Lemon Filled Donuts with Meringue
These homemade, lemon filled donuts are made with fluffy brioche dough, fried to perfection (no donut pan here), filled with thick, tart lemon curd, and topped with smooth vanilla meringue. They're soft, brightly flavored, and taste like lemon meringue pie in a donut!
Servings: 12
Calories: 353kcal
Equipment
- Microplane or zester
- Fine mesh sieve
- Stand mixer with dough hook attachment
- Rolling Pin
- Cookie cutter, biscuit cutter, or drinking glass
- Large, heavy-bottomed pot
- Candy or deep frying thermometer and digital kitchen thermometer
- Spider or metal slotted spoon/spatula
- Piping bags or ziptop bag
- Chopstick or eating utensil
- Baking sheet or cooling rack
- Kitchen torch
Ingredients
Lemon Curd
- 3 large eggs
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 3 tablespoons lemon zest
- ⅓ cup lemon juice freshly squeezed
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter room temperature
Donut Dough
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- 2¼ teaspoons instant yeast one pack
- ¾ cup whole milk warmed to 110℉,
- 3 large egg yolks reserve the whites for meringue
- ¼ cup unsalted butter melted (57g)
- 1 quart vegetable oil or canola oil
Swiss Meringue
- 3 large egg whites
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla paste or extract
Instructions
Lemon Curd
- Zest about two lemons until you have 3 tablespoons of zest. Cut and juice the lemons until there is ⅓ cup of lemon juice - remove any seeds. Cut the butter into tablespoon pieces and place a fine mesh sieve on top of a bowl.
- Add the eggs, sugar, lemon juice and lemon zest to a medium saucepan over medium low to medium heat.3 large eggs, ½ cup granulated sugar, 3 tablespoons lemon zest, ⅓ cup lemon juice
- Whisk constantly until the curd thickens considerably and it just starts to bubble, about 5 minutes.
- Transfer the curd to the fine mesh sieve and pass it through into the bowl using a rubber spatula or wooden spoon. Scrape the underside of the sieve to remove all curd.
- Adding one tablespoon of butter at a time, whisk it in completely to combine before adding the next tablespoon of butter.6 tablespoons unsalted butter
- Cover the lemon curd with plastic wrap, placing the wrap directly onto the curd to prevent a skin from forming. Chill for 1-2 hours.
Donut Dough
- Add the flour, salt, sugar, yeast, whole milk, egg yolks, and unsalted butter to the bowl of stand mixer fitter with the dough hook attachment. Mix on low speed until combined, but shaggy.3 cups all-purpose flour, ½ teaspoon kosher salt, ⅓ cup granulated sugar, 2¼ teaspoons instant yeast, ¾ cup whole milk, 3 large egg yolks, ¼ cup unsalted butter
- Increase to medium to medium high speed and knead for 10-12 minutes. The dough will have pulled away from the sides and be soft and very pliable. If the dough is still sticking to the sides, add 2 tablespoons of flour at a time until it peels away from the sides (some may still be stuck to the bottom.
- Lightly grease a large bowl with oil or cooking spray, add the ball of dough, and cover with plastic wrap. Transfer to a slightly warm location to rise for about an hour, or until the dough doubles in size.
- Prepare a cookie sheet with parchment paper squares (4x4") so it's ready for the cut donuts later on.
- Once risen, turn out the dough and roll it out to ½" thick. Use a 2½ inch cookie cutter to cut out rounds of dough and transfer to the pieces of parchment paper on the cookie sheet.
- Cut out as many as possible, then re-knead & re-roll the scraps and cut out additional donuts. You should be able to get 12 donuts out of the dough.
- Cover the donut rounds lightly with plastic wrap and allow to rise in a warm place for another 30 minutes until puffy.
Frying the Donuts
- Add the canola or vegetable oil to a large, heavy bottomed pot over medium heat until it reaches 350-360℉ on a thermometer. You'll want to keep an eye on the temperature in between every batch, keeping it as close to this temperature as possible by adjusting your heat accordingly.1 quart vegetable oil
- Add the donut and parchment paper to the oil, then remove the parchment paper with tongs. Fry 2-3 donuts at a time for about one minute on each side until a nice golden color.
- Remove to a wire rack or cookie sheet lined with paper towels and repeat until all donuts are fried. Cool completely.
Swiss Meringue
- Fill a saucepan with about 1 inch of water and turn to high heat. Add a heat proof bowl over top that fits securely. You don’t want any of the water touching the bottom of the bowl.
- To the bowl, add the egg whites and sugar and whisk to combine. Continue lightly whisking until the mixture is warm and the sugar granules have dissolved. Check this by rubbing your fingers together in the mixture. If you can still feel sugar granules, continue cooking. If you have a thermometer, cook it to around 150℉/66℃.3 large egg whites, ¾ cup granulated sugar
- Once the mixture is ready, transfer it to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment (or use a handheld mixer) and whip on medium speed for about a minute. Turn to high speed and whip until stiff peaks form.
- Once the meringue hits stiff peaks, add the vanilla then mix once more to combine. The meringue is ready when the bowl can be turned upside down without any movement or sliding and holds a peak on the tip of the whisk without falling.1 teaspoon vanilla paste or extract
Donut Assembly
- Transfer the lemon curd to a piping bag and snip a small hole for the tip.
- Use a chopstick to puncture a hole into the side of the donut, insert it about ⅔ of the way, and carefully move it in a circular motion to open up the space for the filling.
- Gently squeeze lemon curd into each donut until it just peeks out of the hole. You will feel some pressure as it's almost filled and the donut will feel heavier.
- Use an offset spatula or spoon to add a dollop of meringue to the top of each donut and add swoops or swirls.
- Use a blow torch to lightly toast the meringue portion of each donut.
- The donuts are best enjoyed immediately after assembly, and should be eaten the same day.
Notes
Visit my Easy Lemon Curd Recipe for detailed instructions on how to make the curd. It's best to make the lemon curd the day before so it has time to set up.
Store the assembled donuts at room temperature for one day.
Nutrition
Calories: 353kcal | Carbohydrates: 53g | Protein: 8g | Fat: 13g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 4g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 116mg | Sodium: 89mg | Potassium: 120mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 28g | Vitamin A: 443IU | Vitamin C: 5mg | Calcium: 41mg | Iron: 2mg