Pear "Donuts" with Chocolate Cream Pattiserie and orange syrup

I finally crashed with a artisan bread in 5 a day recipe . I didn't burn, no. But I definitely crashed, making donuts. It could have been all the substitutions I made, it could have been the bad luck I brought on myself by savouring the pleasure of my past 2 weeks successes, I don't know. My donuts came out looking like a Frittata. They tasted good, great even with the chocolate pastry cream, but they barely rose. They had a tendency to spread out horizontally, enough to close the hole I had formed at the center even, but vertically? Barely 1/2 cm :( My neighbour said they reminded her of a Keralite dessert - some variation of Elai Adai made with fruits and coconuts I wanted to make a custard/pudding for the Aspiring bakers group's 24th challenge . This month's host is Charmaine of Mimi's Bakery house. I tried to make a chai-flavoured custard first, using agar-agar instead of eggs or gelatine. The agar-agar did not dissolve properly and the wh...