• 500g plain flour
• 365ml milk or soy milk
• An egg
• 2 tsps yeast
• 2 tbsps maple syrup
• 2 tsbps caster sugar
• A dash of vanilla extract
• Pinch of salt
• 125g and 50g butter, separated
• 125g honey
• 50ml Cointreau
• 100g icing sugar

The day before you want to eat doughnuts, mix the flour, milk, egg, yeast, maple syrup, sugar and vanilla together on a low speed. Every five minutes, stop and scrape the ingredients together again to ensure even mixing. After fifteen minutes, add the 50g of butter in small slices, one by one and mix thoroughly for another ten minutes or so until the butter is wholly incorporated.

Scrape the very sticky dough onto the clean work surface and use a scraper to sweep around the dough in a crescent movement, pulling the dough in on itself to create a taut top. Move the dough around in this manner, pushing it all the way to right, then all the way to the left, always in a sweeping crescent, until you have a smooth, tacky but not sticky dough. Dust with a little flour, turn upside down and fold the edges up into a sort of pinched dumpling shape. Invert again and set in a bowl to prove in the fridge overnight – you should have a smooth, domed top that doesn’t stick when you touch it.

Next morning, remove from the fridge and leave for two hours to come up to room temperature. Take the dough out of its bowl – it should be a pleasure to handle. Slightly sticky but taut and stretchy. Lightly dust it with flour, then cut into eight equal pieces and shape into doughballs. The easiest way to do this is to pull the edges together into a pinch at the bottom of the doughball, creating a tight top and a cinched bottom, but it will take a little practice.

Leave the balls to prove at room temperature, covered with cling film, for an hour.

Meanwhile, melt the remaining butter and honey together then whisk in the Cointreau. Whisk the hot butter, honey and booze into the icing sugar until smooth and thick but drizzly.

Fill the wok halfway up with oil and bring to 180c. Fry the doughballs in two batches, turning them often, until golden and pillowy. Dunk each doughnut in the glaze, turn and coat, then grind a little sea salt on top. Dust with icing sugar and serve.