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Ingredients

Makes 6-8

For the donuts 

  • 250g strong flour 
  • 60g caster sugar 
  • 50ml water 
  • 50ml milk 
  • 1 egg
  • 60g butter at room temperature 
  • 2 tsp quick action yeast
  • Oil, for frying 

For the cinnamon walnut crumble

  • 100g plain flour 
  • ½ tsp cinnamon
  • 4 tbsp walnuts, crushed 
  • 40g brown sugar 
  • 40g caster sugar 
  • 60g butter 

For the lemon icing 

  • 170g sifted icing sugar 
  • 3 tbsp lemon juice 
  • 1-2 drops of lemon food colouring 
  • Zest of lemon & edible flowers to finish

Method

  1. To make the crumble, preheat the oven to 180C/Fan 160C/ Gas 4. 
  2. Add the flour, cinnamon, walnuts, brown sugar and caster sugar together in a bowl and rub in the butter.  Spread onto a lined tray and bake for 15 minutes until crispy.
  3. Then remove from the oven and leave to cool before running your fingers through it to crumble the mix. 
  4. To prepare the donuts, warm the water and milk in a saucepan until just lukewarm.
  5. Take is off the heat and whisk in the egg and butter.
  6. Place the sugar, flour and yeast into the bowl of an electric mixer with a dough hook attached and while the machine is slowly turning, pour in the warm liquid until a soft dough forms. Increase the speed and beat the dough for 5 minutes or until smooth.
  7. Then place the dough in an oiled bowl, cover and leave in a warm, draught-free place.  The dough should rise and double in size in 1 ½ hours.
  8. Cut out 12 x 10cm square pieces of parchment.
  9. Roll the dough out to 4cm in thickness on a floured surface.
  10. Using a cutter 7cm in diameter, cut shapes and another cutter of 2cm for the centre. Keep the small dough rounds to fry later. 
  11. Place the donut shapes onto the parchment squares and then on a tray. Brush with some oil then place in a dough rising oven (or a warm draught free area) for 40 minutes approximately until doubled in size. 
  12. Then heat a wide saucepan with about 8cm of oil in the pan and test the oil with one of the small rounds. 
  13. Cook the donuts until golden on both sides, turning them over a couple of times. (Allow about 1 ½ minutes per side). Place on kitchen paper.  
  14. To make the icing, place the icing into a bowl, stir in the lemon juice to form a smooth icing add a little lemon colour and set aside.
  15. To assemble, take a warm donut and dip into the icing on the top side. Then dip in the walnut crumble.  Repeat with the remaining donuts. 
  16. Add lemon zest to the top, garnish with edible flowers and enjoy!