Pat Fish1 wrote:
> I sit here in despair and, of course, donut-less.
>
> Below this missive is a recipe I copied from some cooking mag for something
> called "Cake Doughnut Mix"
>
> I have, at this time, tried two donut recipes and they both failed.
>
> THIS recipe, whew, was such a failure I'm not sure I can describe. Also, I
> *think* I know what I did wrong which I would ask kind selves to verify. AND,
> damn, if possible does anyone have a recipe for donuts I can make in my deep
> fryer that works?
>
> If you note this recipe is for a "mix", the sort of thing one can make up ahead
> of time and store. Then the recipe continues on with instructions on how to
> make the "mix" into real donuts by the addition of several ingredients.
>
> Note that the mix part calls for 4.5 cups of all purpose flour than a cup of
> this and a cup of that. And understand that as I was preparing this recipe I
> was not attempting to make the mix for storage but was, instead, trying to make
> the damn donuts.
>
> So further on the recipe instructs how to turn the "mix" into donuts. This
> part says to take 4.5 cups of the donut "mix" then yada, yada.
>
> What I think I did wrong was to ass-u-me that the entire mix could immediately
> be turned around and changed into donuts by the addition of ingredients as it
> instructs. But paying closer attention to the measurement of the ingredients
> in the mix part, there is not only 4.5 cups of flour, but a cup of powdered
> milk and another cup of sugar, etc. Which effectively means that the mix part
> that could be stored would be MORE than the 4.5 cups called for to complete the
> recipe. Myself used the entire mixture instead of doling out 4.5 cups of the
> "mixture".
>
> Way I figure, the proportions were all wrong. OR another thing I did was to
> use, instead of "shortening" I used those butter-flavored shortening sticks,
> made by Crisco. I used the correct amount but did I erroneously figure that
> those shortening sticks are not the same thing as shortening like the recipe
> calls for?
>
> Anyway, these things fell apart into a pile of fried doughy crumbs immediately
> when placed into the deep fryer. I started with two doughnuts but I got the
> crumbs. Then I tried frying only the "holes" but they too fell to crumbs.
> Soon I had a pile of fried crumbs that would fill a small trash bag. I tried
> to salvage the recipe by adjusting the eggs which wasn't easy as the dough was
> already rolled out and everything. Still more crumbs.
>
> Any help, suggestions, aspersions to my character? More important, some donut
> recipes that work?
> +++++


From memory from 30+ years ago:
Try taking canned biscuit dough (fluffy, not flaky) and punching a hole in
the middle with your thumb. Then stretch them a bit to look like a donut.
Then fry. When they are done, take them out and put on a brown paper bag
to drain. Dust with cinnamon and powdered sugar.

Your recipe didn't look fryable. Too much shortening and not enough moisture.

Best regards,
Bob