Fluffy Doughnuts like from the Baker – Prepared Outdoors Over a Fire
Whether Berliner, Krapfen, or Kreppel – it always means the same thing: airy yeast dough, golden brown and deep-fried in hot fat, and filled with jam or creamy vanilla filling.
And yes – that works wonderfully in a Dutch Oven! All you need is a cast-iron pot, enough oil, and a consistent heat source.
Ingredients
For the yeast dough:
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500g wheat flour
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50g sugar
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1 packet vanilla sugar
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½ tsp salt
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½ cube fresh yeast (approx. 21g)
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200ml milk
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70g butter
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3 egg yolks
For the vanilla filling:
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250ml milk
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80g sugar
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1 packet vanilla sugar
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1 packet vanilla pudding powder
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150ml whipping cream
For frying:
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approx. 1–1.5 liters heat-resistant oil (e.g. sunflower oil)
Preparation
1️. Prepare the yeast dough
Gently warm milk and butter until the butter has melted (just lukewarm!).
Mix flour, sugar, vanilla sugar, and salt in a bowl.
Crumble in the yeast.
Add the lukewarm milk-butter mixture and the egg yolks.
Knead everything for 8–10 minutes to form a smooth, elastic dough.
Cover and let rise in a warm place for about 60 minutes, until the volume has visibly doubled.
2️. Shape the dough balls
Briefly knead the dough and divide it into approx. 10–12 equal pieces.
Form into smooth balls.
Place them on baking paper with some space between them and let them rise again, covered, for 30 minutes.
3️. Frying in the Dutch Oven
Heat oil in the Dutch Oven to approx. 170–175 °C.
(Check temperature with a thermometer – this is much safer than the wooden spoon test.)
Carefully place the dough balls into the hot fat.
Loosely place the lid on top – this creates the typical light rim.
Fry for approx. 2–3 minutes per side until golden brown.
Do not let them get too dark.
Remove with a slotted spoon and let drain on kitchen paper.
Prepare vanilla cream
Whisk a little of the cold milk with the pudding powder until smooth.
Bring the remaining milk to a boil with sugar and vanilla sugar.
Remove from heat and stir in the mixed pudding powder.
Boil for 1 minute, stirring constantly.
Let cool, then fold in the whipped cream.
Fill
Fill the doughnuts from the side with a piping bag
or cut them open, spread the filling, and reassemble.
Optionally dust with powdered sugar.
💡 Tips
- Fill classically with raspberry jam.
- For particularly fluffy doughnuts, do not let the fat get too hot.
- If you want to play it safe, use a thermometer.
Many thanks to Michis BBQ for the inspiration and photos!
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