1. Add the milk, butter, and sugar for the dough to a small saucepan and heat up on the stove until the butter has melted and the sugar is dissolved. Remove from the heat, mix in the vanilla extract, and let cool down to about 97°F (body temperature).

2. Add the flour and ground nutmeg to a large bowl, mix well, and then create a well in the center. Crumble the yeast and place in that well. Add some of the milk and mix with the yeast to dissolve it. Sprinkle flour from the edges on top of the milk mixture and cover the bowl with a kitchen towel. Let rest in a warm place for about 10 minutes.

3. When the yeast has bubbled up a bit, add the rest of the milk as well as the egg yolks and knead everything for several minutes until you get a nice smooth dough that comes off easily from the sides of the bowl. Shape the dough into a ball, cover the bowl and let rise in a warm place for about 1 hour or until the dough has doubled in size.

4. Knock the air out of the dough and roll out on a lightly floured surface to a thickness of about 0.24 inches (0,6cm). Use a donut cutter* (about 3.5 inches/9cm) to cut out dough rings. If you like you can use the middle of the rings for donut holes or you collect that dough and roll it out again for more donuts – just don’t overwork the dough. Place the dough pieces on a lightly floured baking tray, cover with a kitchen towel, and let them rise for another 20 minutes.

5. Add the fat/oil do a pot and heat up to about 350°F (175°C) – a thermometer* is very helpful here. If the temperature is too low, the dough will suck up a lot of fat, if the fat is too hot, the dough will darken too quickly and not bake properly, so keep an eye on that. Deep-fry the risen dough rings (no more than 2-3 at a time) in the hot fat/oil – about 2 minutes on one side and then turn them around and let them fry for another minute or so on the other side. Donut holes only need a minute on each side. Take the donuts out of the fat and let drain on a piece of kitchen paper.

6. For the glaze, mix the confectioners’ sugar with the vanilla extract and some of the milk. Add more milk until the consistency is right and not too runny. Dip the slightly cooled donuts/donut holes into the glaze and place them on the wire rack. Place a tray or some paper underneath to avoid a big mess from the dripping glaze. Decorate with some sprinkles if you like and let the glaze dry before serving. The donuts taste best on the same day.