Bismark Doughnuts
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The story of my freebasing pastry cream continues. The history that pastry cream and I share is long and torrid, if a 28 year old can have an emotional and borderline sinful imaginary relationship with cream, butter and egg yolks all mixed up with vanilla bean all devoured ravenously with a very large spoon… or piped into a perfectly blissful Bismark doughnut. Or, if you’re an East Coaster, a Boston Cream Pie doughnut.
And if the pastry cream wasn’t enough, the chocolate glaze on top will send you over the edge.
Problems, I have ‘em.
There are certain foods that I have a methodical way of eating. There is strategy, specific components and reasons to eat certain foods a certain way and in a certain and very particular order. When it came to Monday’s Chocolate Stout Maple Bars, my method always began with eating the entire bottom half of the doughnut first. The squishy carbs had to stand on their own, be crispy on the outside, soft and fluffy in the middle without being too pillowy. That’s the measure of a good doughnut – substance. Then of course, it was the top of the maple bar that went next. It still had some residual doughnut dough, but it was half dough and half maple frosting. Equal portions that would send my teeth ringing with sweetness.
The same thing goes for me eating Reese’s Peanut Butter cups – eating the entire edge of the cup, and saving the middle for last.
And it happens with Bismark doughnuts. Except well, maybe not the same-same, but method is applied to the madness.
Consider this a bonus to How-To Tuesday, because today needs to be titled “How to Eat a Bismark Doughnut”.
Step one. Find the injection site of the pastry cream filling.
Step Two. Suck all of the pastry cream filling you can out of that port of cream. *also, that sounds skeevy*.
Step three. Proceed to shove the entire rest of the bismark doughnut into you doughnut face shaped hole and embarrass yourself and anyone in your immediate vicinity.
You’re welcome.
Ingredients for Bismark Doughnuts or Boston Cream Pie Doughnuts
- Yeast
- Water
- Sugar
- Salt
- Baking Powder
- Bread Flour
- Shortening
- Egg Yolks
- Vanilla
- Vegetable Oil
How to Make Bismark Doughnuts
Pour the warm water (or warm milk) into the bowl of a stand mixer outfitted with a dough hook attachment. Sprinkle with 1 Tbsp sugar, and yeast. Let rest until the yeast has become foamy.
In a large bowl, stir together remaining dry ingredients.
When the yeast has become foamy, turn on mixer and add in shortening, eggs yolks and vanilla.
Slowly add in the dry ingredients.
Once the flour is incorporated, turn the mixer medium to knead the dough.
Lightly spray a large bowl with non-stick spray and add dough to the the bowl.
Roll dough around to coat lightly with oil. Cover with plastic wrap and place in a dark warm place to rise. Let rise for 1-2 hours, or until doubled in size.
On a floured surface, roll the dough out into a 14 x 12 inch rectangle. Using a 3 inch round cookie or biscuit cutter. Cut out rounds and place on a cookie sheet to proof dough an additional hour.
Heat oil in an electric skillet or a dutch oven to 350 degrees. You will need about 2 inches of oil. Place a couple of doughnuts into the oil at a time and avoid them touching. Cook until deep golden brown, flip and cook again. With tongs, remove from oil and place on a two layers of paper towels lining a cooling sheet to drain.
Cool the doughnuts completely before filling.
Fill with cold, prepared pastry cream using a pastry bag with a pointed decorating tip injected into the side of each Bismark.
Dunk into chocolate glaze, then allow to rest on a wire rack until ready to serve.
Frequently Asked Questions about Boston Cream Pie Doughnuts
Can I use instant yeast for this recipe?
Can I use All Purpose Flour for making Bismark Doughnuts?
Can I fry doughnuts in a different oil than vegetable oil?
Can I try these doughnuts in a deep fryer?
Inspired Homemade Recipes To Try
Bakeaholic Mama – Coconut Doughnut Holes with Lime Curd
Baked by Rachel – Maple Bacon Donuts
Table for Two – Sugared Doughnut
Running to the Kitchen – Baked Chocolate Avocado Doughnut
Pass the Sushi – Bourbon Bacon Doughnuts
Jelly Toast Blog – Lemon Berry Doughnut Triffle
Nutmeg Nanny – Chocolate Orange Baked Doughnuts
Farmgirl Gourtmet – Vanilla Baked Frui-Doo Dounuts

Bismark Doughnuts
- Prep Time: 2 Hours 30 Minutes
- Cook Time: 30 Minutes
- Total Time: 3 hours
- Yield: 12 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Fry
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
Doughnuts::
2 envelopes Yeast – about 3 Tbsp.
1 cup Water, 100-110 Degrees
1 cup Sugar + 1 Tbsp, divided
2 tsp. Salt
1/2 tsp Baking Powder
4-4 1/2 cup Bread Flour
1/4 cup Shortening
3 Egg Yolks
2 tsp Vanilla
Vegetable oil for frying
Pastry Cream::
1/3 cup Sugar
5 Egg Yolks
1 1/2 Tbsp Cornstarch
1 cup Milk
1 cup Half-n-Half
1 Vanilla Bean, split and seeds scraped (or 2 1/2 Tbsp Vanilla Extract)
1 Tbsp Butter
Chocolate Glaze::
4 cups Powdered sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons light corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon table salt
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon maple extract
1/4-1/3 cup GOOD QUALITY Cocoa Powder (Not Hershey’s)
1/3 cup (plus more if needed) hot water
Instructions
Pour the warm water into the bowl of a stand mixer outfitted with a dough hook attachment. Sprinkle with 1 Tbsp sugar, and yeast. Let rest until the yeast has become foamy, five to ten minutes.
In a large bowl, whisk together remaining sugar, salt, baking powder, and bread flour.
When the yeast has become foamy, turn on mixer and add in shortening, eggs yolks and vanilla. Mix for one minute. Slowly begin to add in the dry ingredients, a cup at a time.
Once the flour is incorporated, turn the mixer medium to knead the dough. Knead dough with your hands to make sure that all dry bits at the bottom of the bowl have been incorporated. Lightly spray a large bowl with non-stick spray and add dough to the the bowl. Roll dough around to coat lightly with oil. Cover with plastic wrap and place in a dark warm place to rise. Let rise for 1-2 hours, or until doubled in size.
On a floured surface, roll the dough out into a 14 x 12 inch rectangle. Using a 3 inch round cookie or biscuit cutter. Cut out rounds and place on a cookie sheet to proof dough an additional hour.
Heat 2″+ vegetable oil in an electric skillet or a dutch oven to 350 degrees. Place a couple of doughnuts into the oil at a time and avoid them touching. Cook until deep golden brown, flip and cook again. With tongs, remove from oil and place on a paper towel lined cooling sheet to drain. Ensure oil is heated to 350 degrees between batches. Repeat with remaining doughnuts, and let drain on a paper towel lined baking sheet. Allow to cool completely before filling or frosting.
Pastry Cream ::
**Make up to 24 hours in advance and refrigerate until 1 hour prior to use. Ensure the pastry cream is cold and set before filling doughnuts**
In a medium saucepan, heat the milk, heavy cream and vanilla bean to a boil over medium heat. Immediately turn off the heat and set aside to infuse for 10 to 15 minutes. In a bowl, whisk the egg yolks and granulated sugar until light and fluffy. Add the cornstarch and whisk vigorously until no lumps remain. Temper the eggs by whisking in 1/4 cup of the hot milk mixture until incorporated. Whisk in the remaining hot milk slowly.
Pour the mixture back into the saucepan. Cook over medium-high heat, whisking constantly, until thickened and slowly boiling. Remove from the heat and stir in the butter. Let cool slightly. Press through a fine mesh strainer to remove any curdled bits and remove husk of vanilla bean. Cover strained pastry cream with plastic wrap, and press the plastic wrap on top of the pastry cream to make sure it doesn’t form a skin. Chill at least 2 hours or until ready to serve.
Chocolate Glaze ::
In a bowl, whisk together all ingredients until smooth. Dunk one side of the doughnut into the glaze and then let rest 10 minutes until glaze sets.
To Assemble ::
Once doughnuts are fried and completely cooled, fill a pastry bag with a Bismark or filling tip, Fill doughnuts with the pastry cream. Let rest 10 minutes. Gently dunk tops of each doughnut into the chocolate glaze and let rest for 10 minutes until glaze is set. Devour.
Keywords: Doughnuts, Bismark, Boston Cream, Fried
More people should admit to freebasing pastry cream, I would come to the meetings with you… These look incredible, thanks for sharing!
… and now I’m a little depressed about the toast I’m currently eating. YUM!
I have to admit that I don’t usually get excited about cream filled donuts but these look pretty freaking fantastic!
Totally curious but what’s the difference between a bismark (which I’ve never heard of) and a Boston cream? Same thing but from a different region? Either way, looks fantastic! 🙂
Really the only diff is the shape Bismarck is shape oblong. Lol bit awesome I’m gonna try this recipe
as a child I couldn’t deal with things in my doughnut. Toootally texture thing that I couldn’t move past. I’m still recovering, but pastry creams are moving on up! Jelly is still weird though >.>
Oh my gosh! I was laughing so hard reading this….”freebasing pastry cream” and “Suck all of the pastry cream filling you can out of that port of cream. *also, that sounds skeevy*.” I love it! That is why we are friends 🙂
I’ll take a dozen!
These doughnuts look great!!
Bring on the pastry cream! You need to show me your doughnut making ways, friend!
Oh man! These look so sinful! I want one NOW!
Oh girl!! I could do some major damage with these gorgeous doughnuts! Fabulous job 🙂
Oh man these doughnuts look so good!!!!
Over the top amazing! I would go crazy for these!
Your instructions on how to eat pastry-cream filled doughnuts are hillarious! And, I could use similar instructions on how to eat a mille feuilles, please. Seriously, every time I order one in a pastry shop, it becomes a huge, embarassing mess. Flakes of pastry everywhere. Pastry cream all over. Hahaha! Maybe it’s just me?
Anyways, these doughnuts look perfect.
Beautiful doughnuts! I have wanted to make doughnuts forever so all these doughnut posts are just what I needed for inspiration.
These are my favorites, too! And I totally eat the the same way.
This might be the best looking food item on your blog to date! I wish I could eat through my computer screen. Great job!
Heartless & cruel, that’s what you are. This is torture! On a diet, and you run pictures & a recipe of my ABSOLUTE.FAVORITE.DOUGHNUT! It’s killing me I tell you , KILLING ME!!!
Step two totally cracked me up! Also, I always eat my peanut butter cups the same way. Eat off that thick chocolate and then I get more peanut butter to chocolate ratio. When I was younger I used to be a total freak with my pizza. I would eat off the topping, then the cheese, scrape off the sauce and then just eat the plain pizza. What a weirdo I was…haha. Now, these doughnuts look amazing. Before I moved to the east coast I never had a pastry cream filled doughnut but I’m so happy I finally tried one. So good!
Yeah, I would go to town on these babies. To freaking die for, Megan!!
I could probably eat like ten of these, and I’m not even a donut person! sacrilegious, I know. 🙂
Gorgeous just gorgeous!
OH MY!!! These donuts look amazing. WANT!
Good Lawd Gurl!! I need like a dozen of these… Yum!!
I seriously cannot even handle this. OMG
Will you marry me? Wait…
I thought you’d never ask!!! SWOON!!! 😉
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These sound amazing, I cannot wait to try making them. Also with a description like that you should be a romance writer!
Wow…ok, you’ve become an absolute FREAK about chocolate bismarks…congratulations?
Hi! I just ran across this recipe on Pinterest. These are my lifelong favorites and I am SO excited to try making them, though I fear it is a very bad idea. My only question aboit your excellent instructions is, the pastry cream ingredient list calls for half and half, but the instructions for heavy cream? I know it’s been a long time since your original post, but I’m hoping you’ll catch this anyway. Thanks for the great post!
Ingredients list for the pastry cream say 1/2 n’ 1/2 actual directions say heavy cream… there’s a difference. Should it be heavy cream by chance?
Thanks.
Sorry Liz, It is half and half. My bad. I will fix the mistake in the recipe. I must have been multitasking, whoops!
Isn’t it too much sugar on dough?
I’m guessing you mean 3 tsp of yeast? That’s typically what’s in a packet. I wish it wasn’t so early I might have caught that before I made the dough…
Yes, apologies for the typo.
I tried to make these but my dough didn’t rise like it should have. Could you possibly tell me what I did wrong?
Hi Rainie, I think the first thing to check is your yeast. You might need a new one, or the milk you used to activate the yeast may have been too hot. Those are usually the two most likely culprits.
I’ve tried 3 times now, the same yeast is working just fine for my pizza dough & bread. I’ve tried incorporating the ingredients in a different order, less flour, I don’t know what else to change.
Hi Stephanie! I will go back to the drawing board and see what I can find out for this recipe! I’m sorry it’s been such a struggle! Darn it! Thank you for letting me know!
I thought this dough was way too heavy and dense for bismarks when i made it and set it to rise. It was heavy sluggish slow. The cream turned out fairly well but i completed the steps for Bavarian for more body and was glad i did. Overall good tastes but too meaty for me. Used Baker’s chocolate btw..😊
🤔
Love these donuts.
Your donuts look amaaaazing!!
★★★★★