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–+ servings
Stack of two Boston cream donuts.

The Best Boston Cream Donuts

These Boston cream donuts are made with fluffy yeast dough, filled with creamy vanilla custard, and topped with chocolate ganache.
5 from 4 votes
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Prep Time 40 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
rise time 1 hour 20 minutes
Total Time 2 hours 25 minutes
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Servings 12 donuts
Calories 423 kcal

Ingredients
 
 

For the pastry cream

  • 1 ½ cups Milk
  • 2 teaspoon Vanilla extract
  • 5 Egg yolks
  • ⅔ cup Granulated sugar
  • 3 tablespoon Cornstarch
  • 2 tablespoon Butter unsalted, room temp

For the dough

  • 4 cups Flour AP or bread flour
  • 1 ⅓ tablespoon Yeast use instant yeast
  • ¼ cup Granulated sugar
  • 1 teaspoon Kosher salt
  • 2 Eggs
  • ⅓ cup Vegetable oil
  • 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
  • 1 cup Water

For the chocolate ganache

  • 3.5 oz Dark chocolate
  • 3.5 oz Heavy cream

Instructions
 

Make the vanilla pastry cream

  • Place a saucepan over high heat and fill it with the milk and vanilla extract. Let it simmer, and remove from heat. Scoop ¼ cup of the milk and set aside.
  • In a small mixing bowl, add the sugar and cornstarch. Mix with a whisk until combined. Add the egg yolks and mix. Gradually add the ¼ cup of milk and mix constantly with a whisk.
  • Move the saucepan with the milk to the stovetop over low heat and add the egg yolk mixture into the milk mixing constantly with a whisk.
  • Mix constantly with a whisk until the mixture thickens. Don't increase the heat, be patient it will be worth it!
  • Finally, add the butter and mix until the butter melts.
  • Transfer the mixture to a bowl and cover it with a plastic wrap tightly. Place the bowl in the fridge to set and cool for a few hours.

Make the dough

  • In a bowl of a stand mixer, add the flour, dry yeast, and sugar. Mix with a spoon until combined. Add the salt, and mix until combined.
  • Add the room temperature water, vegetable oil, vanilla extract, and the eggs, and start mixing on low until the dough forms.
  • Increase the speed to medium and mix for at least 8 minutes or until the dough is smooth and silky.
  • Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the dough rise at room temperature for 1-2 hours or until it’s doubled in size (or even tripled in size).
  • Punch down the dough and transfer it to a clean floured surface. Sprinkle flour on the dough and roll it into a ¼-inch thick rectangle, making sure that the bottom of the donuts doesn’t stick to the surface.
  • Using a 2-inch cookie cutter, stamp out as many rounds as you can. Reuse the leftover dough and make more dough rounds.
  • Transfer the dough rounds to a parchment paper-lined baking sheet, cover with a clean towel, and let the dough rise until it doubles in size or at least for 30 minutes.
  • Heat canola oil in a Dutch oven, saucepan, or frying pan and allow it to get to about 160c (320f).
  • Gently place a donut round in the hot oil (using your hand or a spatula) and fry in small batches for about 2 minutes on each side.
  • Remove the fried donuts to paper towels to drain any excess oil. Let the donuts cool for a few minutes or until they are cool enough to hold.

Make the chocolate ganache

  • Melt dark chocolate and heavy cream in a small to medium mixing bowl in the microwave for about 50 seconds.
  • Let the chocolate and the cream sit for 10 minutes for the chocolate to melt, then mix until the chocolate ganache is smooth and silky.

Assembly

  • Transfer the vanilla pastry cream to a piping bag with a donut piping tip and fill each donut with as much vanilla pastry cream as you like. Dip each donut in the chocolate ganache and serve!

Notes

  • Measure your flour correctly! When measuring your flour, avoid scooping it with a measuring cup. Instead, stir the flour with a spoon to create as many air pockets as possible, and spoon it into your measuring cup. Finally, level it with the back of a knife.
  • Use a candy thermometer to reach the proper heating oil temperature. This will prevent from your donuts from cooking too fast on the outside and being undercooked on the inside.
  • Make sure that your yeast isn’t expired. You can check if your yeast is expired by mixing a teaspoon of dry yeast with ¼ cup of room temperature water, waiting 10 minutes, and if the yeast has bubbles in it and it puffed a bit, your yeast is alive and good, if there are no bubbles in your yeast mixture, your yeast is probably expired.
  • Be patient! Let the dough rise at least until it doubles its size. The more the dough rises, the more fluffy the donuts will be.
  • Use bread flour! We like to use either all-purpose flour or bread flour for making bread. Bread flour contains more gluten, which makes the dough more stretchy and easy to work with.
  • Make sure that your ingredients are fresh! Make sure that your flour and yeast are fresh and not expired. This step ensures that you will have great dough to work with.
  • Don’t overcrowd the pan when frying the donuts, this step ensures that your donuts cook well.
  • Remove the fried donuts to paper towels to drain any excess oil.

Nutrition

Calories: 423kcalCarbohydrates: 55gProtein: 9gFat: 19gSaturated Fat: 8gPolyunsaturated Fat: 4gMonounsaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 0.1gCholesterol: 127mgSodium: 241mgPotassium: 182mgFiber: 2gSugar: 19gVitamin A: 380IUVitamin C: 0.1mgCalcium: 71mgIron: 3mg
Keyword Boston Cream Donut, Boston Cream Donuts, pastry cream donuts
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