Homemade Doughnut question

[HollyDay]

I have definately been watching too much Alton Brown's Good Eats!

My dairy allergic dd wants doughnuts so bad. Can I substitute soy milk for the cows milk - or as Alton says', "Moo Juice" ? I have never tried to make dough using soy milk so I am not sure what will happen.

[Eliana]

My dairy allergic dd wants doughnuts so bad. Can I substitute soy milk for the cows milk

I don't think you can/should substitute soy milk for milk when you bake, perhaps in other types of recipes, but I wouldn't do in a pastry.

For baking my (kosher) cookbooks give the choice of milk or non-dairy creamer.

Here's my recipe:


2 T yeast
1 ½ c warm water
1 T sugar
3 eggs
½ c oil
½ c sugar
½ c non-dairy creamer or milk
1 t vanilla
1 t grated lemon peel
6-7 c flour
oil for frying


Place yeast, water, and 1 T sugar in a small bowl. Allow to stand several minutes until bubbly.

In a large bowl, place eggs, oil, sugar, cream, vanilla, and lemon peel. Add yeast mixture. Add flour until soft dough is formed (it should be softer than challah dough).
Knead for a few minutes. Cover and allow to rise until doubled in bulk, about 1-1½ hours.

Roll out dough ½” thick on floured surface. (To test if dough is ready for rolling, place a small piece in a glass of water--if the dough floats to the top, it is ready.) Cut out circles with a doughnut cutter.

Place 2-3” oil in a saucepan and heat on medium heat until hot. Place 4 doughnuts at a time in the oil. Brown on one side and then the other. Remove with slotted spoon. Drain and cool on paper towels. Dust with powdered sugar.


If we did this more often than once a year (for Channukah), I'd use bake rather than fry...

Eliana

[abbeyej]

I would definitely try it with soy milk or rice milk. If she can have nuts, then a nut milk might work best of all of them. In my experience, most baking will turn out fine if that's the only substitution you're making.

I've also substituted coconut milk in baking, but of course it will *taste* coconut-y.

[Eliana]

I would definitely try it with soy milk or rice milk. If she can have nuts, then a nut milk might work best of all of them. In my experience, most baking will turn out fine if that's the only substitution you're making.

I've also substituted coconut milk in baking, but of course it will *taste* coconut-y.

Hmmm... perhaps I tried the wrong varieties of soy milk then... or am just too persnickety! I felt that there was a significant flavor and texture difference - and the more complex the recipe the greater the difference (I ruined one recipe by substituting paerve (non-dairy) chocolate for dairy... so some of the recipes I use are absurdly sensitive.)

So, ignore my post and listen to Abbey!

Eliana

[Eliana]

Okay, I was feeling guilty about imposing my persnickety-ness on others, so I went looking for a soy milk based doughtnut recipe, and found this Vegan one (with descriptions, photos, and even a video (!?!)):

http://veganyumyum.com/2007/02/mini-donut-test-kitchen/

We'll have to try these next year - which will please my vegan-leaning mother!

[strider]

We use soy as a baking substitute for milk all the time. We think it mimics real milk better than other substitutes (rice milk, etc.) in terms of fluffiness and etc. We get the kind without vanilla and do not find any significant taste or texture difference from real milk. My dh and the kids love making homemade donuts from time to time--soy works just fine. Go ahead and give it a try.:)