YUM YUM’S – CROSS BETWEEN DOUGHNUT AND CROISSANT
The artisanal Yum Yum is the best thing you will ever taste.
If you’ve not had a Yum Yum before, it’s basically a cross between a doughnut and a croissant. Then drenched in icing. Thankfully (or dangerously), this method is so very easy.
500 g strong white bread flour
2 sachets (or 14 g) fast action yeast
8 g salt (or about one heaped teaspoon; reduce if using salted butter)
30 g sugar
250 g water (a tiny bit warm; weigh out rather than use a jug)
1 medium egg
100 g unsalted butter, chilled and diced
Oil, for frying
More flour, for rolling
Icing:
250 g icing sugar, sifted
60 ml (4 tablespoons) water
Makes 14-16 Yum Yums
In a large bowl, weigh out the flour, salt and yeast. Lightly rub the salt and yeast into the flour on opposite sides of the bowl, then rub in the sugar.
Dice the chilled butter into thin pieces (as shown). Add this to the flour and don’t rub it in – you don’t want it like breadcrumbs. Just lightly stir the butter into the flour.
Add the water and the egg to your mixture and mix using a wooden spoon until begins to come together. Then, use your hands to mix until your dough has mopped up all the flour. Cover your bowl with cling film (or a wet teacloth) and rest for at least half an hour at room temperature.
RESTING TIP 1:
For a better Yum Yum with more complexity of flavour, rest in the fridge overnight.
Once the dough is rested, it’s time to laminate. Flour a work surface and roll your yum yum dough out into a long rectangle. Turn your rectangle so the long side is facing you. Take both ends, and fold them into the middle. Then, close the whole thing like a book (shown). Roll out again and repeat the whole folding process until your lumps of butter have disappeared (3-5 times). Wrap your laminated dough in cling film and put in the fridge for another half an hour to rest.
RESTING TIP 2:
30 minutes is the minimum resting time recommended for a good Yum Yum. For a more open structure, leave to rest here for as long as possible (ie over 2 hours).
Once rested, roll your dough out one final time on a floured surface into a big rectangle. Cut into strips of your desired size. To each strip, make a cut down its length, but leaving at least a centimetre attached at both ends. Twist this round into a Yum Yum shape as shown:
Leave to rest on an oiled surface in a warm place for at least an hour, until doubled in size. Near the end of the rest, make the icing by mixing the icing sugar and water, then prepare the oil
OIL TIP:
If you don’t have a deep fat fryer (I don’t), heat a big pan of oil ON A LOW HEAT that’s going to be deep enough to take a Yum Yum. It should be constant at 170-180ºC. If you don’t have a digital/sugar thermometer, be careful and reserve bits of dough to test your oil regularly to make sure it’s not too hot. Please seek full and proper safety guidance before handling hot oil.
Fry your Yum Yums until a golden brown on each side. As soon as they’re done, remove from the oil and brush liberally with the icing. Leave to cool completely on a cooling rack before enjoying.
Posted: Amanda Conradie
Amanda Conradie’s photo.
