Makes enough to fill 24 doughnuts
– 1 litre (34 fl oz/4 cups) French-press coffee
(we like to use chicory coffee)
Crème Anglaise
– 480 ml (16 oz/2 cups) full-fat (whole) milk
– 360 ml (12 fl oz/1½ cups) double (heavy) cream
– 140 g (5 oz/⅔ cup) dark brown sugar
– 2 tbsp corn flour (corn starch)
– 4 egg yolks
– 75 g (2½ oz/½ cup) sugar
– pinch salt
Pour the coffee into in a wide, deep saucepan, and set over a hot heat. Boil and reduce the coffee until you have a syrupy mixture that coats the back of a spoon. You should end up with 50 – 100 ml (2–3½ fl oz) of liquid. Set aside to cool.
To make the crème anglaise, combine the milk, cream and brown sugar in a large saucepan, and stir over a medium heat until the sugar dissolves. Remove from the heat and set aside.
In a large bowl, mix the corn flour and slowly pour in a little of the sweetened, warm milk and cream mixture, whisking until smooth. Keep pouring and whisking until the mixture is smooth in consistency. Transfer the mixture back to the saucepan, and using a spatula, stir over medium heat until it reaches around 70°C (158°F) then set aside.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg yolks with the sugar and salt, until pale yellow in colour, and completely blended. Very slowly, temper the egg mixture by pouring around 150 ml (5 fl oz/½ cup) of the milk and cream liquid, slowly into the egg mixture and whisking. Once incorporated, pour the whole lot back into the saucepan and warm over a gentle heat, stirring constantly with a rubber spatula, until thickened. Once thickened remove from the heat and keep stirring until you get a lustrous custard or crème anglaise. Strain through a sieve to catch any lumps.
Fold the crème anglaise into the coffee mixture until fully combined.
To serve, carefully make a small hole in the side of the doughnuts, and use a pastry bag and small nozzle to fill them with a small amount of the coffee custard.