The Homer Simpson Donut

The “traditional” Homer Simpson Donut is a round cake donut, covered with pink frosting and topped with rainbow sprinkles. It looks something like this:

And yes, I am including my successful picture right up front, especially after the abomination of a recipe I completed last time! It’s just that I wanted to prove that I’m not a complete failure at this whole thing I’ve got going. And now, let’s take a look at my top five favorite Homer Simpson donut moments from The Simpsons (in no particular order)!

Have all the donuts in the world!

This is not happening! This is NOT happening!

It’s raining again…

A vision in raspberry cream…

And this…

But making the leap from cartoons to reality wasn’t quite as smooth for me when it came to making my own donuts. Mostly because, despite the fact that you can find them everywhere and they are usually quite affordable, making donuts is a lot of work!

Ingredients

Donut Batter

• 2 cups of flour
• 1/2 cup room temperature water
• 1/2 cup room temperature milk
• 2 eggs
• 1 tablespoon quick yeast
• 1/4 cup sugar
• Pinch of salt
• 1/4 softened butter

Donut Glaze (and Sprinkles)

• 1 cup icing sugar
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Red food colouring
• Sprinkles

Directions

Place flour, water, milk, eggs, yeast, sugar, and salt in a mixing bowl. Using the paddle attachment, slowly combine on a low setting. Next, slowly add in the butter until the dough is mixed. It will likely be very sticky! If so, add a little more flour. Using the dough hook attachment, knead the bread on a low setting for 5-10 minutes until a dough ball is formed. Continue to knead the dough by hand until a nice, even ball is formed. Place the ball in a an oiled bowl and cover with plastic and allow it rise for an hour. Once risen, place the dough in the fridge overnight (or for at least 4 hours).

When ready to make donuts, remove the dough from the fridge and roll out onto a floured surface. Some people like to use a donut cutter. I just use a thick cup and a thick shot glass, so it’s really up to you. Cover the donuts and let them rise for another hour (no one said this wouldn’t be time consuming).

When the donuts are ready, heat your oil of choice to 375F and carefully drop in one donut at a time. If you cook too many at once the oil temperature will drop and you will get soggy donuts. After 30 seconds, flip the donut onto the other side and cook for another 30 seconds. Remove donut from the oil and cool on a wire rack, with paper towel underneath to catch the grease.

For the glaze, mix together icing sugar, milk, vanilla extract, and red food colouring until you have the right color and consistency. Once cooled, dip the donut into the glaze and immediately add sprinkles.

So basically the moral of the story is, never try. No, wait! The moral THIS time is if you want to make homemade donuts be sure to plan at least a day in advance. I’m actually quite happy with how these turned out. The donuts weren’t perfectly shaped but I just didn’t feel like buying a donut cutter so I’m ok with. Let’s just say they’re rustic.

Cromulence: 8 Paul Ankas out of 10