Spiced Caramel Doughnuts with Salted Caramel Filling

Doughnuts: Whisk the yeast and 1 teaspoon of the sugar into the warmed milk and leave to sit for 8–10 minutes or until frothy on top.

Put the flour, remaining sugar, salt, cinnamon and ginger in the bowl of a stand mixer with a paddle attachment.

In a separate jug, whisk the whole egg, yolk and 70 grams of the melted butter. Add the yeast and egg mixtures to the stand mixer and mix for 1 minute. Swap to the dough hook attachment and mix for 5–8 minutes or until the dough is smooth.

Use the remaining butter to lightly grease a large bowl. Transfer the dough to the bowl, cover with clingfilm and leave to rest for 1 hour or until almost doubled in size.

Punch down the dough, then break off pieces and roll into about 18 balls. Place the balls well spaced apart on baking paper-lined trays and leave to sit for another 30 minutes.

Salted caramel filling: Whisk the cornflour with the cream. Heat the Salted Caramel Sauce to lukewarm, then whisk in the cornflour mixture. Add the butter and heat in 30-second bursts in the microwave (or in a pot on the stovetop) whisking in between, until thickened. Refrigerate for 2 hours before using as a filling.

Vanilla mascarpone: Beat all the ingredients together until smooth and refrigerate until ready to use.

Spiced sugar: Combine all ingredients on a plate and set aside until ready to use.

Heat the oil in a large, deep saucepan and cook the doughnuts for 2–3 minutes, turning once or twice during cooking, until golden. Drain on kitchen towels and roll in the spiced sugar, then leave to cool for an hour.

To assemble: To fill the doughnuts, use a piping bag with a long piping tip to poke deep into the doughnut. First, give a good squirt of vanilla mascarpone in all of them, clean the bag and nozzle and repeat with the salted caramel. Makes 18.

Cook's note: If you leave the caramel to become deep amber it may get too bitter as the residual heat will keep cooking the sugar even when removed from the heat.