Yeast-free Apple Doughnuts

Preparation

• 1
  Put the oil in a deep, preferably non-stick frypan and heat on the stove.
• 2
  Put the apple and enough milk to cover the blades in the blender and puree.
• 3
  Mix the cinnamon and sugar in a bowl and set aside.
• 4
  Whisk up the egg and butter until creamy, then add in the wet mix and sifted flour alternating, whisking until it gets too thick, then using your hands and finishing with the flour. The consistency should be a soft, silky dough, just solid enough to roll.
• 5
  Take pieces of the dough and roll into finger-thickness sausages, then pinch together into circles, and place in the oil, turning once browned on one side, then tossing through the sugar mix once cooked, finally set aside onto a plate.
• 6
  I did not measure the temperature of the oil, but started with it on full heat, then turned it down as just as it started to smoke. I had to turn it up again a little halfway through. The doughnuts should take about a minute on each side - if they take much more they will be greasy, and much less and they will be raw on the inside. If you would like to make them thicker, I would suggest turning on the oven to 160°C and after frying, letting them cook through for about another 15 minutes or so.
• 7
  *I used 1 apple, 1 egg, about 100ml of each milk and ghee, about 2 cups of flour, 1/2 a cup of brown sugar and a cup of oil (of which most was left in the pan). Actually no fattier or more sugary than cakes or muffins. This could easily be made without the apples, or replaced with another fruit like banana or blueberries. This mix made about 40 small doughnuts - way too many, so we had some left over the next day. They went hard in the fridge overnight, but softened up nicely with a few seconds in the microwave.
• 8
  PS - just made these a second time and added salt to the sugar dusting - sooooo much better!