Apple Cider Doughnuts

I got this from the New York Times, who got it ever-so-kindly from Todd Gray of Equinox restaurant fame, right here in Washington, DC.  I love how these doughnuts had to go to NYC to come right back home to me.

Yield: 2 dozen

Ingredients

1 cup apple cider

5 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, more for rolling dough

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup buttermilk*

1 medium Honeycrisp apple or other tart cooking apple, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch dice

Vegetable oil, for frying

1/3 cup 100% pure maple syrup

*If you don't have buttermilk on hand but have regular milk and either white vinegar or lemon juice, you can make your own in a pinch! Just take a cup of milk, one tablespoon of the vinegar or lemon juice, mix together and let it sit for 10 minutes until it curdles.  In this recipe, only use 1/2 cup and reserve the rest for...maybe  biscuits?

Directions

Place apple cider in a small saucepan over high heat and reduce to 1/2 cup; remove from heat and reserve. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, nutmeg and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon.

Using an electric mixer fitted with a paddle, mix together the butter, 1 cup granulated sugar and the brown sugar, until creamy. Mix in eggs one at a time. Mix in vanilla, buttermilk and reserved cider.

Scrape down bowl and add sifted flour mixture. Mix just until blended. Remove bowl from mixer, add apple, and mix well by hand. Cover the bowl and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

On a lightly floured work surface, roll out dough to a rough disk about 1/2-inch to 3/4-inch thick. Cut dough using a 2 1/2-inch doughnut cutter (or, if you're like me, use a glass that fits the size doughnut you want).  Then, in each circle, cut out the doughnut holes with something the size of a small shot glass. Reserve the “holes.”

Fill a wok, a thick-walled deep pot, or deep fryer with oil and heat to 300 degrees. Putting three or four doughnuts in at a time, fry until deep golden brown on each side, about 5 minutes total. Drain on a platter lined with paper towels. Fry “holes” separately, and dry as well on a separate plate lined with paper towels. In a small bowl, combine remaining 1/2 cup sugar with remaining 1 teaspoon cinnamon. Dust doughnuts with cinnamon sugar and serve warm, and as many doughnut holes that you want.  For the rest of the doughnut holes, place them in a bowl of 100% pure maple syrup.  Serve doughnuts and doughnut holes nice and warm, preferably with some piping hot coffee and cream.