help please with zeppoles?

[llopez02]

hello! I am new to the community (as well as to baking breads). I just have a few questions though, if anyone can help me?

I was browsing online for fried donuts and led me to this page:

http://www.food.com/recipe/bethanys-jerseygirl-zeppoles-90782

i followed everything on there but since ive never baked breads before (or fried, in this case), my questions are:

1) it says very warm water, how warm should my water be?

2) i am using instant dry yeast (as per the ingredients and also the only available in the grocery store). Should i mix this with water (as per the instruction stated) or just mix it together with the other dry ingredients? I searched about yeasts and what it told me was to just mix it with the dry ingredients. Will this affect my zeppoles if i mix it together with the dry ingredients instead of dissolving it in water as what the direction says?

3) is the dough supposed to be really sticky?

4) after frying, what should be the consistency? Mine turned out like bread, not light and puffy did i do something wrong?

Sorry for asking too many questions. I just wanna make sure that im doing it correctly. Thank you to those who could help

[duonyte]

You are aiming for around 105-110 deg F if I remember correctly - the package should also say. The recipe calls for dissolving the instant yeast, but I do know they suggest mixing it right in with the flour, I don't think it matters which you do.

It sounds as if your dough did not rise enough. I know the recipe just says 20 minutes, but it should be a bit puffy - you should see air bubbles in it when you stir it. Too cold water or too hot water can cause problems. The dough probably should not be really sticky, but it is a bit of a softer dough, since it's dropped from a spoon - it should not be as firm as a bread dough.

[llopez02]

hello. Thank you for the response.

The package did not say anything about the temperature or if i should mix it directly in the flour.

I will follow your tip and hopefully it comes out well on my third try.

Maybe i should leave the dough for an hour instead of 20mins..?

[duonyte]

If the dough is soft it will get puffy more quickly. What you might try is cooking a test zeppole - if it's the right light texture, you know your dough is ready,

Good luck, let us know how it goes.