Hint of Rum Raised Jelly Doughnuts

HeatherFeather's Note:

A recipe from a church cookbook I inherited from my Great Aunt (the St. John's Lutheran Church in Summit, NJ from 1963). I have not tried these yet. I would imagine the amont of jelly added is very much to taste - feel free to add more per doughnut if you like them really full of jelly.

• Total Time: 3 hrs 15 mins
• Prep Time: 3 hrs
• Cook Time: 15 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 28

• 2 envelopes active dry yeast (4 1/2 tsp total)
• 1 ¼ cups milk , lukewarm
• ½ cup shortening , soft
• ¾ cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon lemon, zest of , grated
• 2 tablespoons rum
• 2 large eggs , beaten
• 5 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon grated nutmeg
• oil , for deep frying
• 28 teaspoons jelly (any combination of flavors you like) (optional)
• powdered sugar , for dusting (optional)

Directions:

1. Add yeast to luekwarm milk, stir and lest rest a few minutes.
2. Add half of the shortening, the sugar, salt, lemon zest, rum, and nutmeg.
3. Stir in eggs and half of the flour, mixing until smooth.
4. Add remaining shortening and flour and mix well.
5. Turn out dough onto a floured board and knead well, about 5-10 minutes.
6. Place in a greased bowl, flip dough over once to grease top, cover, and let rise until doubles in bulk, about 1 hour.
7. Roll out on a floured board to 1/4" thick.
8. Cut into rounds or squares.
9. Place on greased baking sheets, cover and let rise until doubled.
10. Fry in hot oil (350 F) according to your deep fryer's instructions or until golden brown.
11. Drain on paper towels, then coat with powdered sugar if desired as soon as they are cooled.
12. If desired, inject a tsp of any flavor jelly into each cooked doughnut using a pastry bag fitted with a round tip.