Dossant (Donut-Croissant)

Directions

1. Dossant dough: Start by activating yeast in warm milk for about 5 minutes. Then, pour this into the bowl of a stand mixer, and add all-purpose flour, granulated sugar, salt, and eggs. Mix on medium speed with the paddle attachment for 8-10 minutes. Then, add in the softened butter, and mix for a further 5 minutes. If the dough is too wet or flour-y at this point, adjust with more flour or water.
2. First proof: Transfer the dough into a large clean bowl, cover with a cloth or kitchen towel, and let it proof for 45-60 minutes, until the dough has doubled in size.
3. Pastry cream: While the dough is proofing, make the pastry cream by heating up the heavy cream and milk in a pot or saucepan until just steaming. Then, in a bowl, whisk together egg yolks, caster sugar, and salt for 2-3 minutes until slightly pale, then whisk in the cornstarch and all-purpose flour. Temper the eggs into the milk by first mixing half of the hot cream and milk into the bowl, whisk it to combine, then pour everything back into the pot. Bring this to a boil over medium heat, whisking continuously. Simmer for 2 minutes while still whisking, then remove from the heat. Stir in the vanilla extract and rum, then transfer the pastry cream onto a tray or bowl. Cover with plastic wrap (the plastic wrap should touch the surface of the pastry cream), and keep it in the fridge to chill until cold.
4. Shaping and second proof: When the dough is proofed, punch it down. Then, using a rolling pin, roll it out into a large rectangle less than ½ inch thick. (Its size should be approximately 12 inches wide and 20 inches long.) Then, using a knife or sharp dough-scraper, cut the dough into vertically-long triangles. You should be able to get about 8 pieces this way. Then, working with one long strip of dough triangle at a time, roll it up from the longer side to the pointy tip into a tight croissant shape. Repeat with the rest of the dough. Then cover all the dossants with a cloth, and let them proof for 30-40 minutes, until they are puffy and about 50% larger in size.
5. Heat up oil: Pour oil in a pot until approximately 3 inches deep. Heat it up to 330°F (165°C).
6. Deep-fry dossants: When the dossants are proofed, deep-fry them in the oil for 6-8 minutes in total, until dark brown, flipping and rolling it around the oil occasionally so all parts are evenly fried. Fry the dossants in 2-3 batches so you don’t overcrowd the pot. When done, take the dossants out of the oil and cool them down on a tray and repeat for the rest of the dossants.
7. Fill dossants: Transfer the pastry cream into a piping bag. Then, once the dossants are cooled to room temperature, pipe the pastry cream into each dossant, poking the piping tip just under the first fold of the dossant. You’ll know the dossants are fully filled when the cream starts oozing back out of the hole.
8. Serve: Dust the dossants with a light snowing of icing sugar, and eat! The dossants are best eaten immediately, but can keep in the fridge for up to 3 days.