Method

Place the yeast in the bowl of a stand mixer. Whisk in the warm water and let stand until a creamy foam forms on top, this should take about 5 minutes. Add the salt, sugar, milk, melted butter, vanilla extract and egg. Whisk the mixture thoroughly.

Add the flour to the liquid ingredients and mix together with a dough hook attachment for about 3 minutes. The dough will stick to the hook and pull away from the side of the bowl.

Transfer the dough to a floured work surface, knead 2 or 3 times, and shape into a ball. Wrap the dough in cling wrap and refrigerate for 20 minutes.

Remove the dough from the refrigerator, unwrap, and dust lightly with flour. Roll out into a rectangle about 5 mm thick. Evenly spread half of the softened butter onto the middle third of the dough. Fold one unbuttered third over the buttered third and press lightly; spread the remaining butter on top of that third. Fold the remaining third over the first (buttered) third.

Transfer the dough onto a sheet baking tray, cover lightly with plastic wrap and a kitchen towel, and refrigerate for 30 minutes so that the butter firms.

Return the dough to a floured work surface and pat very gently into a rectangle about 1 cm thick. Fold the outer thirds over the centre third as before; roll out into a rectangle again. Keep the edges of the rectangle as straight as possible. Fold into thirds as before. Cover the dough lightly with a kitchen towel and refrigerate for 2 hours.

Roll the dough out to about 5 mm thick and cut in half crosswise. Leave half on a lightly floured work surface; refrigerate the other half of dough until needed.

Use a sharp 2 cm circular cookie cutter to cut out circles of dough and use a 1 cm cookie cutter to cut out the centre hole.

Line a baking sheet with waxed paper and sprinkle lightly with flour. Arrange the cronuts on the baking sheet and let them rise in a warm place for 1 hour until they have doubled in size.

Heat the vegetable oil in a large saucepan until it reaches frying temperature. Gently place the cronuts into the hot oil and fry on each side for 2 minutes or until golden brown. Using a slotted spoon, remove the cronuts from the hot oil and place onto a cooling rack or a plate lined with a sheet of absorbent kitchen towel.

Glaze

Place the sifted icing sugar into a medium bowl and slowly stir in the milk and vanilla seeds, a little at a time, to make a smooth, pourable glaze.

Dip the cronuts into the glaze and then place on a wire rack to dry. Tip: place a baking sheet lined with baking paper underneath the wire rack to catch the excess icing.

Skewer the cronuts and serve.