I have been collecting recipes for the past 20 years. I kid you not, this is one of my favorite past times…So much so, that I have several stacks of manila folders filled to the brim with recipes that I have found in magazines, newspapers and some of my newfound blog sites that I follow.
One of my favorite types of recipes to collect is for donuts. I must have at least 50 different recipes for donuts of all kinds from all over the world. Slowly but surely, I am determined to get through each and every pleasurable bite. There is one type of donut that has been more challenging than some of the others I have tried to make and that is, the dreaded cake donut. These types of donuts need to have a perfect light and delicate cakey texture that can stand up to a thin coating of delicious icing.
Over the past 6 months, I have tried many different recipes for cake donuts. Some I rolled out but they yielded a tough and bread-y end product. I combined different types of flour together, added potato meal, added apple cider, then water, adjusted the sugar levels but nothing gave me the result I was looking for. The final product was overly dark when fried and just did not have that eye appeal. The only time that I had decent results, was the first time I made the recipe and did not have enough flour in the batter. It became overly sticky when I rolled it out, but was a nightmare to work with. The donut was much more tender, but it was definitely not worth the mess or the cleanup afterwards.
That got me thinking…maybe cake donuts are supposed to be just that…a delicious morsel made of cake batter. I began experimenting with different types of batters, some fried and some baked, with mixed results. Then I came across a website called Joe Pastry, where he clearly outlined the differences of cake donuts versus their yeast counterparts. Everything he said made sense, and so I tried his recipe. It was extraordinary… I must say, that if you are looking for a cake donut recipe that you can use and modify for the rest of your life, this one is it. The batter was so easy to put together, and the donuts fried up beautifully. The trick seems to be that the batter needs a good bit of fat in it to make it tender and moist, and as long as you have the right oil temperature, they will not get overly dark when frying. If you would prefer to bake them, there is an equally delicious recipe here at Culinary in the Desert that uses apple cider in the batter. Try them…go on, you know you want to…
**Recipe adapted & modified from joepastry.com
Apple Cider Glazed Donuts
8 oz flour (about 1½ cups plus 1 tablespoon)
2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon nutmeg
½ teaspoon pumpkin spice (**I added, different from recipe)
1 teaspoon cinnamon
3 tablespoons sugar
1 oz soft butter
1 egg
1 ¼ teaspoons vanilla
5 oz milk **add a little more if you need to achieve batter consistency in pic, batter must be loose but not runny
Glaze
8 oz powdered sugar
8 Tablespoons apple cider (boiled until reduced by half to concentrate flavor)
1 teaspoon cinnamon (**I added, different from recipe)
First, make your icing by putting all of the ingredients into a small bowl and mixing well. The icing should be thin but not too thin. Set this close by as you will need it as soon as the donuts are made.
Add 1 ½ cups of apple cider into a small pot and cook until it has reduced half. During the cooking process, skim off the pulp and impurities that will float to the top.
It is important that all of the ingredients are at room temperature. Put the first 7 ingredients in a medium sized bowl and cut in the butter until it is well incorporated, and you no longer see any of the butter pieces.
Add all of the liquid ingredients together in another small bowl and mix well. Add this into the dry and stir until you have a perfectly smooth batter.
Heat your oil to 350°F (low to medium heat) and drop small scoop or spoonfuls of batter into the hot oil. Do not overcrowd the oil and allow all of the donuts to cook evenly all the way through.
Cook for a few minutes on each side until golden brown then remove onto a paper lined plate. While they are still warm put them onto another plate and drizzle on the glaze. Use a spoon to toss them gently to make sure they are evenly coated all the way around. You can also use a mixture of granulated sugar and cinnamon to toss them in. They are equally delicious this way.
Once glazed, put them on a glazing rack so that the icing has a chance to dry and also that the donuts don’t stick together. Mine never make it that far, because they disappear in no time.
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