Dutch doughnuts

1. Tip the flour into a large bowl with the yeast and sugar. Warm the milk to lukewarm if it's cold, then work it into the flour a little at a time until smooth. Add the salt and beat with a wooden spoon until you have a smooth, loose batter.
2. Cover with a clean tea towel and leave somewhere warm for about an hour to rise.
3. Heat a deep fryer, or oil in a large pot, to 180C (350F).
4. Give the batter a stir, then scoop it with two spoons or an ice cream scoop and lower it carefully into the oil (dipping the spoons in the oil first helps the batter drop off). Don't crowd the pan. Once the first side turns golden it usually flips itself; if not, help it along with two forks.
5. Lift the doughnuts out when golden brown all over and drain on kitchen paper.

Tips from the ZestyPlate Kitchen

• Hold the oil steady at 180C. Too cool and they drink up grease, too hot and the outside browns before the middle is done.
• Dip your spoons or scoop into the hot oil first; the sticky batter then slides off cleanly.
• Fry only a few at once. A crowded pan drops the oil temperature and leaves you with pale, heavy doughnuts.
• Eat them as soon as they're cool enough to handle, because the crisp shell softens within an hour or two.