Chocolate Doughnuts With Cranberry Jam

Jam

8 ounces (½ bag) cranberries, fresh or frozen

1 cup water

1 cup sugar

Doughnuts

½ ounce (2 envelopes) active dry yeast

¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar

½ cup lukewarm water (about body temperature, 98.6 degrees)

¾ cup all-purpose flour

½ cup cake flour

¼ cup cocoa powder

¾ teaspoon baking soda

¼ cup hot water

3 ounces semisweet chocolate, melted

¼ cup confectioner's sugar

½ teaspoon salt

1 medium-large Idaho potato (about 6 ounces), boiled, peeled and mashed

Vegetable oil for frying

Glaze

4 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped

½ cup heavy cream

Line a large cookie sheet with parchment or waxed paper or a non-stick baking mat.

For the jam: Combine all the ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring often. Cook until the cranberries pop, then continue cooking 1 minute more. Let cool and chill until ready to serve.

For the doughnuts: Combine the yeast, sugar and warm water in the bowl of a mixer, stirring until the yeast is dissolved. Add ¼ cup all-purpose flour and ¼ cup cake flour. Stir well and set aside to proof in a warm place until foamy, about 30 minutes.

Combine the cocoa powder and baking soda in a large bowl and add the hot water. Stir to dissolve. Add the melted chocolate to the cocoa powder mixture and mix. Add the confectioner's sugar, salt and potato and mix.

Fit your mixer with the paddle attachment. Add the chocolate mixture, ¼ cup all-purpose flour and ¼ cup cake flour to the yeast mixture in the bowl and mix at low speed to combine. Mix at high speed for 30 seconds. Add the remaining ¼ cup all-purpose flour and mix at high speed until combined. The dough may be sticky.

Flour a work surface heavily and knead the dough gently for about 30 seconds, just to bring it together. Transfer to a greased bowl and set aside to proof (rise) in a warm place until doubled in bulk, 1½ hours. Punch the dough down, then proof another 30 minutes.

Flour a work surface heavily and pat the dough out to about ½-inch thick. Use a 1½ inch and a ½-inch cookie cutter to cut out doughnuts and then the holes, flouring the cutters each time. Set onto prepared pan.

Heat the oil in a deep fryer (or 2 inches of oil in a deep, heavy pot fitted with a deep-frying thermometer) to 375 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with paper towels. Working in batches to avoid crowding the pan, and letting the oil return to 375 degrees between batches, slip the doughnuts into the oil. Flip once and cook no more than 30 seconds total (they burn easily). Set aside to drain and cool on the lined pan. Cook the doughnut holes in the same manner, frying just 20 seconds and moving them around in the oil as they cook.

For the glaze: Place the chopped chocolate in a bowl. Bring the cream to a boil in a saucepan, pour it over the chocolate and let sit, whisking occasionally to melt the chocolate and combine the mixture. When smooth, and the doughnuts are cooled, dip the doughnuts on one side in the warm chocolate glaze and set aside to cool. Serve the doughnuts on plates with a dollop of jam on the side for dipping.

Makes about 30 doughnuts.

Nutrition values per serving: 90 calories, 4.5 g fat (2 g saturated), 13 g carbohydrates, 1 g fiber, 1 g protein, 5 mg cholesterol, 75 mg sodium.

Chef Gale Gand, Tru, Chicago