Kleinur
Ingredients
- 250 g all-purpose flour, plus extra for dusting
- Zest of 1 lemon, plus more to serve
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp flaky sea salt
- 50 g butter, softened
- 50 g sugar
- 100 ml milk
- 1 egg
- 1.5 litres neutral oil, for frying
- 150 g icing sugar and 2 g ground cardamom, for the cardamom sugar
- Optional dip: 120 ml whey, 35 g brown sugar, 90 ml milk, 50 ml cream, 6 g cornstarch and 20 g butter
Kleinur are the doughnut every Icelander grew up watching a grandmother make, and their shape is the whole trick: the dough is rolled out, cut into diamonds, slit in the middle, and one end is pulled through the slit so each piece twists into a knot before it hits the fat. This recipe from the Saltverk salt works in the Westfjords keeps the dough classic — butter, sugar, egg, milk, flour with baking powder, sea salt and lemon zest — chills it so it rolls cleanly, fries the knots at a moderate 150°C so they cook through, and finishes them with a cardamom sugar and, if you like, a dip of caramelised whey.
Method
For the cardamom sugar, blend the icing sugar with the cardamom to a fine powder and set aside.
Beat the egg and sugar with the softened butter in a mixer, add the milk and bring together by hand.
Whisk the flour, baking powder, salt and lemon zest together, add to the wet mixture and knead until the dough is smooth and shiny. Cover and chill for 30 minutes.
Roll the dough out to 6 mm thick on a floured surface and cut it into diamonds about 2.5 cm wide.
Stretch each diamond slightly, cut a small slit at one end and fold the opposite end through the slit so the piece twists.
Heat the oil to 150°C (300°F) and deep-fry the kleinur in batches, turning once, for about 4 minutes until golden brown. Drain on paper.
If making the dip, reduce the whey with the brown sugar by half, whisk in the cornstarch mixed with the milk and cream, boil until thick and glossy, then whisk in the butter and cool. Dust the warm kleinur with cardamom sugar and extra lemon zest and serve at once.
