Caramelized Pears and Mascarpone Donuts

Instructions

For the Pear Filling:

1. In a medium saucepan combine the pears, brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Cook over medium to low heat, stirring occasionally. Cook until pears soften, sugar melts, and caramelized. Remove from heat and let cool completely.
2. When ready to fill the donuts, prepare mascarpone. Using a spoon whisk the mascarpone until smooth. Gently fold in the pears into the mascarpone. You can chill filling until ready to use.

For Donuts:

1. In a small bowl, combine the yeast and warm water. Mix until yeast dissolves and let stand for 5-10 minutes until foamy. (If the yeast is not foamy, do not continue. Start again with new yeast and save yourself the heartbreak.)
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the hook attachment, mix the flour, milk, butter, egg yolks, sugar, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and yeast mixture on low speed until the dough comes together. Knead the dough for 3-5 minutes until elastic and smooth. (Alternatively, mix the ingredients in a medium bowl with a wooden spatula until dough comes together. Turn dough onto a well-floured surface and knead for 7 minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic.)
3. Transfer dough into a lightly oiled large bowl and sprinkle lightly with flour to prevent a crust from forming. Cover the bowl loosely with a kitchen towel and let rise until double in size, about 2 hours in a draft-free place at room temperature. (Alternatively and preferably, you can let the dough rise in the refrigerator for 8-12 hours or overnight).
4. Lightly flour a surface and turn out the dough. Roll dough out to about one-inch thick. Using a biscuit cutter or round cookie cutter (mine was 3-inches in diameter), cut out as many rounds as possible. Transfer the donuts to a lightly flour baking sheet. Cover the baking sheet loosely with a kitchen towel and let donuts rise at room temperature until puffed about 1-2 hours (Don’t re-roll the scraps. You can fry them up if you like)
5. When ready to fry, heat up the vegetable oil in a deep heavy-bottomed pot over medium-high heat. The oil should be at least 2 ½ inches. If you like you can check the oil with a thermometer, should be about 350 degrees F or 175 degrees C. This is where you need to be very CAREFUL, it’s hot oil.
6. Fry donuts, 3-4 at a time, until puffed and golden brown about 1-2 minutes each side. Make sure you turn the donuts occasionally as they fry. Remove from oil with a slotted spoon and transfer to a paper towel-lined baking sheet
7. Let donuts cool for a few minutes. Optional: toss each donut in a bowl of cinnamon sugar or powdered sugar
8. . To fill donuts, use a long-tipped pastry bag to poke a hole in each donut (or use a butter knife to cut a hole in the side) and fill with the pear filling.
9. Enjoy!