Blackberry Jam and Custard Doughnuts

My friend Christina of Christina's Cucina fame, recently posted a photo of her Perfect Yeast Doughnuts with a link to the recipe on her blog.  It was love at first sight for me and I knew I needed these gorgeous puffs of fried dough in my life and on my breakfast table STAT... and she's right, they really are perfect.

Below, you'll find the recipes for the jam and custard. You can get the recipe for the doughnuts by clicking on the link here.  I followed Christina's instructions to the letter and if you do the same you'll end up with the most delicious breakfast going around.

My version includes the addition of homemade blackberry jam and vanilla custard which was an idea inspired by this recipe.  

For the Custard:

1 cup cream

1/2 cup full cream milk

4 egg yolks

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/4 cup caster sugar

2 tablespoons cornflour

For the Blackberry Jam:

220g caster sugar

2 tablespoons water, plus extra if needed

100g fresh blackberries

1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste

Make the Custard:

Put the cream and milk into a small saucepan over medium heat. When it reaches simmering point, remove it from the heat. Set aside.

In a separate bowl, whisk the egg yolks, vanilla, sugar and cornflour until combined. Whisk the hot milk mixture, very gradually, into the egg mixture.

Pour the mixture back into the saucepan and cook over low heat, whisking continuously, until thickened. Remove from the heat and pour the custard into a bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, making sure the plastic has direct contact with the custard, this will stop a skin from forming, and chill in the refrigerator.

Make the Blackberry Jam:

Put the sugar into a medium size saucepan, add 2 tablespoons of water and place it over a low heat, stirring until the sugar has dissolved. Increase the heat to medium-high, stop stirring and cook for a few minutes until the mixture resembles light honey, swirling the pan from time to time. Remove from the heat and aside.

Put the berries and vanilla bean paste into a food processor and blitz until smooth. Pass through a fine mesh sieve, discard the seeds. Add the berry puree to the caramel and stir. If the caramel has set a little, pop the saucepan back on a low heat and stir until it has melted again. You can add a few more tablespoons of water to thin the caramel if needed. Cool completely.

Pipe the fillings into the Doughnuts:

Spoon both the fillings into separate piping bags fitted with plain tips.  Poke a hole in the side of each doughnut with a skewer, then pipe equal amounts of custard and jam into each.