Yum Yums

Ingredients:

Yum Yums

500g (4 cups) strong white bread flour, plus extra for dusting

14g (1 tablespoon) fast action yeast

8g (1 ½ teaspoons) salt

30g (2 tablespoons) granulated sugar

250g (1 cup) warm water

1 medium egg, whisked

100g (7 tablespoons, or 7/8 of a stick) unsalted butter, chilled and cubed

Vegetable oil for frying

Glaze

375g (3 cups) icing sugar/ powdered sugar

80ml (1/3 c) water

10ml (2 teaspoons) vanilla extract.

Method:

1. In a large bowl, add the sifted flour. At one side of the bowl add the salt, and at the other add the yeast. Add the sugar to the middle.
2. Sprinkle the cubes of chilled butter onto the flour. Lightly coat with the flour to stop them from clumping together, and disperse them throughout the dry ingredients. Do not rub them into the dough to create a breadcrumb effect – we want to be able to see big bits of butter in the finished dough (this is a lazy shortcut to properly laminating!)
3. Add the water and egg to the bowl and mix until a shaggy dough begins to form. You might need to use your hands to ensure that all the flour has been mopped up. Cover the bowl with clingfilm and let rest in a warm environment for at least an hour, or until risen. James advises you, and I agree, to put it in the fridge and let it stay there overnight for a better tasting yum yum.
4. Once the dough is rested, flour a work surface and roll the dough into a long rectangle. With the long side of the rectangle facing you, close both ends in on themselves to meet in the middle, then close the whole thing like a book. You should have four layers of dough.
5. Roll this thick mini-rectangle out again and repeat the folding technique. Repeat this four or five times – each time equals a better dough! – until the lumps of butter have almost disappeared. Wrap your completed rectangle in clingfilm and let it rest for an hour.
6. Once rested again, roll your dough out into another big rectangle on a well-floured surface. Cut strips of desired size for your yumyum – my larger ones were about 15cm long, and the small ones about 10cm, and both were about 5cm wide. A small slit in the middle of the rectangle allows you to fold the dough in a nice twirl and ensures it won’t unravel when it fries. I obviously couldn’t leave well enough alone and started shaping mine all crazy ways.
7. Leave them to rest for, I’m sorry to announce, at least another hour. They should rise a bit again
8. With about 20 minutes to spare before the yum yums are ready to be cooked, you can begin to get a prep station organized. Make your icing by combining all ingredients and whisking thoroughly to ensure there are no lumps. Have a pastry brush handy for glazing. Set up lots of kitchen paper to absorb any dripped oil, and on top of this sit some cooling racks for the finished yum yums to cool on.
9. Get a large pot and fill with oil, until it’s about 3 inches deep, and heat on low until the oil reaches 170-180°C/ 340-355°F. We want to keep the oil at this temperature throughout, so do check it at intervals to make sure the yum yums aren’t being burned.
10. a set of metal tongs, slide two or three yum yums into the oil and fry on each side until golden-brown, about two or three minutes. Don’t overcrowd the pot or they’ll stick together.
11. When done, remove from the oil with metal tongs and sit on a cooling rack. Brush immediately with the glaze and leave to cool completely.