serve straight away.

Tip:

At the restaurant and at home I use industrial 'yogurt yeast', but you can equally well use live full-fat yogurt as the setting agent.